LUMBERTON — Athletic workouts resumed Monday at Robeson County’s high schools, and through one week the workouts are going well amid the protocols related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I was actually optimistic that we would have a good week, so I’m not really surprised at the week we have,” said Public Schools of Robeson County athletic director Jerome Hunt. “We haven’t had anything negative coming back at us at all. Everything’s worked out well so far.”

Even though the workouts were limited in scope, athletes were simply glad to be doing something active again; the workouts were the first school-sanctioned athletic activities since March.

“The girls were excited to be able to do something,” said Mackie Register, Lumberton athletic director and head volleyball coach. “You could see that look on their face, and the excitement to get to do something. Even though it was just workouts, but they were glad to be back.”

Athletes followed social-distancing guidelines in the workouts, which are limited by state rules to 25 participants indoors and 50 outdoors.

Register said that while his team is limited in what volleyball-related drills it can do, they’re getting plenty of conditioning exercises done.

“It’s going better than I anticipated it going,” Register said. “It’s frustrating not being able to pass the ball back and forth to each other, but I think it’s going to do us better in the long run because we’re getting in really good shape, getting a lot of stuff done.”

Volleyball is the only sport at Lumberton to hold workouts this week. Cross country was also allowed to start, but the school opted to wait an additional week for that team to begin. The boys cross country team at St. Pauls is also waiting until Monday, although the girls team began this week.

“I think more importantly than just getting going and jumping right into the sport, I think everyone on Tuesday when we got started was just relieved to see other human beings,” said Mike Moses, the cross country and girls basketball coach at St. Pauls. “The kids were so excited to be on the school grounds, to see their teammates. I think we underestimate the power of relationships, and that was taken away from these kids, so it’s been good to gradually get everybody back on campus.”

Moses said he thinks the county schools not yet returning to in-person classes has helped the athletic workouts to run more smoothly and safely.

“I think with all of the safety protocols, if students were in school, it would be a little more difficult trying to keep them separated,” Moses said. “I think Jerome (Hunt) and the state and everybody has done a good job of giving us the grounds of what we need to do. Now as coaches we just have to execute it.”

In addition to some cross country teams, the county will allow boys and girls basketball teams to start working out starting Monday.

“That’s going to bring us some more challenges, because we’ll have more people in the gym,” Register said. “We have worked out times where we’re going to stagger. We’ll have about a 15-minute break between one team ending and checking the next team in, so that gives us time to spray if we need to, and we’re exiting out the opposite door from where we’re coming in.”

As workouts continue, Hunt says the key to them remaining safe is simply for athletes and coaches to continue following the protocols the county has laid out.

“This will be something we have to stay on top of, with the protocols. We can’t get lax with it; can’t afford to,” Hunt said. “As long as the protocols are followed, we feel like we should be in good shape.”