File photo – St. Bernard’s head coach Matt Tomlin and his players during a game last season.

By Ray Hamill — Two more H-DNL schools began some type of conditioning/practice for their student athletes last week, and it was a successful return for both.

Following in the footsteps of Fortuna and Ferndale, both St. Bernard’s and McKinleyville began sports activity for the first time since the March shut down.

“We felt it went very well,” said McKinleyville boys basketball head coach Sonny Tripp, who is overseeing a conditioning program for all Mack student athletes. “It was fun and it felt good for all us Panthers to be around each other again and working hard.”

The numbers grew as the week went on, with 30 student athletes showing up for the second session on Thursday. 

The Panthers are getting together for the outdoor sessions three times a week.

The Crusaders also begun their workouts last week, with football, girls basketball and boys basketball all holding separate practice sessions.

“We had some great practices,” said Matt Tomlin, head coach of the girls basketball and football teams. 

The Crusaders had 20 girls show up for basketball on Monday and Wednesday, with COVID-19 restrictions and social distancing in place.

The St. Bernard’s football team also had a big turnout for their two sessions. 

“The football team had a great turnout,” Tomlin said. “We had 30 kids, which is a good number for our program, and we got some really good workouts in.”

The St. Bernard’s volleyball team will begin restricted practice this week.

Del Norte also recently began conditioning sessions for their athletes in small groups outdoors, and will resume “NCS summer rules” for all teams when the Warriors return to in-person classes.

Arcata is also expected to begin some type of conditioning sessions soon.