Season Ending Thoughts

The official cross country season has come to an end for SJA and all of Ohio.  There are a few all-star meets and post-season national qualifiers still to be run, but the majority of us have put the 2012 season to rest.  This past fall was a busy one and one that showed moments of great promise.  Old traditions like the canoe run and camp, newer traditions like senior night, and brand new traditions like the Columbus overnight all helped to strengthen the team's unity while the team enjoyed its largest size ever of 51 runners.  On the running front, the Jaguars were not expected to be very competitive after graduating the biggest  class on record (and arguably the most talented).  However this was not the case as the emergence of senior Emily Bauer and Junior Alesha Vovk were two critical components that provided stability at the front.  Both runners were approaching the 20 minute barrier as well as the top 20 all-time list, with Emily having a slight edge and earning team MVP honors.  Combine that with the return of senior Mel Ward, the efforts of junior Rachel McGuire, the clutch performances of sophomore Mallory Fahey, and the establishment of senior twins Jill and Jessica Bresnahan and you have the core group of a consistent varsity squad.
The varsity team did place well at a couple of early invitationals including starting the year with a 2nd place run at the Early Bird followed by a win at Westerville North.  As the meets got bigger SJA's weaknesses were exposed preventing them from challenging for the win at meets like Tiffin, but throughout the year the 2nd 7 (JV squad) performed well often winning each weekend.   There were a lot of contributors to this group including; seniors Helen Steve, Bridget Egan, and Libby Pipak, juniors Maddie Zimmerman, Maeve Kroeger, and Molly Moore, sophomores, Clare Fibbi, Audrianna Farris, and Lauren Marconi, and freshmen Bridget McGuire, Emma Stalder, Katie Butterfield, and Rachel Cogar.
There is a lot of work to do in the off-season for next track season as well as next fall, so hopefully the team takes their running seriously through the winter months.  Quality miles need to be logged, tough days through the snow need to be endured, and an occasional 20 degree run has to be suffered.  It is only through that kind of commitment will improvements be made and steps taken to defeat our opponents because you can be assured those programs are doing the same thing.  Most importantly, and it is something we have tried to press for years, is the further establishment of a real team culture.  The girls all have to believe in each other, the program, the tradition, and all the other parts in order for us to come together and rise up to the next level.
It was overall a very successful year in many regards and I am always thankful for my time with the team, for their support, and for the gifts they gave at the end of the season banquet.  Go Jaguars!

Sweatshirts Galore at last JV meet

The season ended for the JV cross country team at the Walsh Warrior classic, in which runners are split up by age groups.  While no team scores were kept, individuals were awarded sweatshirts if they finished top 25 in their grade level.  A majority of the SJA runners earned a sweatshirt for their efforts.  The top SJA finisher in the freshman/sophomore race was freshman Rachel Cogar, who was 2nd in her race after having led for much of the way.  In the junior/senior race, senior Helen Steve competed for the lead for much of the time, but settled for a 3rd place finish.  In all, 3 PR's were set by Tori Roberts, Corinne Baker, and Julia Kemer.

Workouts for the week of Oct 22

Two things to note:
1.  Uniform turn in day is Friday, during either activity block.  Fill in the post-season evaluation during this time.
2.  The fall sports banquet is Tuesday, November 6th (does this date ring a bell???).  Social hour is at 6:30, dinner at 7:00pm.

Monday, October 22 – meet at Walsh (JV)

          2:00pm – bus leaves SJA

          Varsity (all 7 from districts and Coach Kieser) – stop at towpath to run 5 miles.

          JV to Walsh

          3:10 – frosh/soph warm-up

          4:00 – frosh/soph race (top 25 each grade gets a sweatshirt)

          4:10 – junior/senior warm-up

          5:00 – junior/senior race

Alesha practice with whoever wants to show up with her the rest of the week.

Tuesday, October 23 –

          Easy 4 miles at mastick with striders, abs, and stretch

Wednesday, October 24 – workout at location to be determined

Thursday, October 25 – at SJA – light jog, stretch

Friday, October 26 – light run at location TBD. 

