Jefferson City senior Andrew Dyer was one of the reasons the Jays won a state track and field trophy last season, the team's first since 2005.
Dyer won his first state medal with a fourth-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles after being seeded 10th.
"I think it was a really good experience for me because now I know I can prepare myself in time for next year," Dyer said at the time.
Dyer was aiming for a state title in both hurdle events this season. He's one of many Jefferson City track and field athletes that will miss out on a chance to chase their athletic goals this spring because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"When we got sent home we were about to have our time trials that day," Jefferson City coach Melvin Myers said. "They've been working hard in the offseason and I was kind of excited to see what they were going to do. It was just a sad day."
Fellow seniors Brendan Rozier and Deaken Walker were other Jays hoping for more state meet success after taking fourth in the javelin and fifth in the 4x800-meter relay, respectively, last season.
And Myers said senior Joseph DeFeo had high hopes after battling injuries the past two years.
"I don't know how I would have felt not having some of the things they are missing out on this year," Myers, a Jefferson City graduate, said. "It's really sad. My heart goes out to them. I think back to my senior. I was able to go to prom, I was able to go to project graduation, I was able to walk right out here."
The girls team is spared of losing any returning state qualifiers to graduation. Instead, a group of sprinters will miss out on a season to work together on relays.
Juniors Dijonay Dawson, Rhakala Blackmon and Ezinne Opara, and sophomore Zaliah Dunbar placed 10th in the 4x100 at state last season. Dawson, Blackom and Dunbar won a state medal with a seventh-place result in the 4x200.
Dawson was also a state medalist in the 100-meter dash after taking seventh.
"On the track I thought we were gonna be real strong," Myers said. " Our girls were primed to have a really strong season. We have a lot back and we had some strong newcomers that we were able to bring in, so I was excited."
Myers has talked with Blackmon and others about the possibility of running in AAU events this summer.
"I was expecting big things out of her in the hurdles and in sprints," Myers said.
Before the official decision to cancel the season was made, Myers was trying to keep everything as normal as possible with suggesting home workouts and planning for a potential partial season.
"I knew we would have lost a few meets, but I was hoping to kind of move some meets around, get some teams here," Myers said. "And then hopefully have districts, sectionals, state. We were still looking at our plan and hoping to get some season out of it."
Now, it's time to plan for the summer and beyond.
"I liked the energy that we had out here," Myers said. "Hopefully they keep it going."