ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The road to competition was not an easy one for the College of Saint Benedict athletic department amid the COVID19 pandemic.
 
After getting the green light from the MIAC presidents, the college had to set up a testing schedule for all 11 of the department's varsity sports – as well as club sports – and design detailed plans for team travel, hosting events and quarantine policies.
 
No matter what challenges arose – and there were plenty as the pandemic continued throughout the school year – Erin Ross was ready to find an answer to help the Bennies continue to compete in the sports they love.
 
From testing to scheduling to quarantine details to helping the college through the global pandemic, Ross did it all in 2020-21. For her dedication and the immense amount of time and work she put in to making competition safe for all of CSB's teams, Ross is the department's 2020-21 Margy Hughes Inspirational Award winner.
 
The Margy Hughes Inspirational Award was created many years ago to honor CSB's long-standing friend and colleague, Margy Hughes. Margy was a professor at the College of Saint Benedict for more than 35 years and has played an instrumental role as a leader in the Physical Education department and in the development of CSB athletics. Upon her retirement, the department chose to remember and recognize her ongoing dedication to the college and athletic department in the naming of this award.
 
The Inspirational Award is given each year to an individual or group of individuals who make a positive impact on CSB's athletic department either behind the scenes or on the court, ice, track or field. The award is given out by CSB's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) group.
 
Ross stepped up to help Saint Benedict in the fall even when competition was canceled through at least December. She was one of the key members of the college's COVID task force, and throughout the fall she helped both Saint Benedict and Saint John's navigate best practices during the pandemic, as well as quarantine and isolation situations for students, as well as faculty and staff. She met daily with other members of the team, as well as CSB/SJU leadership, to determine how to keep students on campus and safe.
 
When athletic competition was given the go-ahead by the conference presidents in mid-January, Ross was right there once again, ensuring that all Bennies would get the chance to compete. She worked with Sartell Family Medicine to secure testing for all student-athletes and coaches and to set up a testing schedule that aligned with both NCAA, MIAC and Minnesota Department of Health regulations. She also got certified so that she could perform rapid tests on student-athletes whose work or class schedules didn't allow them to make the testing times throughout the week.
 
Along with testing, Ross helped with contact tracing, seating charts for bus rides and helping set up protocols for home contests to ensure that student-athletes, coaches and CSB athletics staff were as safe as possible during competitions during the pandemic. When the need arose, she also helped athletes work through quarantine and isolation schedules, procedures and questions – all while keeping teams healthy from an athletic training standpoint.
 
"Erin went above and beyond in her duties this academic year to assist in making athletics possible for our student athletes," CSB head softball coach and co-SAAC director Rachael Click said. "In addition to her normal responsibilities of an athletic trainer, she spent time meeting with the athletic leadership committee, attending countless COVID task force virtual meetings, ordering COVID tests, assisting on testing days and tracking results. Notifying athletes or teams that they might not be able to practice or play is not a role any of us envy, but one that was essential to make this year a success. It is a small miracle that we held as many practices and played as many contests as we did, and Erin was a large piece of that puzzle. Here's to hoping next year she will spend a lot more time simply taping ankles and handing out ice bags."
 
Along with her COVID and athletic training duties, Ross is also the co-SAAC director Click, and she is an adjunct professor in the nutrition department.
 
The 2020-21 SAAC representatives include: