Jags depth shows at Primeau Invitational
On Friday, the cross country team took on the Gilmour Academy Paul Primeau Invitational in Gates Mills. With an impressive thirty-two runners setting new personal records during their runs, the varsity team placed fifth overall and the junior varsity ranked first as a team in their race. In addition, Sydney Seymour was able to secure her fourth new school record for cross country this season after running a “tactically intelligent and gutsy race against an excellent field including last year's regional champ” according to Head Coach Fred Kieser. Seymour took first place in the varsity race, blowing through her previous school record by ten seconds with a time of 18:21.
Coach Kieser observed a “lot of selflessness” in 11th place runner Maggie Wagner’s race. While her time of 19:41 prevented her from beating her previous best race time and claiming a new PR, her foremost concern was the success of her teammates. “She held back the first mile to help the other varsity runners achieve their goals,” said Kieser.
Sophomores Emily Conway (20:36) and Caitlyn Walsh (20:40) finished close behind each other and Wagner in 30th and 32nd place, respectively. Monica Hahn ‘16 took 41st place (21:22), junior Alana Vovk finished 51st (21:42), and Claudia Becker ‘18 rounded out the varsity team in 57th place with a time of 21:54.
While the varsity may not have ranked first in their race as a team, Coach Kieser saw strong improvement in the fact that they were able to draw closer to teams that had ranked higher than them in earlier season races.
Sophomores Emily Conway (20:36) and Caitlyn Walsh (20:40) finished close behind each other and Wagner in 30th and 32nd place, respectively. Monica Hahn ‘16 took 41st place (21:22), junior Alana Vovk finished 51st (21:42), and Claudia Becker ‘18 rounded out the varsity team in 57th place with a time of 21:54.
While the varsity may not have ranked first in their race as a team, Coach Kieser saw strong improvement in the fact that they were able to draw closer to teams that had ranked higher than them in earlier season races.
With the large amount of personal successes during the race, there were many people nominated for the Runner of the Week award. Nominee Jessica Schuler ‘17 beat her old personal record by a full two minutes. Likewise, sophomore Audrey Kunath ran a fast race and took some chances that helped her rank higher than she’d ever been previously throughout her cross country career. However, it was Liz Renner ‘17 who received the most nominations and took home the weekly recognition. Not only was she able to beat her old PR during the Gilmour race, she has been able to consistently demonstrate the most improvement out of anyone on the team over her three years as a part of it. Liz attested to the fact that in her first cross country race freshman year, she wasn’t able to break thirty minutes; this weekend she finished her race with a time of 22:41. “She has worked exceptionally hard and her teammates recognize that fact,” said Coach Kieser.
Despite the team’s difficulties coping with the loss of key runners to injury, the remaining members have proven over the season that they are willing and capable of working to fill this gap. When asked about his team and their performance, Coach Kieser praised his runners: “We still have work to do, but the team is starting to believe in themselves, and once you have that belief then more doors for opportunities will open down the road. The girls deserve a lot of credit for re-evaluating their seasons and making the effort to break through mental barriers that have been holding them back.”
