Black River recap

 

This past Saturday the 2^nd varsity squad took on competition at Black River and faired very well, finishing in 2^nd place out of 9 teams.  This team was led by junior Erin Hyland who earned a varsity letter with a PR of 22:08 – good for 12^th place overall.  She was followed closely by a pack of Jaguars including: sophomore Rachel Garlock (13^th), juniors Anna Khuri (18^th), Alexia Wenzel (19^th), and Susie McGowan (21^st). 

Out of 159 finishers in the race, SJA had 44 of them – over 25% of the field.  The team’s size has been an added value all season long, providing depth, fun, and a loud cheering section.  Next week the team travels to Oregon Clay near Toledo to take on some different competition from Northwest Ohio.

Boardman McDonough recap

 

Boardman and McDonough recap

This past weekend the cross country team split up the squad and attended two separate meets.  The top 8 varsity runners woke up early to trek out to Boardman High School to run the Spartan Invitational, which is held on the same course as the post-season regional race.  Because of this, most of the best teams in NEO travel to this meet to get a preview of the course.  The Jags finished 9^th out of 35 teams – 3 of the teams that were ahead of the Jags were from Pennsylvania and West Virginia.  For the fourth race in a row, Ali Blouch was first across the line on the significantly long (over 5000m) course.  For her efforts running a strong second loop, Anna Duesenberg was named the team’s “athlete of the meet”.

The rest of the team stayed local by running at the 60^th McDonough Invitational hosted by VASJ at Forest Hills Park in Cleveland Hts.  Running against other teams varsity squads, our second unit performed admirably, finishing 5^th of 10 teams.  Junior Susie McGowan paced the varsity squad.

In the open race, it was a Jag festival (as usual) with over half the field being SJA runners.  Using smart tactics and team strategy, junior Clare McCarthy paced herself over the first half but stayed strong to finish first overall in the race.  The Jags had 10 of the top 13 finishers with Maeve Kelly ’25 finishing 3rd Grace Harris ’25 4th, Morgan Rudolph ’22 – 5^th, Kate Mocho ’25 – 6^th, Bridget Mullen ’25 – 9^th, Monica Saurette ’24 – 10^th, Bridget Collins ’24 – 11^th, Isabella Bobe ’22 – 12^th, and Clare Jordan ’22 – 13^th.

The JV will head to Black River next week to again race as a varsity while the top 8 sit out to take a break from racing for a week.

 

Wooster Recap

 

Wooster Invitational Recap

This past Saturday the Running Jags traveled to Wooster to run in their invitational, which breaks over 25 straight years of competing at the Tiffin Carnival on this weekend.  The team lived up to the expectations of a new meet with great team races, loads of PR’s (personal records), and a boost in confidence as they hit the mid-season soon.

Starting the day off was the varsity group, who used their experience and composure to move up through the pack during the race and finish 3^rd overall out of 16 teams.  In the process they defeated some state-ranked teams and found they can compete with the best in the area.  Once again, Ali Blouch led the squad with her 10^th place finish and season best time of 19:21.  The rest of the varsity were; sophomore Erin Hvizdos (20^th), seniors Emma Hvizdos (21^st) and Carlee Blankenship (25^th), sophomore Grace Rowell (31^st), senior Anna Duesenberg (35^th), freshman Addy McGee (51^st), sophomore Keira Leneghan (57^th), junior Susie McGowan (76^th), and freshman Ruthie Becker (81^st).

The JV race saw many PR’s for the Jags, but no team score was kept (SJA would have been 3^rd in this race as well if scores were kept). Leading this group was sophomore McKenzie Riley who ran a big PR and finished 10^th overall. She was followed to the line by many in quick succession including these 3 athletes who also earned a “half-letter” for SJA by breaking the 22:30 time barrier; juniors Erin Hyland and Kate Boland, and sophomore Rachel Garlock.  Besides those athletes, the following all ran lifetime bests; Ava Barrett, Jadin Bisheimer, Abaeny Dek, Sophia Eldridge, Grace Fitzpatrick, Alexia Glaros, Alivia Griwatch, Katie Hansen, Grace Harris, Maeve Kelley, Marina Mastantuano, Rose McGreal, Kate Mocho, Bridget Mullen, Sabrina Pham, Sophia Ross, Morgan Rudolph, Monica Saurette, Audrey Tytko, Anna Welch, and Lucy Ye. 

 

McDowell Invitational Recap

 

On Saturday, the cross country team made the journey to Erie, Pennsylvania to run at the McDowell Invitational.  The meet was held at the beautiful Brown Farm in the Asbury Metropark.  Being that this was the first time SJA had ever competed at this meet, many new challenges presented themselves like a new course and unfamiliar competition.  The Jags found a beautiful course with great footing and a great stretch of trail through the woods, but they also found more hills than the previous meet in Painesville and many turns that would make following the right path difficult at times.

The varsity was the first group to run.  Early on, they felt out their competition, but it didn’t take long for the Jags to realize it was time to move.  Spectators quickly realized that the team from Ohio was the one to beat.  In the end, SJA won first place out of 14 teams and was ahead of 2^nd place by almost 60 seconds.  The team was led by junior Ali Blouch, who won the overall race with a time of 19:45.  Sophomore Erin Hvizdos was next across in 4^th place.  Then a group of seniors, Carlee Blankenship, Emma Hvizdos, and Anna Duesenberg finished in 10^th, 11^th, and 12^th to round out the scoring.

The JV race was a Jaguar showcase as we had over half of the field.  After many wrong turns by most of the team at various times, the Jags still took the top 11 spots and 15 of the top 20 to shut out the field.  Freshman Addy McGee was the overall winner in 22:29 and was followed closely by junior Susie McGowan who was completing her first cross country race ever.  Juniors Erin Hyland and Anna Khuri were next, followed by sophomore Rachel Garlock who rounded out the first score for the Jags.

There were many great performances for the Jags, but Garlock was named the team’s Athlete of the Meet for her incredible performance.

Riverside Recap

 

The cross country team opened up their 2021 season with some very strong performances at the Riverside Kickoff Night meet held in Painesville.  Out of 52 runners that SJA sent to the line, 25 were first time runners, so there was a lot of excitement in the air for this rare night time race.

The JV group opened the night for the Jags, where 24 of the 25 first time runners were making their high school cross country debuts.  One of those new runners, Ruthie Becker (’25), had the lead for most of the race until being caught at the very end.  Her 2^nd place finish helped the JV squad finish 2^nd to Massillon Jackson out of 14 teams.  The rest of the top 5 for the Jags were; Addy McGee (’25), Kate Boland (’23), Anna Khuri (’23), and Alexia Wenzel (’23).

While the JV race was run before sundown, the big event was for the varsity races to run in the dark.  Lit up by temporary light stands and Christmas lights, the varsity race had the unique experience of running at 9:30 at night.  In a very good field of 19 teams, SJA finished 6^th.  The team employed a pack strategy for most of the race and finished very close to each other at the end.  Junior Ali Blouch was first across the line in 34^th place, followed closely by seniors Carlee Blankenship (35^th) and Anna Duesenberg (37^th). Sophomore Erin Hvizdos was not far behind in 43^rd, with senior sister Emma close by in 48^th.

Next weekend the team travels to Erie, PA to compete in the McDowell Invitational.