By Summer Ingalls 

Staff Writer 

   With high school sports now up and running while following strict COVID-19 protocols, the Girls Lacrosse Team is ready and excited for their upcoming season.

   A lot has changed for the girls lacrosse program: no Junior Varsity Team, new protocols, new team members, and a new head coach. Coach Mark Reinhardt has been a notable figure around UC High for years. He has two daughters who graduated from UC High, he’s been the assistant coach for boys golf and girls basketball, and he’s also the public address announcer for almost every sport at UC High. Now, Reinhardt can add Girls Lacrosse Head Coach to his list of titles. “When I heard that girls lacrosse was left coachless for this season I offered to coach them because we have a talented group of student-athletes and a growing program; I was not going to let them not play this year!” said Reinhardt. 

    “COVID-19 has changed our playing a lot. We now have a lot fewer girls which is unfortunate, but it allows us to really focus on some team building for this season. It is also a lot harder to schedule games because a lot of other schools don’t have a team this year,” said Senior Mieke Van Daelen. 

   The team held their first game on March 24 against Mission Bay, and left with a winning score of 10-3. 

   With so many sports currently taking place at UC High, finding field space has been a struggle. The team has not yet been able to secure a practice schedule. However, they do have quite a few games scheduled. “We have eight games scheduled this season – all League games. [The team] will be against Patrick Henry High, San Diego High, Mission Bay High, and the Academy of Our Lady of Peace […] This season, we are also playing in the very tough City Conference,” explained Reinhardt. 

   “I can’t wait until we start playing games again. It has been over a year since I last played. I can’t believe it. I am so eager to get back out there,” said Senior Emma Megens. 

  “Since there are so many sports being played simultaneously, we did lose several promising returning players. But, we do have some very promising freshman players,” said Reinhardt. Some of the returning players this season are Junior Mei Hanaki and Junior Alyssa Parinas. Returning seniors include Emma Megens, Lianne Barkhorder, Meike VanDaelen and, Kaleigh Mogatas. 

   The players and Reinhardt are very optimistic for this season. “I’m hoping to win all of our League games, and I want to work better with my teammates so that we can together,” said Van Dalen. 

   Reinhardt also expressed his appreciation for the work it took so that the team could in fact have a season. “Kudos to Principal Jeff Oliverio, Vice Principal Alex Villalobos, and Coach David Asuncion for really making the environment safe for all of our kids. I’m so proud of the girls as they are adapting very well to this new normal,” he said.