Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

Three years into her high school career Ella Cook has grown accustomed to navigating the hectic life of a three-sport athlete.

The City High junior has become an expert at managing days filled with early morning weight training sessions, after school in-season practices, later evening off-season workouts on top of school work.

In March when the coronavirus pandemic caused all of those activities to stop in an instant Cook quickly realized how conditioned she had become to her hectic schedule.

“I’m used to getting up before school and lifting and then going to two practices after school so it was strange to not having anything going on,” Cook said. “I knew I had to do something.”

Days after COVID-19 shut down school and sports schedules Cook determined sitting at home through a pandemic wasn’t an option.

So, after searching for something to do and a small way to help out Cook and City High softball team Carey Koenig took jobs at Hy-Vee.

“I knew I was going to have a lot of free time on my hands and the grocery stores were struggling a little bit because some of the older employees didn’t want to work during that time,” Cook said. “I knew those people were more at risk than me and I had the time so I decided to work.”

In their first taste of the workforce Cook and Koenig jumped right in working 30-40 hours a week.

During the time the two friends had planned on taking ground balls and batting practice they instead filled the past two months sacking, searching for and stocking groceries.

“It just gave me something to do instead of sitting at home and questioning if everything was going to be o.k. and if softball was going to happen,” Koenig said. “It just took my mind off a lot of things. Koenig was a checker while Cook worked largely with the Hy-Vee Isles Online program filling orders for customers to be picked up at the curb or delivered.

Initially the jobs were a way to stay busy and make some money but as the weeks and months went by and a softball season seemed less and less likely the work developed an added benefit for both Koenig and Cook.

“It was a way to help but it really took my mind off things,” Cook said. “I was stressed about softball season with this being a big season for me recruiting wise I had a lot of that on my mind so it was nice having something to do so I wasn’t just sitting at home worrying about it.”

Cook is a strong basketball player, good enough to start for state qualifying teams the past two seasons, and a state medalist in the long jump.

However, her first athletic love and hopeful collegiate sport is softball.

Even with the pandemic putting her junior season in jeopardy Cook managed to find a way to work on softball daily during her time off.

When it was announced last month that summer sports would be played with games beginning June 15 across the state Cook exhaled for what felt like the first time in months.

“I would just say I was relieved,” Cook said. “I think I went to a field almost every single day since the pandemic started and I just didn’t want to feel like I did that every single day for nothing.”

Many athletes around the state were itching to play this summer.

Koenig and Cook and the rest of the City High softball team had the added incentive to play of feeling as if they are legitimate state title contenders.

That feeling was further supported when City High was second in the Class 5A preseason rankings released by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union.

“We know that this year we have a good shot to win a state title,” Cook said. “I am going into my junior year and I would have liked to have won a state title by now and it hasn’t happened in basketball or softball yet so I really wanted this opportunity because I feel like we have a really solid team and a good group of seniors and I really wanted a chance to play for a state title this year.”

Simply put City High is loaded.

Seven starters that combined to hit a whopping 53 home runs last season return. A list that includes first-team all-staters and Division I recruits in Ayana Lindsey (Northwestern) and Koenig (Drake).

Lindsey is one of the state’s best posting a .463 average and 18 home runs last season while going 21-4 with a 1.33 ERA and 172 strikeouts in the circle.

Koenig hit .466 with 13 home runs and 54 RBI and Cook is among four other Little Hawks that return after hitting at least four homers a year ago.

“You’ve got the ability with that group of girls to absolutely flat out play ball,” City High coach Jeff Koenig said. “With this team coming back I just wanted us to get some kind of season in because this team can play for a state title, they are that good. You have to be lucky and good to win a state title, it has to come together but we have the ability to play softball. We have the ability to pitch, we have the ability to play defense and we have the ability to hit the heck out of the ball.”

Even with practices starting June 1 Cook has still been working at Hy-Vee though her focus is back on softball and chasing a state title.

And though there are new safety guidelines in place to deal with concerns of COVID-19 like sanitizing hands and equipment and temperature scans Cook says its nice to be back to normal.

“There are things we have to do before we get on the field that are new but once we step on the field it’s just softball. Everyone is excited, everyone is cheering for each other, it’s just back to normal and it just takes your mind off of everything that is going on and that’s really refreshing.”

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