Successful day at Gilmour

Last Friday the cross country team traveled across town to Gilmour Academy for the Paul Primeau Invitational, heralded as the "state's oldest cross country meet" going on 54 years running.  In a field of 18 teams, the Jags came home with a 3rd place finish losing only to the host Lancers who are ranked 1st in Division III and Bay Village ranked 2nd in Division II.

Employing a team strategy of starting together for a mile then trying to catch people the last 2 miles, the team score looked bleak early.  However freshman Maggie Wagner moved all the way from 51st place to 6th place in the last 2 miles to tie her lifetime best of 19:51.  Seniors Rachel McGuire and Alesha Vovk also moved up from the 50's to 14th and 21st places respectively.  Running in her first varsity race in 3 weeks, senior Maddie Zimmerman finished 4th for the Jags in 45th place and junior Lauren Marconi was 5th in 49th place.

The JV team defended their title from last year, dominated their race with a paltry 30 points vs 82 points for runner up Bay.  Junior Mallory Fahey and freshman Mary Hyland finished 2nd and 3rd overall in the race followed by sophomore Bridget McGuire (6th), seniors Shannon Stauffer and Molly Moore (9th and 10th), and freshmen Katie Pellegrino, Alana Vovk, and Ellen Vichell finishing 11th, 12th, and 15th.

Freshman Annie Wolodzko was voted team runner of the meet for her big break through.  Annie took nearly 2 minutes off her all-time best and broke the 30 minute barrier (and the 29 minute barrier) for the first time ever in 28:59.

The team next competes at the Legends Invitational on October 5th at the Trumbull County Fairgrounds.

Week of September 30th!

We are heading into the final 3 weeks of the season for most of the team, so the majority of you will be tapering, which is the process of cutting back your mileage to make sure your legs feel as fresh as possible.  It won’t be a lot of mileage cut back, but enough to help.

It is supposed to be warmer this week – not hot, but warmer.  You need to hydrate all week so that it doesn’t sneak up on you.  Also, don’t slack off on your multivitamins, iron, or anything else you should be doing on a daily basis.  Take care of business!

In case you didn’t know, the team website is constantly updated after meets.  www.sjaxc.blogspot.com

This week the all-time list, the all-time class record list, the season results list, and the “All-time All-Catholic” list have been updated.  Saturday’s itinerary for Legends has also been posted. 

Don’t forget you should still be executing your perfect month (freshmen welcome not withstanding).

Week of September 30, 2013

Monday, September 30 – practice at Mastick 3:30-5:20

(injured runners can be picked up by 5:00)

AT run broken up

Tuesday, October 1 – practice at Mastick 3:30-5:00

Easy mileage with sprints after

Wednesday, October 2 – repeats at Memorial Field 3:30-5:30

1600, 2 x 800, 4 x 400

Thursday, October 3 – cross train day at SJA – meet in room 331 first to view video first from last weeks workout. 

Groups 1, 2, and frosh done by 4:30.  4 and 5 done by 5:15

Friday, October 4 – pre-meet day at Mastick.  3:30-4:45

Saturday, October 5 – meet at Legends…see itinerary.

Bus leaves at 10:00am.  We have a longer bus ride so be prepared.

Pictures from All-Catholic

Here is a link and some info shared by the host school from the All-Catholic meet pasta dinner.  The photographer listed has the rights but you may use pictures of yourself or contact him to purchase something if you like.

Jeff Unroejeffunroephotography@yahoo.com


Please share this link with your runners:
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32786572@N02/

Enjoy!

Week of September 23

Week of Monday, September 23

Monday, Sept 23 – practice at Mastick – done by 5:15…medium mileage day plus sprints or Frisbee after

Tuesday, Sept 24 – practice at SJA – reformatted repeat LT thousands behind the school.  NEW AND IMPROVED!  Muwahaha  done by 5:30

Wednesday, Sept 25 – practice at SJA – Today will be typical Thursday since this is an early dismissal day.  Groups 1, 2, injured and all frosh done by 3:30.  Rest done by 4:15

Thursday, Sept 26 – pre-meet day at Mastick done by 4:45.  Team dinner by Battistoni’s – they are looking for co-host still.

Friday, Sept 27 – meet at Gilmour (its called the Paul Primeau Invitational). 

Remember its Freshmen Welcome Friday – please do NOT give yourself sugar comas and ignore your proper eating habit.  You will have to be wise about WHEN you eat your meal.  Save something to eat around 2pm, especially if you’re in the open race.

Schedule – 3:20 – bus leaves SJA

5:30 – big school varsity  – Wagner, R. McGuire, Vovk, Marconi, Zimmerman, Butterfield, Fibbi

6:30 – JV/open – rest of team that is available.  This IS a scored race and DOES have a trophy for first.

8:30 – return to SJA

Saturday, Sept 28 – practice at Mastick – “long” run.  Longest group 8 miles.

