This is the final piece in a multi-part series on Hillsdale College student-athletes in spring sports that lost their senior season in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and chose to take advantage of the extra eligibility granted by the NCAA waiver after the cancellation of the 2020 spring season to return to Hillsdale for an additional year.
Dana Weidinger had been a starting pitcher for the Hillsdale College Charger softball team for the last three years. When she found out in March that she'd lost the opportunity to make it four due to the Covid-19 pandemic, she felt devastated.
No matter how badly she wanted to come back and finish out a fourth season in Charger blue, however, she still felt it was time to move on. With plans to earn an MBA and transition into the professional world of sports business, Weidinger prepared to hang up her cleats and glove.
"We were in Florida for our spring break trip, sitting on the couches in the hotel and (Charger softball) Coach Kyle (Gross) came in and said the tournament was canceled (due to the pandemic)," Weidinger recalled. "We just all looked at each other and were like, 'Oh my gosh, was that our last game?'"
After realizing they had just played in their last collegiate softball game during the spring training tournament, Weidinger and her fellow seniors had a lot to take in.
"My body and my mind could not take that in at that moment," she said. "I kept thinking it was a joke and it wasn't happening."
Head softball coach Kyle Gross couldn't seem to take it either. Weidinger said he approached her right away to ask if she wanted to come back for a fifth year.
"I was like, 'I haven't even processed this yet.' It was all so much so fast," she said. "But he just wanted me to know that if I had the opportunity to come back, he'd give me the opportunity."
Gross knew the impact Weidinger had on the team over the prior three years. A reliable workhorse for the Charger pitching rotation, Weidinger was in the top 10 in Charger softball history in career innings pitched, wins and strikeouts when her senior season came to a halt in March. Not having Weidinger around for 2020-21 would leave a big hole in the Chargers' pitching staff as well. Normally the team likes to keep four to five pitchers in rotation, but with only one new freshman pitcher recruit for the 2020-21 season, Gross would be left with only three pitchers to rely on if Weidinger chose to move on. Gross knew he needed Weidinger back.
But Weidinger had already been applying and interviewing for graduate schools all spring with the intention of graduating in May. By the time May came, Weidinger still planned to graduate with the class of 2020. She was off to graduate school. But then she learned Walsh University offered an online MBA program.
"I found out Walsh would take me if I graduated in 2020, so I graduated, sent in my transcripts, and I started my first semester in June," Weidinger said. "That was when I let Coach Kyle know. I made the decision after I knew I was able to start my master's and take classes still here at Hillsdale."
Now, Weidinger is earning her master's online through Walsh and pursuing a second minor in financial management at Hillsdale.
"I'm just thankful I can have both things," she said. "I can only explain that as a God-given gift."
She was even able to walk with her class at Hillsdale's Commencement ceremony in July.
"I was so excited. It was awesome walking across stage," she said. "I didn't feel like my senior year had ended, but it was nice to be able to graduate with my friends."
While most of Weidinger's original classmates have moved on, she said she still feels right at home with her team, along with her only other fellow fifth-year senior, Sam Catron.
"It was great to come back. I'll join this new senior class and I have a lot of friends," she said. "They were very inviting to both me and Sam. They welcomed us with open arms."
Weidinger said that while she's been busy with balancing two different course loads and softball, she still wants to make her team a priority.
"Last year I was really stressed. I was taking 18 credits and locked at my desk in my room most of the time," she said. "It was hard not being with the team. So one of my things this year is to make more close friends on the team."
She said she'll also be taking a coffee tour of Hillsdale. After trying every ice cream flavor at her favorite ice cream shop, The Udder Side, she also wants to try all the coffee flavors from the different coffee shops in town.
"I'm branching out and trying coffee now," she said. "So far, I've tried every chai tea latte flavor at Jilly Beans, and I went to Rough Draft one time, but I haven't really tried all of their things yet."
Between leading the Charger softball team, pursuing a master's and furthering her undergraduate degree, and sampling all the local eats and drinks Hillsdale has to offer, Weidinger certainly isn't leaving anything left behind.
"I wanted to make it worth my while. I didn't want to just coast through this year."
Written by Calli Townsend. Photo by Camryn Olson.