Starting Friday, Winona High School will postpone all athletic practices and competitions for the next two weeks due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Winona County. It means their fall sports season will face a setback just a week into competitions.

Thursday’s action went on as planned, including Winona girls’ swimming’s virtual meet against Mankato East, which had a Christmas theme.

Winona and their opponent set their lineups, they time their own athletes at their home pools and then merge the results to determine the winner. Winona still makes sure to social distance and wear masks as soon as they exit the pool.

But before the competition started Thursday, it was harder for them to get excited knowing their season would be losing two crucial weeks.

“We’re disappointed,” girls swimming coach Linda Whyte said. “We knew it was a possibility. We’re hoping we get back in the pool in two weeks. That’s really our hope. All the teams in our Big 9 Conference are still swimming, and we’re not. That’s a tough pill to swallow.”

Winona would lose a close meet to East, 96-89.

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