Winter Sports BASKETBALL The Jaguars basketball program had a very successful 2016-17 season. The Varsity basketball team, playing one of the toughest schedules in the area, was ranked in the top 10 of the Cleveland.com poll for the entire season. Highlights included a pair of wins over Magnificat, capturing the tournament title at the Walsh Jesuit holiday tournament, and wins over Lakewood, Padua, Hoban, Brunswick, Avon and North Royalton. The Jaguars also had two great experiences that took place in January. The team played in the first-ever girls basketball game at the prestigious “Flyin’ To The Hoop Tournament” in Kettering, Ohio, where they played the twotime State champions from Kettering Alter High School. They also had the opportunity to play at Quicken Loans Arena prior to a Cleveland Cavaliers game, where they beat Louisville High School 47-39. Saint Joseph Academy earned the top
seed in the District tournament and earned a bye in the Sectional semifinal round. The Jaguars topped Lincoln West in the Sectional final before falling to Medina in the District semifinal. The Jaguars were led by the strong play of Seniors Colleen Drellishak (daughter of Kathleen Fox Drellishak ’81), Claire Orsagos (daughter of Jacqueline Aftoora N’78) and Ellen Vichill. Colleen Neitzel ’18 was one of five players (Claire Orsagos ’17, Bre Coleman ’18, Molly Neitzel ’19 and Colleen Drellishak ’17) to earn honorable mention all-district awards. Colleen Neitzel ’18 led the Jaguars in scoring and rebounding this year with 10.3 points per game and 8.8 rebounds per contest. Congratulations to the Jaguars on a successful season! Varsity: 19-5 JV: 15-5 Freshmen: 14-7
Colleen Neitzel ‘18
SWIMMING The swimming and diving team had a strong season led by Maddy Kelly ’20. Maddy came into her first high school swim season with high expectations and set six school records, won Sectional and District titles, and became the first Jaguar swimmer to qualify to the State Meet under the current OHSAA format. What an amazing season! At the state meet, Maddy Kelly ’20 competed in the 50 freestyle preliminaries and qualified for the consolation finals of the 100 backstroke after her 13th place finish in the preliminaries with a time of 57.41. She was 5th seed in the consolation final but swam a great race to win the consolation final, which placed her 9th overall in the event, with a time of 56.54. This came after she set a sectional record to win the 50 freestyle at Sectionals and also won the District meet in the 50 freestyle. The Jaguars had eight team members advance to the District meet at Bowling Green, led by Rachel Strick ’17. The Jaguars had three relay teams qualify for the District meet: 200 medley relay – Maddy Kelly ’20, Paola CamachoColon ’19, Rachel Strick ’17 and Ally Sheehan ’18
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Saint Joseph Academy UPDATE
200 freestyle relay – Maddy Kelly ’20, Ally Sheehan ’18, Kassidy Gartin ’19 (sister of Kayla Gartin ’15) and Rachel Strick ’17 400 freestyle relay – Ally Sheehan ’18, Julia Patterson ’19, Jadalise Pacheco ’18 and Rachel Strick ’17 Diver Brittany Miller ’18 also competed at Sectionals and advanced to the District meet, where she had her best performance of the season. Great job, Jaguars!
Maddy Kelly ‘20