Sunday, Sept 29 – OFF!!!!!!!!!!!

Split Squad Success for Harriers

The rains fell across Ohio Friday night making everything wet except for the spirits of the SJA cross country team as they spanned the state in two different meets this weekend.  The top 7 runners traveled to Dayton for the Midwest All-Catholic Championships where they finished an excellent 4th in a field of 21 teams.  The rest of the team competed at the Valley Forge Invitational at Tri-C west and finished 3rd of 11 teams.

In Dayton, the top 3 Jaguars finished 7th, 8th, and 11th to pace the team's score.  Maggie Wagner ('17) was the first across the line and the first Jaguar to break the 20 minute barrier in 3 years.  Seniors Rachel McGuire and Alesha Vovk both ran tremendous races to support Wagner's lead.  Junior Lauren Marconi ran the best race of her career to finish 4th for the Jags and sophomore Katie Butterfield rounded out the top 5 scorers for SJA.  Freshmen Mary Hyland and Alana Vovk also traveled as varsity on the trip.

At Valley Forge, the second 7 runners for SJA competed against other schools' varsity teams and still finished 3rd place behind Field and Madison high schools but ahead of 7 other teams.  Senior captain Maddie Zimmerman had her best race of the season to pace the Jaguar squad with junior Clare Fibbi, seniors Molly Moore and Shannon Stauffer, and junior Bridget McGuire rounding out the scoring.

Lauren Marconi was named athlete of the meet at the All-Catholic meet while freshman Grace Kanary earned that recognition for the squad at Valley Forge.  The team next competes at Gilmour Academy on Friday September 27th.

Fast Times at Open Door!!!

When the level of expectation is met by weather, competition, and a flat, dry course great things can happen.  That is just the case with the SJA CC team Tuesday night at Open Door's Patriot Invitational.  Being a smaller school invitational, the Jags sat out their top 12 runners to balance the competition and still nearly defended their title from last year.  Losing by just 3 points to West Geauga's varsity team, Saint Joe's had 29 runners out of 32 earn season best or personal best times.

In the varsity race, the trio of Katie Pellegrino ('17), Clare Fibbi ('15), and Shannon Stauffer ('14) all ran big PR's and finished 6th, 7th, and 8th respectively to pace the Jags.  A second trio finished up the Jaguars' scoring by placing 13-15th place - they were Alessia Saul ('14), Ellen Vichill ('17), and Karley Mullins ('14).  
As in the past 2 years, the depth of the Jaguars overwhelmed the rest of the Open race field.  This year the Jags took 15 of the top 18 places and accounted for 23 of the 37 competitors in the field.  Senior Sara Hurley blasted her old PR by running 22:56 for the 5k and finishing second overall.  First year senior Julia Nebbia finished 3rd overall with a 23:00, and freshman Maggie Carroll was 4th in 23:56.

Youth Movement at McDonough for CC teams

While saving the top few runners for the weekend and sitting a few others for injuries, the SJA cross country team had some younger runners emerge for the program at the McDonough Invitational hosted by VASJ.

With a split squad of many newer runners taking center stage in the varsity race, SJA "A" finished 10th and SJA "B" finished 11th out of 19 teams.  Katie Butterfield ('16) and Lauren Marconi ('15) were the first Jaguars across the line with a personal best times of 21:45 and 21:46 respectively.  Not far behind were freshmen first time varsity runners Alana Vovk (21:58) and Mary Hyland (22:01).  Second year runner Maeve Kroeger ('13) and Clare Fibbi ('14) wrapped up the top 6 in 22:08 and 22:21 for SJA.

In the open race, freshman Maggie Carroll was the top runner for SJA with a big personal best time of 23:53.  In the reserve race, senior Maddie Zimmerman returned to the line up with a solid 5th place time of 22:21.  Butterfield was named the team's athlete of the meet for her efforts.

Next week the top 7 will compete in the Midwest All-Catholic meet in Dayton while the reserves go to the Valley Forge Invitational at Tri-C west.

Week of Sept 16

Believe me when I say I hated not being at the meet on Saturday, but it sounds like all of you really gave a big effort for each other and for Coach McHenry.  I know she appreciates the cooperation!

The injuries are starting to mount and its not fun for any of us.  The biggest thing we've noticed is that many of the injured people are those who did not have a full spring track season of consistent/real running.  Of course there are exceptions, but that is a common theme among most of the wounded.  We can't beg you enough to understand how important off-season training is, so upon getting healthy please remember that in the off-season!

We have quite a busy week, so please pay attention to all that is happening.

Monday - practice at Mastick.  AT workout for non-Open Door people, regular mileage for Open Door runners.

Tuesday - meet at Open Door (please see itinerary - the varsity has changed a LOT for this meet).  Full team travels.  Non-racers run 3-4 miles depending on group.

Wednesday - practice at Memorial field...repeats for non-Open Door people, mileage and some LIGHT work for Open Door people.

Thursday - typical Thursday

Friday - pre-meet day at Mastick, team dinner at Marconi's house.

All-Catholic Info to be posted soon

Saturday - meets at Tri-C and All-Catholic

please see itineraries for more info.  Line ups have NOT been set yet but will be soon.

Sunday - day of rest!

Please remember the following week there is a Friday meet at Gilmour.  We will have workout on TUESDAY of that week.

Tiffin Recap - lots of PR's!

The SJA cross country team traveled to Tiffin for the annual Tiffin Carnival, the largest cross country meet in Ohio each year.  Competing against many of the very best teams in Ohio, the Jags finished 18th out of 34 teams.  While hoping for a high place and an overall stronger showing, at least 22 on the team achieved all time personal bests in the meet.

The top 3 runners for the varsity team faired well, with freshman Maggie Wagner leading the way for the second week in a row with a solid 20:07 time.  Seniors Rachel McGuire and Alesha Vovk also performed well running 20:36 and 20:59 respecitively.

The varsity B team finished 15th out of 33 teams in their race, which featured many schools' top varsity squads.  First to the line for the Jags in this race was senior captain Molly Moore, who ran a big personal best of 22:04.  For her effort, as well as last week's effort, Molly was named the team's athlete of the meet.

In the open race there were over 600 finishers.  Senior Maeve Kroeger finished 16th in that huge field to lead the Jaguar runners.  In the process she broke 22 minutes and earned a varsity letter.  As a team, the Jaguars were 9th of 37 teams in the race.

Next week the cross country team will participate at the McDonough Invitational in Cleveland Heights.

Schedule change Wed and Thurs

Due to expected temperatures in the 90's on Wednesday, we're going to flip flop Wednesday and Thursday's practices.

Wednesday will be at SJA - it will begin at 2:15 (early dismissal day).  Groups 1 and 2 done by 3:30.  Groups 3, 4, 5 done by 4:30.

Thursday will be the time trial at Mastick.  Practice will be dismissed by 5:30.

thank you!

Week of September 9, 2013

A reminder that all practices and meets are mandatory to attend even if you have an injury.  Only exceptions are ACT’s, extreme family circumstances, and a few other rare circumstances.  Please communicate with the coaches clearly.

Mentality.  We want you to believe you belong in every race as a team, and that you should get faster from week to week.  YOU have to believe and YOU have to want it.  Running and racing is not supposed to be easy – it’s a mental battle of overcoming discomfort (not an easy thing to do, but you can practice it).

Monday – Sept 9, practice at SJA – 3:30-5:20

Strength work

Tuesday – Sept 10, practice at Mastick – 3:30-5:15

Easy mileage

Wednesday – Sept 11, practice at Mastick – 3:30-5:15

Time trial #2

Thursday – Sept 12, practice at SJA – 3:30-4:20 (for 1 and 2) 5:15 for 3, 4, 5

Standard cross train day

Friday – Sept 13, practice at Mastick – 3:30-5:00.  Team dinner info TBA

Pre-meet

Saturday – Sept 14, meet at Forest Hills Park

3 races – varsity, JV, and open.  Some varsity will be held out this weekend for a rest, so we do not know who will be on which teams.

Sunday – Sept 15, Heroe’s Run at SJA.  Optional but encouraged.  You get service hours for this!!!!   Please arrive between 7:30-8:00am.  Probably done between 10:00-11:00.  Various jobs include; reading mile splits, passing out water, working the finish line, etc…you’ll get a free t-shirt.

Week of September 2

Again I want to thank ALL for a GREAT trip to Hilliard.  When the team carries themselves in the manner that you did I swell with pride.

This week we will be racing at Tiffin - a very BIG and very FAST meet.  Continue to focus on doing what you need to do to become a faster/better runner (not to mention a GREAT teammate).

Monday - long run at towpath/Rockside Road in Independence.  8:30-10:15.  Directions are easy - from SJA take I-90 east to I-490 east to I-77 south.  Exit at Rockside road and turn left (east) and follow down into the valley (about a 1/2 mile past McDonalds on the right).  Directly across from Lockkeepers, Yours Truly and Malleys.

excused from this run are: Jamieson, Farris, Johnson...rest up and be healthy for Tuesday.

Tuesday - practice at mastick after school. 3:30-5:15 It is very important we all travel down together to make sure every athlete has a seat belt when riding to mastick.  

Wednesday - repeats at Memorial - same rides at Tuesday!!  3:30-5:30

Thursday - cross train at SJA.  Groups 1 and 2 done by 4:45.  Groups 3-5 done by 5:15

Friday - pre-meet at Mastick...done with run and back to SJA by 5pm for team dinner hosted by Hurleys.

Saturday - meet at Tiffin.  Bus leaves at 11:30.  

Div I B race (our JV team) at 3:05

Div I A race (our varsity team) at 4:00

girls open 4:55

Sunday - on own