Du Quoin athletes return to workouts

Football conditioning and some workouts have resumed at Du Quoin High School after a nearly two-week hiatus that was called June 30 after one player tested positive for COVID-19.

There are now three Du Quoin High School students who have been confirmed as having the coronavirus, Superintendent Matt Hickam said Monday, but said they believe practices can be held safely. Only one of the three is a football player, he added.

Along with football, athletes in cross-country, cheerleading and on the dance team have all been given the green light to work out, Hickam added.

Basketball and volleyball athletes are not working out, Hickam said, but not for COVID-19-related reasons.

"Our gym floors are scheduled to be resealed in the not too distant future," Hickam said, adding it made no sense to get those athletes started and then have to stop them once the resealing begins.

The three cases of COVID-19 have a connection, Hickam said. One of the three contracted COVID-19 while on a trip that also involved some recent DHS alumni, and that student unwittingly passed it to the other two.

As well, four alumni on that trip also contracted the virus, Hickam added.

Hickam said the football workouts are now going beyond just conditioning and involve more sports-specific practices.

"They are limited (by IHSA rules), but they can get a ball in their hands, and do a few more things," he added.