By: Evan Gates | Guest Contributor
Snow covers the Hornet statue adjacent to Shellenberger Field. Photo by Caroline Gerke.
LYNCHBURG, Va. – While Virginia’s recent ice storm canceled in-person classes for over a week at the University of Lynchburg, the athletic department relied on contributions from student-athletes to ensure in-season teams could continue practicing despite the frigid conditions.
With Lynchburg’s baseball, lacrosse, softball and track & field teams each gearing up for outdoor competition in the spring, Director of Athletics Jon Waters felt the urgency to keep everyone in a routine ahead of the regular season.
“Our approach anytime storms are in the forecast is to do everything we can to keep people in motion,” Waters said. “If you still have everybody together and you’re practicing, it’s a whole different kind of mindset.”
The Snow Removal Process
Although a campus-wide email allowed students to travel home, several student-athletes chose to stay in Lynchburg for training. Throughout the uncertainty of power outages and canceled classes, Waters believes Lynchburg’s coaches inspired students to work together.
“It speaks a lot to the spirit of how our coaches are wired and how they encourage our students to be service-minded,” Waters said. “It’s not an extreme thing for students to pick up a shovel and try to clear lanes or the field.”
Removing snow from Shellenberger Field proved to be a week-long process. In an effort to prevent damage to the turf field, the removal began with shovels and then accelerated with a tractor.
“Everybody really put their best foot forward to help us get back out there,” said Emma Timberg, a senior forward for the women’s lacrosse team. “The men’s lacrosse was out there pretty consistently with shovels trying to break up the sheet of ice. We ended up having about a third of the field cleared after the first week, so we could get some stuff done.”
With snow packed densely underneath the ice, this winter storm stood out from others in recent years.
“This storm felt backwards; sometimes you get the ice first and then the show,” Waters said. “We didn’t have a good grasp of what technique we needed to clear it. I had my eyes on the small tractor that had been sitting behind the physical plant.”
After days of shoveling and minimal progress, the tractor quickly changed the story. Within days, Lynchburg athletes could finally spot the green turf in its entirety, but only after the athletic department worked in freezing temperatures.
“The tractor worked really well because the ground was still frozen, which was a unique characteristic,” Waters said. “The three or four days where we spent the most time outside were when temperatures were in the 20s. It was a team effort.”
Snow banks towered over the sidelines as the Lynchburg men’s lacrosse team faced Mary Washington in a preseason scrimmage. Photo by Caroline Gerke.
While the tractor cleared the field efficiently, it displaced several turf beads. To minimize the potential for injury, the athletic staff has a plan to disperse the beads from the track onto Shellenberger Field.
“The question that we’ve spent time on is: what is our best mechanism for not only how [the beads] get back on, but how they get respread,” Waters mentioned. “As soon as the snow melts the rest of the way, we’re hoping to take a high-speed blower or some other device and blow everything back into the field.”
The final step involved reseeding the field, which typically occurs three or four times each year.
While supporting Lynchburg’s athletic programs is top on the depth chart for Waters and his staff, navigating storms has become an annual task in recent years.
“Growing up in Hampton Roads, you have hurricanes and all kinds of different components,” Waters said. “Here, it’s more about winter weather and four-wheel drive. You’re presented with a problem: how are you going to solve your way through it?”
Pivoting to New Facilities
Throughout the field and track clearing process, several Lynchburg athletes trained at new locations. For senior sprinter Rylee Turner, who has registered three school records during her final campaign with the Lynchburg indoor track & field team, using Liberty University’s indoor facility provided a massive benefit.
“Having that connection between the coaches is very helpful,” Turner said. “Our coaches have been very good about us making our impact on Liberty as well. We volunteer at their meets and build that connection to keep our relationship strong.”
In addition, training inside helped Turner adjust her mindset ahead of a busy slate of track meets.
“As we’re in the indoor season, running on a 200-meter track is very different than running outdoors,” Turner said. “It makes for very accurate training and accurate results when you go to compete.”
Rylee Turner sprints the 60-meter dash at the Liberty Indoor Track Complex. Photo by Nick Brent.
With several athletes training at home during the week of canceled classes, Turner noted the importance of not deviating from the process.
“It’s about trusting your instincts and knowing that the base is there,” Turner said. “Obviously we train through the whole fall. When it was time to stress with lots of unknown, we stuck to the basics and made recovery a high priority.”
Liberty University also lends its natatorium to the Lynchburg swim teams throughout the winter, making it a consistent training location. Amidst winter weather difficulties, the indoor facilities have kept Lynchburg athletes in sync.
“It speaks to the quality of the coaching experience and how creative they can be to get in a good spot,” Waters said. “Obviously, we try to keep the swim pieces in motion. That paid off in a big way with the ODAC Championships.”
For the Lynchburg lacrosse teams, Turner Gymnasium became a versatile asset when the field was covered.
“It’s always a preference to be on Shelly,” Timberg said, “but the choice to continue having practices, whether they looked traditional or not, was really important during that week.”
Although the situation did not provide an optimal practice experience, Timberg appreciated the timing of the storm.
“If it was going to happen at any time, it was probably a good thing that it happened before we were actually in season,” Timberg said. However, that’s never what you want. You come back to school and you’re in the mindset of getting ready for that opportunity. A sheet of ice doesn’t really help with that.”
With a prolonged focus on conditioning and drills, rather than shooting on goal, the lacrosse teams were excited to return to Shellenberger. As the sun completely melted the ice weeks later, Timberg praised those who assisted when it mattered most.
“The people who were out there actually helping to clear the field, they’re grinding and want to be out there,” Timberg said. “At the end of the day, we all want to get going on the season.”
To access the Lynchburg sports schedule for upcoming home games, click here.
