Syracuse, N.Y. — After starting its fall season with a handful of practices, Cato-Meridian has decided to postpone sports because of a coronavirus flareup.

The district is moving its field hockey, cross country and soccer schedules to fall sports season II, which begins March 1. Superintendent Terry Ward II said the move was sparked by two positive tests at the junior/senior high school last week. Ward would not specify whether the positive cases involved athletes.

Ward said the Cato-Meridian teams practiced for four days last week. Ward said he was initially in favor of trying to start the season but was worried that staffing shortages would impact the district’s ability to run some in-school learning if teachers or bus drivers became ill.

“These two instances did weigh on our decision as to whether to postpone our fall sports,” Ward said. “That decision wasn’t taken lightly. It really comes down to us trying to stay open for instruction.”

Cato-Meridian competes in the OHSL’s Patriot League. The biggest impact of the school’s departure might be felt in field hockey. With Port Byron/Union Springs and now Cato-Meridian not playing this fall, that leaves just three field hockey teams in the OHSL: Homer, Weedsport, and Cazenovia.

“Yes, we are bummed that we lost two games,” said Cazenovia coach Lorraine Scheftic. “With Port Byron and now Cato gone, it really puts a dent in our league, but I totally understand that schools need to do what’s best for them.”

Here is the current list of Section III schools not playing sports this fall season:

• Adirondack
• Remsen
• Waterville
• Oneida
• Port Byron/Union Springs
• Corcoran
• Nottingham
• Henninger
• Institute of Technology
• PSLA at Fowler
• Fulton
• Lyme
• Alexandria Bay
• LaFargeville
• Belleville Henderson
• Thousand Islands
• Sackets Harbor
• Sandy Creek
• Watertown
• South Jefferson
• General Brown
• Carthage
• Indian River
• McGraw
• Solvay
• Brookfield
• Cincinnatus
• DeRuyter
• Madison
• Otselic Valley
• Stockbridge Valley
• Watertown IHC
• Sherburne-Earlville
• Hamilton
• Old Forge
• Cato-Meridian
• Utica Proctor (paused)
• Vernon-Verona-Sherrill

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Lindsay Kramer is a reporter for the Syracuse Post-Standard and syracuse.com. Got a comment or idea for a story? He can be reached via email at LKramer@Syracuse.com.