The three day reprieve from the beginning of school was a double edged sword for some students at Crescenta Valley High School. Having more morning time to sleep-in was a plus but for those in sports and band, missing practice may mean a little harder work down the line to catch up.

“We ran the track a couple weeks ago. We usually run in the park,” said Cooper Iven, a freshman and member of the Crescenta Valley High School cross country team.

Iven is used to running about four to six miles every day except Sundays. The last time he ran was Thursday before the fire, he said.

“I’m a little concerned about not running for so long. I’m anxious to get back to work,” he said.

Sports is not the only activity that has been altered by the fire. The high school band camp has also been in a holding pattern.

“We missed the last three days of band camp. The first day of the fire we went into the gym half way through the day. On Thursday we were in the gym all day and on Friday there was so much smoke in the gym we went home,” said Eddie Taylor, CV High School sophomore and percussionist in the marching band.

The scheduled end of band camp parent performance was cancelled on Friday night and rescheduled for Sept. 4, air quality permitting, according to the CVHS band website.

“We are definitely going to have to work a little harder when we come back,” he said. CVHS football coach Tony Zarrillo said that in the long run the missed practices won’t have that much of an impact on the football program.

“The situation is what it is. There is not anything we had any control over,” he said. In an earlier interview at the fire’s beginning Zarrillo said the smoke had impacted Hell Week.

“It does make things different but we are a fairly veteran team and we have a veteran group of coaches,” Zarrillo said.

The team did have a few meetings during the week.

“The coaches gave us some homework to meet with other members of the team to become better friends,” said Adam Fletcher, member of the high school’s football team.

He was injured during one of the earlier practices and has found this time off beneficial, but he knows they will have to work a lot harder.

“We are going to be in the gym on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Hopefully the air quality will allow us to practice [outside] next week,” he said. “We will hit the ground running.”

American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) teams in Crescenta Valley had just begun their season and have been missing practices.

“We have to get back to practice and start warming up and getting used to soccer again,” said Katherine Cummings, a Mountain Avenue Elementary fifth grader who has been playing soccer for five years.

She said she is looking forward to getting back to practice and their first game in the middle of September.

“I’m just looking forward to getting back,” Cummings said.

  cross country