The coronavirus pandemic has almost wiped out another sports season in Northern Colorado.

This insufferable virus continues to cause havoc across the country in many ways much, much more important than sports.

But, still, the continued loss of sports hurts.

There is a partial fall high school season just getting underway with cross country, boys golf, boys tennis and softball competing. But many fall high school sports aren’t happening now.

The Mountain West has suspended all fall sports, taking away CSU football, soccer, volleyball and cross country.

What are we missing with all those sports off the table? A lot.

Here are some of the things I lament losing most. All these sports have hopes to play seasons in the spring, but as we’ve learned, nothing is guaranteed and any sports that do play will look vastly different than the games we’ve grown to know.

The Breana Runnels hammer

The most dominant athlete at CSU? That might just be Breana Runnels, now the undisputed best player on the best team on campus. The Rams graduated a bevy of talent from the 2019 volleyball team — including three-time Mountain West Player of the Year Katie Oleksak — but Runnels should have been the brightest star in 2020.

She’s arguably the best attacker in school history, with a program record 1,238 kills, and would have been the favorite for best player in the Mountain West Conference.

It’s not just the numbers, it’s watching how it’s done.

Runnels attacks with ferocity and is one of the highest jumpers and best athletes CSU has ever had. She thumps the ball into the floor with disturbing power. There’s usually an audible gasp from the crowd before they cheer when she lands a kill.

She’s smart and creative in finding holes in defenses and can be unstoppable — an exceptional player in a program with a history of incredible talent.

Lost Friday night lights

This high school senior class in Fort Collins football has some of the best individual talent seen in a single group in years.

Trey Zuhn (Fossil Ridge) is committed to Texas A&M and arguably the best lineman in the state. Zuhn’s teammate Tanner Arkin and Poudre’s Justin Michael have both committed to Colorado State.

There are several other seniors who are worthy of NCAA Division I scholarships. What now? How will the lack of a fall season impact recruiting? How many players will leave for a state attempting to play fall football?

And beyond that, we’re just going to miss those Friday nights. A crosstown showdown at French Field is always a top fall night.

CSU soccer surge

They went from being a Mountain West afterthought to a conference contender in one year. The 2019 season was a monumental step forward for the CSU soccer team as the Rams set program records in every conceivable category on the way to a 12-5-3 season.

What’s the next step? Can the Rams stay at this level or reach even higher? The standard of success has been raised.

There are positive signs for a program beginning to recruit a higher standard of player. This 2020 season was going to be a good test of maintaining positive momentum.

CSU football’s unstoppable air attack

If you’re going to get burned by the CSU football offense, how do you want your defense to be embarrassed?

By big receiver Warren Jackson making all your defensive backs look like high school players? He’ll win jump balls over them, he’ll run through their tackles, outrun them to the end zone. A juggernaut receiver.

Or do you want to be manhandled by Trey McBride? Defenders almost hope CSU is passing the ball because a run means McBride will go “The Blind Side” and block a defender off the field and onto the bus. He plays mad and has the grit and the skill of a will-be NFL tight end.

So you want to attack the little guy? Well, good luck catching Dante Wright. He can show up in the backfield, on an end around, a quick screen, a deep ball. What Tyreek Hill does on the field for Kansas City in the NFL is what Wright does for CSU.

Those three combined for 2,484 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns in 2019, and in theory, all should have be even better this year.

And that’s all without even mentioning another great tight end in Cam Butler and former Auburn transfer Nate Craig-Myers at receiver.

Who knows what a spring season will look like and who will be there to play it. This would have been one of the best offensive skill groups in program history.

Top volleyballers

A city high school volleyball team has been in the Class 5A quarterfinals or better each of the last four seasons.

Fort Collins High School was a semifinalist last season. Fossil Ridge won a state title in 2016. Excellent club programs in Northern Colorado have led to outstanding high school teams. Who would have been the dominant force in 2020?

It would have been a great battle.

Now the high school spring 2021 season will be up against the club season. What will the impact be?

The underdogs 

May I interest you in a Cinderella story? Unpredictability is one of the great constants in sports. Surprise teams make surprise playoff runs.

What local team could have done it this year if not for the coronavirus shutdown? It’s hard to say, but somewhere in boys soccer is a good bet.

Fort Collins has a great history of causing ruckus in the postseason. Last season, No. 13-seeded Rocky Mountain made the boys soccer quarterfinals. In 2018, No. 7 Fort Collins made the 5A quarters while No. 9 Liberty Common made the 3A final.

In 2017, No. 8-seed Liberty Common won the 3A title while Fort Collins played in the semifinals. And in 2016, No. 30 Fossil Ridge — yes, 30. Not a typo — made the semis.

Let’s hope the boys soccer teams can cause problems in the spring.

Sports family

The sound of the crowd going crazy during a big play for the home team. The jeers of derision at a bad call from the ref. The tailgating, the pregame hangouts with friends. The after-game drink to break down what just happened.

Sports are far more than just the games. They’re a community we build and one we’re missing badly right now.

Follow Kevin Lytle at twitter.com/Kevin_Lytle and at facebook.com/KevinSLytle. Coloradoan Sports can also be followed on Twitter. If you don’t already, please support local journalism at Coloradoan.com/subscribe.