Schools
Keeping JCA On The Right Path
Jeremy Adams and Erin Kennedy have the Joliet Catholic Academy cross country teams running down a consistent road.
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote “a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” But there has been nothing foolish about the consistency of Joliet Catholic Academy’s Jeremy Adams and Erin Kennedy.
Adams, a sophomore from Elwood, posted a time of 18:50 for the Hilltoppers and Kennedy, a junior from Custer Park, came up with a 21:15 for the Angels at Saturday’s Loyola Lakefront Invitational.
Rachelle Sartori ran a 20:00 to place 16th and received a medal for the JCA girls, who placed 11th out of 32 teams with 323 points. Fremd won with 61. Moira McSteen (Channahon) placed 32nd with a 20:33.
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Zach Siegfried (Bolingbrook) was the top finisher for the JCA boys at 172nd out of 352 runners with an 18:28. The Hilltoppers ended up with 956 points. New Trier won the race with 128.
But in both of the races, Adams and Kennedy delivered once again. Adams was right behind Siegfried with an 18:50, good for 179th, and Kennedy placed third on the Angels’ list with a 70th in 21:15.
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“They are hard workers, they always give 100 percent and they never complain,” JCA co-coach Mark Clarke said of Adams and Kennedy. “They are great role models for the younger runners because they are such a pleasure to coach.
“They really are the backbone of our team. They give us a consistent effort and they always finish in the top 3 of our runners.”
On a cloudy, sunny but windy Saturday, Adams and Kennedy covered the 3.1-mile course with the consistency of a Timex watch.
“They always do well — always,” JCA co-coach Mindy Izzo said. “They’re always there, always smiling, always working hard and giving us a consistently strong effort. They’re just so dependable for our teams.”
For the girls team, Stephanie Demos (Plainfield) followed Kennedy in 89th place with a 21:40 and Francesca Sikorski (Shorewood) finished 116th with a 22:24.
In the boys race, Riley Carlson (Plainfield) placed 185th with a 19:04, Anthony Salata (Bolingbrook) took 203rd with a 19:40 and Luke Warpinski (Plainfield) placed 217th with a 20:03.
“The good thing is we get a little bit of break here to train and to work out the kinks before the conference meet,” Izzo said of the East Suburban Catholic Conference event held on Saturday, Oct. 15.
“Our girls are improving every week,” Clarke said. “They’re feeling more comfortable. And the boys did a good job against a very strong field of runners, which should help us in conference and the regional.”
