Back to the state meet!

 This past Saturday the Jags scratched and clawed their way through the 24 team field at the Boardman Div 1 regional to a state meet birth.  With their 8th place finish, the Jags earned the final qualifying spot.  It took a full team effort, starting with the top 3 runners who each put together a strong race at the same time after trying to do so for many weeks.  Senior Ali Blouch was the top runner, finishing 14th overall and bouncing back after an injury prevented her from qualifying last year.  The team's second runner, junior Grace Rowell, finished 21st overall and demonstrating how good she can be with 2 shoes on her feet after losing a spike last week at the district meet.  Senior Sarah Scott, who lost most of her junior year with an ACL injury, bounced back for her senior year with 27th place finish.  All 3 runners would have been individual qualifiers on their own, but the team wasn't done.

Sophomore sensation Bridget Mullen, having never been a varsity cross country runner until the second half of the season, finished as the 4th Jag beating many runners that have beaten her earlier in the season and in previous years.  It was a crafty veteran who pulled out the race of the day, as junior Erin Hvizdos, slowed by injuries earlier in the year, and rested the weekend of districts, finished as the 5th Jaguar punching the team's ticket to the state meet.  Newcomer and senior Tacy Kratt was 6th runner and another sophomore running as varsity for the first time, Grace Harris, rounded out the 7 runners for the Jags.

This marks the 13th time in the past 23 years the Jags have qualified to the state meet, which is now hosted at a venue called Fortress Obetz which is along the I-270 outerbelt in the Southeast corner.  The team will run at 3:45 Saturday, November 5th.

Summer Calendar and Fall race schedule are now posted...see links above!

 The summer conditioning schedule has been set and is now posted in the links at the top of the page.  It follows the same pattern used in previous years, starting with a "new runner" only day on Friday June 17.  On this day, only incoming frosh and new upperclasswomen will meet with the captains and coaches to experience the basics of how a summer conditioning day works.  Just show up with a water bottle and be dressed to run.

Also posted above is this fall's competition schedule.  We have fewer split squad days than last year, and a few new locations as well.  We also have one open weekend on the schedule at the moment (Sept 17), but that will be filled and families will be notified when that happens.

All runners are expected to attend all competitions whether they are participating or not.  We want all runners to be healthy, but the reality is on a team of 60+ runners, some will need a week or two off, so we'll need their help with splits, gear, etc...

Be ready for a great season and don't hesitate to reach out to Coach Kieser with any questions.