Avon Lake Earlybird Recap

This weekend, the SJA cross country team tackled a more challenging and tactical course at the Avon Lake Earlybird Meet. Once again, the Jags delivered impressive results bringing home some more hardware. The Varsity squad raced to a 3rd place finish out of 18 teams, led by the dynamic duo of Avery Stives and Maddie Koons, who crossed the line in 4th and 6th place, respectively. Close behind, Elizabeth Siefker, Carolyn Skrha, Amelia Litten, Katherine Starck, and Olivia Newman ran a strong pack helping secure the team’s podium finish.

The rest of the squad dominated the Open Division, earning 1st place out of 13 teams. Ella Schneider led the way with an 8th place finish, while senior Yamaralz Vargas set a lifetime best, earning her a well-deserved nomination and the team’s second Athlete of the Meet title of the season.

Next week, the Jags head to Walsh Jesuit High School for the Pat Ritchie XC Invitational, ready to take on a fast, flat course and continue their streak of strong performances.

Riverside Recap

 The 2025 cross country season has started strong. The girls competed on the trails at Riverside High School during the HOKA Kickoff Classic. The varsity Jags secured 2nd place out of 36 teams, leaving the meet optimistic about the season ahead. The JV Jags also performed well, finishing 6th out of 33 teams.

Leading the pack were junior Avery Stives (3rd place), freshman Maddie Koons (5th place), and sophomore Elizabeth Siefker (7th place). Not far behind were Carolyn Skrha (‘28), Katherine Starck (‘26), Olivia Newman (‘28) and Sylvia Langer (‘29). A total of 47 Jags completed the race, including 12 athletes running their first-ever high school 5k! This year’s team boasts great depth, blending youthful talent with valuable experience.

The team voted to recognize an athlete of the meet for their significant contributions. This week, Mae Wimbiscus earned the honor and received the first athlete of the meet t-shirt of the season.

The Jags’ next competition will be this Saturday at Avon Lake’s Early Bird Invitational, hosted at LCCC.

Summer and Fall schedule now posted!

 The meet schedule for this fall has been posted. It is the same schedule as last fall, but with some subtle changes. We will NOT be going back to Cedarville for the All-Catholic meet and we will go back to using the Portage meet as the overnight trip for 4 year seniors and those who make the time standard.

Also, the important summer dates have been shared as well...camps, etc...

Remember, we will meet 3x/week during the summer for conditioning. It is not mandatory, but highly encouraged if you're in town. Mondays and Fridays at South Mastick: 8:00-9:30...Wednesdays at SJA 8:00-10:00.

Feel free to sign up for the strength/conditioning program as well! Being stronger is a good thing!

Jags earn 11th at State!!

This past Saturday saw the best of Ohio's high school cross country programs meet in Columbus for the state meet and the Jags were there to be part of it. With perfect weather and course conditions, all the races made this year's edition of the state meet the fastest in history, producing some of the best performances ever in Ohio and across the country. SJA was a big part of this day, finishing 11th in the 20 team Division 1 field and having all 7 runners set personal bests.

The Jags were led by sophomore Sofia Koons, who for the 2nd year in a row earned All-Ohio status with her 27th place finish. Sofia's time of 18:26 also bumps her to the 3rd fastest in school history. Not too far behind was senior captain Bridget Mullen who finished 45th overall and broke the 19 minute barrier with her time of 18:54. 

Sophomore Avery Stives also dropped a lot of time off her previous best with her 19:14 effort - she now sits number 13 on SJA's all-time list. Senior captain Grace Harris ran a spirited last mile to finish as SJA's 4th runner and break the 20 minute barrier for the first time with her 19:54 finish. Running a tremendous race in her first state meet as a freshman was Elizabeth Siefker who just missed breaking 20 minutes as did junior Amelia Litten - they finished in 20:01 and 20:04 respectively. Carolyn Skrha, also just in 9th grade, ran her fastest race of the season and finished not far behind her teammates with her 20:22. 

The team had an average of 19:17 which is the best average SJA has ever had at the state meet, even better than the 4th place team's average of 19:39 from 2002. It was an exceptional day for the Jaguars as they continued their tradition of excellence in the OHSAA tournament, greatly exceeding their 16th pre-race ranking and competing as the only private school in the Division 1 girls race. 

some news for week of August 5th

 On Tuesday, August 6th - uniforms will be passed out by the athletic department.  If you miss practice you can pick one up Friday before pictures - just come a little early please.

The spirit wear window closes Tuesday the 6th at midnight, so get your orders in!

The retreat is THURSDAY 8:00-4:30 (bus leaves the retreat at 3:30), NOT on Friday as the original calendar showed.

Team pics are Friday in the morning.  CC is the first team to go and we begin at 8:30...be dressed and ready to go by 8:15, please (and show up before that if you need a uniform top).  And don't forget your ALL Black shorts (and normal running clothes for practice afterwards)

district recap

The SJA cross country team started their post-season push this past Saturday at the Madison district where they finished 2nd overall in the 18 team field.  Despite the rain from the previous week, the competitors found the course conditions to be nearly ideal as times were fast as the competition picks up at the most important time of the year.

The Jags were once again led by the powerful duo of senior Grace Rowell (3rd overall) and freshman Sofia Koons (4th overall).  Rowell's time of 18:44 ties her for 5th all time on the SJA list.  Next in for the Jags was freshman Avery Stives, who caught over 10 people in the second half of the race to finish 10th overall with a new personal best of 19:33 (tying her for 23rd on the school's all-time list).  The last two scorers for SJA were junior Bridget Mullen who was 23rd in the race, and senior Maddie Jarc who finished 30th in the race.  Right behind Jarc was sophomore Amelia Litten who knocked 40 seconds off her personal best time.  Junior Grace Harris was the next Jag in at 47th place.

By being one of the top 6 teams in the race, the team now advances to next week's regional meet at Boardman High School.

Busy weekend for the Jags!

This past weekend the SJA cross country team split up to attend two separate meets, and both groups came away with hardware!

Seven runners took an overnight trip to Cedarville to compete in the Midwest Catholic Championships hosted by Dayton Carroll High School.  The runners enjoyed their first visit to the permanent cross country-only facility by winning the whole meet over 19 other programs.  Freshman Sofia Koons and senior Grace Rowell led the race together from the first step and ended up finishing first and second overall.  Freshman Avery Stives continued her incredible season by finishing 15th overall and 3rd for the team in a PR of 20:13.  Senior Maddie Jarc was 21st and Junior Bridget Mullen was 25th overall and threw in a PR of 20:36 as well.

The rest of the team traveled to Black River for the JB Firestone invitational where they finished 2nd overall as a team behind Div 3 state-ranked Rittman.  Amelia Litten ('26) was the top Jag and 6th overall.  Her scoring teammates stacked in behind her with McKenzie Riley ('24) 11th, Jezebel Kostecke ('27) 15th, Bridget Collins ('24) 16th, and Addy McGee ('25) 17th.

Next weekend the team travels to Madison for the U-Wanna-Come-Back invitational - a flat, fast course and site of the District competition that will be hosted 3 weeks later.