St. Mary's Jacob Moffett named Record Athlete of the Week (Sept. 9-13)
The votes are in and for the week of Sept. 9-13, the Record’s Athlete of the Week is Jacob Moffett, a cross country runner for St. Mary’s.
“It’s great to be able to represent my team and St. Mary’s because it's a fun team to be a part of,” Moffett said. “ And I’m glad I could be the one from here to win Record Athlete of the Week.”
Moffett is a senior who transferred from McNair High School in 2021. Since making the move he’s become an athlete that other Rams can look up to, especially after not competing in his junior year because of a hamstring injury. St. Mary’s head coach Felicia Rowley said that Moffett came into this season with a positive attitude and goals of making the most of the season after missing out last year.
“ He's put in those extra workouts, which is followed by his successful races,” Rowley said. “And in almost all his races he’s been very successful. He's come in either first or second in the races this season.”
At the Josh Ruff Invitational on Sept. 10, Moffett finished second out of 253 runners in the varsity boys 3,400 meters race. This was his second consecutive second-place finish in the season, both finishes were just seconds off from the fastest time. Being the tenacious runner he is according to Rowley, Moffett continued to push for a first-place finish.
It didn’t take long to do just that. He had back-to-back first place finishes in the varsity boys race at Tri-City Athletic League Meet on Sept. 13 and the three-mile Gold B Varsity Race at the 41st Annual Woodbridge Classic on Sept. 15. At the classic, Moffett finished with a time of 14 minutes and 37 seconds to beat out 245 runners from California, Nevada, and Arizona.
“After getting second place, I really wanted to win one but I’m glad I got two second places in a row and then two first places in a row and I hope to continue that streak,” he said. “I put a lot of pressure on myself so it's fun to be able to get over that pressure and really just get through it and do well.”
On top of making the most of his final year running cross country as a Ram, Moffett is a leader by example for the underclassmen. According to Rowley, he leads with his actions such as running with his teammates during and outside of practice despite him being two to three minutes faster than them.
This was a part of Moffett’s way of spending his time trying to build connections with JV and varsity cross country runners. A big part of his connection building came from showcasing how competitive of a runner he can be.
“Winning definitely boosts team morale and shows them what they could be with consistent training if you really want to be there,” Moffett said. “ I think I could show them that it’s possible.”
Moffett now sets his sights on the CIF State Meet which will take place on Nov. 26 in Fresno. His main goal as of now is to remain injury-free as he doesn’t want to spoil his already stellar comeback season at St. Mary’s.
Record reporter Shannon Belt covers sports. She can be reached at sbelt@recordnet.com or on Twitter @ShannonBelt3. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: St. Mary's Jacob Moffett named Record Athlete of the Week (Sept. 9-13)
