NATCHITOCHES – March 14 was shaping up to be like the previous two days, a third straight day of uncertainty as it pertained to college athletics.
 
That is when the Southland Conference decided to cancel the remainder of its spring sports competitions amid the growing novel coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic, granting a sense of certainty – however unwanted – to its member schools and student-athletes.
 
In the month that has passed since Southland Commissioner Tom Burnett's Saturday morning announcement, the landscape of college athletics has shifted, forcing coaches and student-athletes to cope with a most unusual spring.
 
Basketball has plenty to build upon
 
Finishing strong has been a typical quality of NSU men's basketball teams in Mike McConathy's 21-year tenure.
 
Except these Demons didn't get to finish.
 
The No. 5 seed Demons won their first-round Southland Conference Tournament game in convincing fashion on March 12, topping No. 8 seed Texas A&M-Corpus 79-62 in what became the final competition involving a Northwestern State team in the 2019-20 academic year.
 
About 16 hours later, the Southland Conference Tournament followed the national trend and canceled the remainder of its tournament, followed by the NCAA Tournament and eventually all spring seasons in the coming days.
 
NSU was riding a three-game winning streak and vaulted to a fourth-place in the league standings on the final regular season weekend, its best finish since 2014-15.
 
The Demons were gearing up to face a Sam Houston State team that were losers of four of its last five contests for the right to face defending regular season champion Stephen F. Austin in the semifinals.
 
"We ended up being the highest seed with a win in the tournament, and winning our seven of our last 10 to end our season is a big positive for us," said McConathy, who had reached the tournament finals in seven of his 12 previous appearances. "I think everyone is handling this as well as can be expected.
 
"A lot of people are finding the kind of time to spend with their families that they've never been able to before. My mother Corene has been here with us for the past month … and it nice to slow down and smell the roses."
 
But McConathy knows he doesn't belong anywhere except in a gym.
 
"I don't have any hobbies," McConathy said. "I've found things to do around the house, and you keep in touch with players, staff and fans the best you can.
 
"I've been calling as many season ticket holders and Sixth Man Club members as I can and just checking in on them and telling them how much we appreciate them. That support base is so important to us, it's our lifeline."
 
Producing success despite being one of the most inexperienced teams in the league, the Demons could return as many as 14 of its 16 players from this team.

Matt Vines 

"It has been an experience for sure"
 
Bobby Barbier stood in the first base dugout at Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones Park in Grambling on Tuesday, March 10, and mused about the growing number of COVID-19 cases in New Orleans. Barbier's Northwestern State baseball team was scheduled to leave for New Orleans on Thursday and play a three-game series at the University of New Orleans from March 13-15.
 
The Demons never boarded the bus for the Big Easy. Instead, they saw their 2020 season end after 16 games, 12 of which they booked into the win column.
 
"The toughest part, obviously, is being away from the players," said Barbier, who earned his 100^th career victory at the helm of his alma mater that Tuesday night in Grambling. "That's been tough, along with not being able to communicate face to face. We found out our season was canceled and we couldn't be around each other, that was tough."
 
Although there was a quick resolution to the conundrum surrounding competitions, there was more unknown ahead for Barbier as well as other spring sports coaches.
 
"As people, we always fear the unknown," he said. "That's what this virus has done to us. At first, we didn't know if we were going to play. Then it was will we get a season back? Who is going to be eligible? It was a good lesson in learning to control what we can control."
 
For Barbier, the eligibility question loomed larger than most. Against Grambling, Barbier gave freshman outfielder Gabe Colaianni his first career start and his first career appearance with the expectation of having at least 40 more games to evaluate the Ridge Point (Texas) High School product.
 
Less than four days later, no one was sure whether Colaianni's first season of collegiate baseball would register as a one-game blip or if he would have a chance virtually to replay his freshman season.
 
"When (Barbier) told me I was playing, I told myself this is what I had been working for," said Colaianni, who tripled on the first pitch he saw as a college hitter. "I wasn't really worried about myself. I was more worried about my teammates who were in a make-or-break season. I had a feeling in the back of my mind we would get our year back."
 
Colaianni's feeling was confirmed a little more than two weeks later when the NCAA Division I Council voted to reinstate a year of competition for all spring sports competitors.
 
The Demons had seven seniors on the 2020 roster. The majority plan to return to a team that was 12-4, NSU's best 16-game mark since a 13-3 start in 2010.
 
"I was happy for us as a team," Colaianni said of the vote passing. "We had a really good team this year, so now that people can come back and have another year, it will make us stronger. We had a lot of new guys who all got close. That will be good for us."

Jason Pugh 

Track and field in unique situation
 
Track and field teams operate in a unique vacuum compared to other spring sports. As such, the Demons and Lady Demons found themselves in a different space than their fellow NSU student-athletes on March 14.
 
With the exception of senior Jasmyn Steels, who was in Albuquerque, New Mexico, waiting on clarity with regards to defending her 2019 NCAA Indoor long jump national championship, the rest of the teams eagerly were awaiting the first competition of the outdoor season – the March 14 McNeese Cowboy Relays.
 
