Leah Jacques met her ultimate goals (MA)

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http://www.wickedlocal.com/wayland/spor ... mate-goals

Leah Jacques met her ultimate goals
By Jeff Tiberii/Sports Correspondent
Tue Aug 04, 2009, 03:50 PM EDT


WAYLAND - Athletes at Wayland High School strive for the postseason. They train for the tournament; focus on improving and many hold dreams of winning a state title. For most the ultimate goal of a state championship never comes to fruition. For Leah Jacques it has simply become routine.
In four years at Wayland High School, Jacques did more winning and claimed more championships than most coaches do in their entire careers. Her resume is unlike anything this town has ever seen before. You see Jacques won five state titles in the pool (four team titles, one relay) and another championship in track and field. Yes, that makes this year's Wayland Town Crier Female Athlete of the Year a six-time state champion.
``I would honestly say it's surreal at times,'' Jacques said, ``but I don't think about the winning all the time. It was an amazing time. I'm surprised it turned out so well. Just thinking about it I'm a little speechless. I will probably remember the championships the most, but really thinking back the things that gave me the most joy were the teams and just the experiences that happened along the way. The trophies and medals are great, but the coaches and friends, they were the most important things to me in the end.''
Jacques played field hockey in the fall, swam in the winter and was a member of the track and field team in the spring. During 12 seasons at the high school level she earned 11 varsity letters, was a five-time Dual County League All-Star and served as a captain for each sport during her senior year.
``She brought a great leadership to the team,'' Warriors swimming coach Mike Foley said. ``She didn't want to just come in and swim, she wanted to push herself and her teammates and help the program grow.
``What people need to appreciate is that she didn't swim all year round. She is a great example of a three-sport athlete that was still successful in the pool. She did in three months what kids work for all year round. Many of the kids she was up against swim club year round. She still beat them. Her athleticism and work ethic are what allowed her to be so good.''
Jacques began her high school career swimming the backstroke before transitioning to sprints. Later she swam long distance races and finally converted to a collection of relays and shorter races. Her ability to adapt was beneficial to the team.
``Overall she had a great willingness to do whatever was needed of her,'' said Foley. ``She has competed in the state meet at a variety of events for three years. She never got into the mindset of `oh I'm a sprinter' or `I swim long distance.' Without hesitation she was perfectly willing to go wherever and do whatever the coaches need her to. This is a very talented athlete who was never selfish; she was all about sportsmanship.''
The attitude paid off as Wayland won the overall team state championship in each of Jacques four seasons. As a senior she swam one leg of the 200-meter freestyle relay. That team also won top honors in the state.
As a junior Jacques and her swimming teammates were perfect, winning each of their DCL meets before gliding by all of their opponents in the sectional and state meets.
``I feel like the first year it was kind of a surprise when we won the state title,'' Jacques said. ``We had that goal in mind, but it didn't seem up front in our face. Then we won it again and especially my junior year we went undefeated. The attitude changed a little. Coming into senior season it was a little intimidating and as captains we realized we had huge shoes to fill. Our coaches did a great job of keeping us in check and not letting us get ahead of ourselves.''
In the spring, Jacques could be found on running and jumping. The talented athlete found a niche in the pole vault event. In her first year in that event she won the Division 3 state title, by clearing 10 feet.
This past spring, she improved her personal best to 10 feet, six inches, a performance that earned her a fifth-place finish at the all-state meet. She qualified for the New England Tournament where she competed with the best athletes from the region.
``All you need is to show her once and she understands what she needs to do,'' Wayland track and field coach Shelly Fraser commented.
Similar to her movement between events in the pool, Jacques showed talent on the track and the field in many events. She ran the 400-meter hurdles, the 4x400m relay and also competed in the triple jump. During her career she qualified for the state meet in all of those events.
Coach Fraser had Jacques in both track and field hockey.
``She's really just a phenomenal choice for this award. She leads both on the field off the field. She is very approachable and is always willing to help anyone.
``She was a midfielder on the field hockey team. This position requires you to be one of the fittest players on the team as you are instrumental in both the attack and the defense. One minute she is tacking a shot at the goal and the next she is in the defensive circle saving a goal. Her great athleticism and hard work ethic is what gives her so much success.''
Jacques and the field hockey squad qualified for the state tournament during her junior and senior year campaigns.
Later this summer Jacques heads to Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. She will pursue English and history, and as you might expect athletics will be part of the fall schedule as well.
``I will be playing field hockey and then running track in the winter and spring. It's going to be a huge change going to college and leaving this all behind. I've started a scrapbook of the different news articles about the team pictures of us pushing the coaches in the water after we won the titles (a Wayland tradition). It was all an amazing experience.''
It was also an amazing career. As another stage of her career begins, chances are this winner will be adding a few more pages to that scrapbook.

[ingridg]

Congrats to Leah!