As life kept changing because of COVID-19, so did plans for the fall season for athletes, coaches and the community. Here is the rollercoaster in 2020 from May to August.

May 27
Wolves taking to the gridiron?: Amid the COVID pandemic and Governor Gretchen Whitmer extended the stay-at-home order to June 12, football coaches and players were preparing to have a fall season.
June 17
Mountaineer sports back on the field: Clarkston Everest Collegiate athletes began summer activities. EC Athletic Director Ann Serra-Lowney met with coaches on June 9 to go over new guidelines from the Michigan High School Athletic Association for summer sports.
June 24
‘We don’t want to rush into things,’ says director as athletics comes back: Summer workouts for Clarkston High School athletes began on June 21 and athletes from the Clarkston Girls Swim and Dive team were the first to have their session after getting their temperatures checked and filling out a questionnaire.
July 8
MHSAA still planning for fall sports in fall – for now: With summer in full swing, athletes in Clarkston continued to work out with their teams and prepare for the fall season. Back on June 30, Governor Gretchen Whitmer called for the MHSAA to consider postponing fall sports where social distancing is difficult for sports. “Right now, we’re still planning for fall sports in fall,” said Geoff Kimmerly, MHSAA Media & Content Coordinator in an email to The Clarkston News.
July 22
Cady selected as Miss Softball: Hannah Cady earned an honor she had wanted to achieve since her freshman year as she was named Miss Softball by the Michigan High School Coaches Association.
August 5
Fall is a go on athletics: Tryouts and practices were set to start on Aug. 12 and fall sports was on – with some adjustments. The MHSAA Representative Council decided lower risk sports like girls golf, boys tennis and girls swimming and diving, and cross country could practice as planned. Moderate and high-risk sports such as football, volleyball and boys soccer could begin practice but could not compete.
Mountaineers’ goals for fifth season ‘achievable’: While a lot changed completely for students and athletes with COVID-19, the effort during the summer from the Clarkston Everest Collegiate Girls Cross Country team had not changed. The team ran a total of 1,622 miles prior to their summer camp.
August 19
Sacked for a loss! MHSAA postpones football until spring: MHSAA Representative Council announced it would move the 2020 fall football season to spring 2021 due to the sport’s higher risk for spreading COVID-19. “I knew it was coming,” said Kurt Richardson, long-time head coach of Clarkston Varsity Football. “It was just a matter of when. You saw all the other dominoes fall, and you kind of knew it would happen to us.” He added, it came down to health of the kids.
August 26
Competition on hold on Wolves’ volleyball, soccer, swim: A majority of sports were still in a holding pattern after the most recent update from MHSAA. The MHSAA Representative Council approved the start of competition in volleyball, boys soccer and girls swimming and diving in regions authorized for the activity under Governor Whitmer’s executive order. Regions 6 and 8 could start competition as planned while Regions 1-5 and 7 could continue outdoor practice. Clarkston is in Region 1. “There is some frustration,” said Clarkston Athletic Director Jeff Kosin about reactions from coaches and athletes. “They all want to be engaged and practicing and competing. It’s tough because you don’t know what the end of the tunnel is going to look like.”
Back into the swing of things at Novi Invite: The Clarkston Boys Varsity Tennis team took to the courts on the first day of competition to finish in third place at the Novi Invite.

  year in review