Jaguars Host Senior Night Meet
Wednesday was a special race night for the junior varsity and senior members of the cross country team. Not only were they running at their home course at Mastick Park, they were also celebrating their annual senior night. One senior, Katie Butterfield, closed her SJA cross country career with a bang, cutting her previous best time of the season by a full minute (22:56). She won runner of the meet for her achievement, an honor that she said was “really nice to get at the senior night race.”
However, Butterfield wasn’t the only runner who made waves at the race. Sophomore Jocelyn Perkins was the team’s first finisher, coming in at second place with a time of 22:01. Head Coach Fred Kieser noted that Perkins stood out to him, as she was “hungry from the start and ran a very impressive race.” Four more runners ended their race among the top ten finishers: Daniella Saul ‘17 finishing in fourth place (22:17), Corrine Baker ‘16 in sixth (22:22), junior Mary Hyland in ninth (22:48), and Meghan Hahn ‘17 in tenth (22:51).
Even though the team was able to post an impressive race overall it was a bittersweet victory, especially for the coaches and the seven seniors on the team. “It's been hard knowing this is our last year together because we all really love the sport, team, and coaches,” said Katie Butterfield, who was quick to call joining the team as the best decision she’s made at SJA. “Most of us have been running together since freshman year and I know it's going to be hard to say goodbye.”
Coach Kieser also had high thoughts of the seniors on his team. “All 7 of these girls are excellent people and excellent students. It has been an honor to coach them, whether they are first year runners like Monica Hahn and Kathleen Loftusr, third year runners like Nicole Jamieson, or our cherished fourth year runners, such as Katie Butterfield, Emma Stalder, Bridget McGuire, and Corinne Baker,” he noted.
Their meet at Mastick marked the close of the regular season and signalled the opening of the post-season, a crucial time for the varsity members of the team.
“The top 4 teams qualify to regionals, and as of now we are on the outside of the bubble, but we haven't put our best foot forward yet,” Kieser said when asked about his predictions for the upcoming district meet in Medina. “This race will pose a challenge to the varsity, as it is notoriously packed with state-ranked teams.” But with record-setting runners such as sophomore Sydney Seymour, Coach Kieser remained hopeful about their chances.
