While a majority of the country's businesses have had to close their doors due to COVID-19 that has affected the world for the past months, a number of senior athletes have had to close the doors on their athletic careers at Westminster. I caught up with a few graduated senior athletes to get their take on the whole situation and find out what the future holds for them.
 
Senior softball player Victoria Pezzuolo was a member of the Westminster softball team for four years, but recently came back from a lingering hip injury that has plagued her throughout her softball career. "I was looking most forward to coming back 100% healthy this year and playing with my amazing team," Pezzuolo stated. When I asked her how she felt about losing her senior season, she replied, "I was heartbroken and devastated that the season got cut short. We worked so hard for an entire season to be taken away from us." Pezzuolo had a hot start to her senior campaign, knocking in eight RBIs in the eight games that the team was able to play before the Presidents' Council of the Presidents' Athletic Conference indefinitely suspended the season (then officially cancelled). Pezzuolo said the two things she is going to miss the most about playing softball at Westminster are her teammates and the atmosphere. When I asked her what her next steps were, she said, "I will continue my job search with plans on scoring a sports marketing position in the Pittsburgh area." Pezzuolo then took the time to reflect on her time as a college athlete and said, "The best part about being a college athlete was knowing all the hard work I put in over the years paid off."
 
From the softball field to Burry Stadium, that's where senior Chris Slater spent his last four years as a men's lacrosse player at Westminster. Slater described his team as "a second family" and thanked them for all of the memories they helped him create. When asked if there was one that stood out in particular, he was quick to respond and said, "The best memory I have is when we rushed the field after beating Saint Vincent in the PAC Semifinals last season to reach the program's first championship (game)." Like Pezzuolo, Slater was upset about the decision to cancel his senior season, but he, and the other seniors on the team looked at it from a whole different perspective. He said, "When I first heard about it, I was beyond angry, but the more I talked to my team and my friends, I changed from angry to sad. It wasn't until the day I left campus I was okay with it all." A bit confused about his answer, I asked him to elaborate and he responded, "The reasoning behind that is all of the seniors talked and basically came to the conclusion that this isn't goodbye, but an elongated separation. I know I will see all my teammates again soon and that's what keeps me going." Slater says he will move on after graduation and work as a national representative for Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity, where he served as president for two years. When asked if he had any advice for his fellow teammates and Westminster athletes he replied with a meaningful quote saying, "Go make memories, because that's what I will miss the most. TLTW (Titans Lead the Way)."
 
Another senior athlete who called Burry Stadium home was women's lacrosse player Cortlynn Douds. Entering into her senior season, Douds was most looking forward to winning a second-straight PAC championship with her team after winning the inaugural tournament the season prior. "I was devasted," Douds said when asked about not being able to finish her senior season. "You practice so much and you have all these plans and goals for yourself and your team and it was taken away in a second. You never know how lucky you are until something is gone. It still doesn't feel real." When I asked her what she is going to miss most about playing lacrosse, she said, "I'm going to miss stepping out on the field and having the feeling of everything you're worried about go away and just being focused on winning and doing my best for the full 60 minutes we play." Douds' teammates were very important to her, especially fellow senior Bria Braddock. "We transferred to Westminster together and she is the reason I am the player that I am today." Douds and Braddock took the field together over forty times together in their careers. Douds still has one more semester to complete at Westminster in the fall of 2020 with plans of heading into the real estate business following graduation.
 
From the turf to the track. That is where you would have found senior Maura Belding for the last four years at Westminster. Belding, a soccer player in the fall turned runner during the winter and spring seasons, had quite the success in her collegiate track career. She is a two-time PAC Indoor team champion as well as an individual conference champion in the 4x400 meter relay. "My most memorable moment has to be winning the 4x400 this past season to help win our second-straight (team) championship," Belding said. Like most of her fellow classmates who have been impacted by the cancellation of spring sports, Belding was sadden by the news to cancel, because she will not be able to compete with her fellow seniors and teammates during one last season. The men's and women's track and field teams had just gone on a team trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina when they found out that their season had been canceled. "We had gotten so much great quality time during our trip and were ready to go into the season with a full head of steam and then it was just gone," Belding explained when asked about when she heard the news. I then asked her what she will miss most about running and being a two-sport collegiate athlete. She said, "Sports have always been a huge part of my life and I'm definitely going to miss the atmosphere of games and meets as well as pushing myself to do better every day. While I'm absolutely going to miss all of those things, I'm going to miss my friends the most. I could not even imagine having not gone through these past four years without them." Belding still has one more semester at Westminster in the upcoming fall and she hopes to be able to extend that semester into two and run again next spring. The NCAA granted all spring student-athletes an extra year of eligibility. "After I graduate, I will hopefully continue my education while coaching either track or soccer and go into pharmaceutical sales once I get my degree."
 
The coronavirus has affected over 100,000 senior athletes in every sport and that includes some of our own at Westminster. While their athletic and college careers may be coming to an end, we take a moment to thank them and reflect on everything they have given to their teams, school, and community. While this virus won't last forever, the memories and impact that these seniors have had at Westminster will.