"It was a shock to everybody," head coach Mike Heimerman said. "Everybody was looking forward to the meet. We had some kids who hadn't competed because they are in outdoor events, like our steeplechasers or 400-meter hurdlers. Everybody knew (the cancelations) were for the greater good, but it was still a shock."
 
Steels was still in New Mexico when word came down about the cancelation of both the NCAA Indoor Championships and what would have been her senior outdoor season. Quickly, Steels and her teammates found themselves back in the same position.
 
"After a week or so of the season being canceled, it hit me that it's over – what am I supposed to do, just be a student?" she asked rhetorically. "But it's given me more time to work on the little things.
 
"With the gyms and tracks closed, I'm doing what I can to stay in shape like running outside in parks, doing some body weight exercises. I'm running wherever I can, doing sprints on the road. I've also learned to play the piano – I've always wanted to do that. I'm watching more TV shows in my spare time and playing basketball. I recommend 'Locke and Key' and 'Private Practice.'"
 
The struggles of adjusting to new routines aren't lost on Heimerman or his fellow coaches. Instead of preparing for his team's lone home meet of the 2020 season – the Leon Johnson NSU Invitational was scheduled for April 18 – Heimerman has found himself experiencing a spring unlike any he has known as a coach.
 
"For us coaches, we're used to being at a meet or gone every weekend," he said. "You wake up on a Saturday now, and you have all this free time. It's unusual. You can still recruit, but in a normal year, the spring is our busiest time for competitions and recruiting. This is when we usually bring in our (prospective) athletes in on their visits on Sundays and Mondays. It's been very unusual or very different for all of us."

J.P.

"This has been a very surreal experience"

The Lady Demon tennis team was preparing for an important match at Central Arkansas, one of the top teams in the conference, in a contest that would have helped shape the conference championship race.
 
The team was scheduled to leave on March 13, but rain was possibly going to impact if the match would be pushed back or moving the match indoors. Those conversations were happening, along with the uncertainty of the situation after seeing many events canceled around the country.
 
"This has been a very surreal experience," said head coach Patric DuBois. "Everything moved so quickly. It seemed like one day we were communicating with UCA about working out playing our match indoors due to a forecasted weather issue, then having a delay in the season, to having everything cancelled for the spring."
 
At several conference basketball tournaments around the country, there was talk about playing in front of no crowds and only essential personnel being allowed in. Senior Ela Iwaniuk was one of those people who thought that would happen, but the sports season would still go on.
 
"We were following the situation on social media, but the official information about cancelation of spring season was still a surprise," Iwaniuk said. "I was thinking there would be limitations on all sports, but until the last moment I didn't want to believe that everything would be canceled."
 
Because seven of NSU's eight tennis student-athletes are from Europe, that posed new challenges for the players and staff.
 
"There was such an unknown at the beginning (frankly there still is) that we did not know if they should stay or head home," DuBois said. "We did not definitely know if classes would all go online at first."
 
With several countries in Europe closing their borders and only accepting government-sponsored flights right now, the coaching staff had to figure out a way they could get home. The freshmen all made it home safely, but a few of them had to go into quarantine immediately after arriving home.

Jonathon Zenk 

Puzzle pieces intact for NSU softball
 
One month ago, junior softball pitcher E.C. Delafield helped NSU to a tremendous start in Southland Conference play, logging a walk-off hit and a win in the circle as part of the Lady Demons' sweep of defending champion Sam Houston State.
 
The closest Delafield has gotten to a sports stadium since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic is completing a 1,000-piece puzzle of Yankee Stadium.
 
The Stonewall native has tried to stay as sharp as she can, hitting with a fungo bat and working out with sister Aly and brother Luke.
 
But it's a far cry from a season in which Delafield drove in a team-high 20 runs for an NSU squad (15-7) that appeared poised to compete for an SLC title.
 
"Having the rest our season canceled was really hard to accept," said Delafield, who was hit by the flu in the weeks leading up to the season. "Finding out that the Lamar series and eventually the rest of our season wouldn't be happening was a very emotional day for this team.
 
"We were getting hot at the perfect time, and this team was so special. It's hard knowing that we might not have that chance with the same girls again next year, and I know it's a hard decision for our seniors because they are getting ready to start their lives."
 
NSU coach Donald Pickett and his staff have done its best to stay connected with the team, using Zoom conference calls and individual chats.
 
Pickett said it's possible that all five of his seniors could return, including senior outfielder Elise Vincent, who is waiting on medical school admission.
 
"It's been a long month and a half with the uncertainty and unknown, and we can't give them direct answers," said Pickett, who won three straight league regular season titles from 2013-15. "We want this team to have an opportunity to finish what they started.
 
"It's hard to swallow when it gets taken away from you, but I hope all of these players come back and it works out. We had a really good team – better this year than the last couple of teams we've had. People have contributed in every class, and we were really balanced with consistent pitchers and an offense that was coming around. We started off great in conference play, and who knows what would have happened."

- M.V.