Saturday, October 27 – Regionals at Tiffin (race at 3:00pm – last race of day)

          11:45 – van/car leaves SJA

          2:10 – begin warm-up

Sunday, October 28 – nothing planned

Alesha Vovk qualifies to regionals!

In Saturday's District meet at Strongsville High School, the varsity cross country team's season ended with a 6th place finish of 13 teams.  Finishing as SJA's top runner and qualifying for the Tiffin Regional meet next Saturday was junior Alesha Vovk, who finished 15th place overall in the race.  At 2 miles, Alesha was 17th place, but only the top 16 qualify to the next round.  Vovk ran the last mile tough and actually moved up to 14th place at one point only to be clipped at the line by an opponent.  Sophomore Mallory Fahey finished 2nd for the Jags and 25th overall - her best effort of the season.  The rest of the competitors for SJA were; senior Jill Bresnahan 29th, junior Rachel McGuire 30th, senior Mel Ward 41st, junior Maddie Zimmerman 42nd, and senior Jessica Bresnahan 43rd.

Spotlight on seniors

On Wednesday, October 17th, the SJA cross country team hosted its second annual Senior Night, which featured a race between the JV teams of St. Joes and Mentor on the girls side as well as a match up between the boys teams from St. Ignatius and Mentor.  In all, 18 seniors were recognized in a ceremony at South Mastick Park including the introductions of 4 seniors who competed all 4 years for the Jaguars; Emily Bauer, Jessica Bresnahan, Jill Bresnahan, and Regina Russo.
On the competition side of things, the SJA women dominated the meet with a score of 23-36.  Leading the way with a big PR was junior Maddie Zimmerman, who won the race by over a minute.  Following Zimmerman to the line to help with the win were; senior Helen Steve, sophomore Lauren Marconi, freshman Bridget McGuire, freshman Katie Butterfied, sophomore Clare Fibbi, and freshman Emma Stalder.

Monday, Oct 15 – at Mastick 3:35-5:15…We will do a workout on the senior night course as long as its not too wet.

Tuesday, Oct 15 – at Mastick 3:35-5:00…final meet clean up and mileage for varsity

Wednesday, Oct 16 – Senior Night meet at mastick

Boys start 5:00pm – Ignatius JV v. Mentor JV

Senior introductions 5:25 in the pavilion

Girls start 5:40pm – SJA JV v. Mentor JV

Full team running except varsity and Lenehan

Thursday, Oct 17 – at SJA….done by 5:10

Friday, Oct 18 – at SJA (unless we can get a chance to run on Strongville’s course to view it…will let you know).

Saturday, Oct 19 – Districts at Strongsville High School.

Noon – gather at SJA for snacks and movie

2:15 – bus leaves for District meet

4:10 – varsity Div I race (3:20 start wup)

Sunday, Oct 20 – SJA open house.  If any athlete wants to volunteer to work the cross country/track table let me know.  I’ll find out if you get volunteer hours for that.

Monday, Oct 21 – JV run at Walsh Jesuit High School for final JV meet.  Times to be announced later.  There are 2 races – frosh and soph run together then juniors and seniors run together

Massillon Meet gets team ready for post-season

The SJA cross country team did their last full team invitational this past Saturday at Massillon.  Even though SJA held back the varsity to help pace the JV runners and split full squad into 3 even teams victory was still achieved.  Officially the SJA "white" team consisting of scorers Helen Steve (sr), Rachel Cogar (fr), Mel Ward (sr), Rachel McGuire (jr), and Emma Stalder (fr).  The top finisher for SJA overall was sophomore Maddie Zimmerman (jr) who was 4th in the race.

This Wednesday SJA hosts their annual Senior Night at South Mastick Park in the Rocky River Reservation against Mentor.  St. Ignatius will be racing against Mentor on the boy's side.

Next Saturday the varsity enters the post-season when they compete at the District Meet at Strongsville High School.