Wasserman saves the best for last

Despite a leg injury that kept her from running in a relay event the day before, Sloan Wasserman recorded her personal best time in national championship steeplechase — her last race as a high schooler. JIM MACLEAN PHOTO

By JIM MACLEAN 

The sun was setting on the track at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pa., and it was setting on the remarkable five-year career for Sloan Wasserman as a runner at John Jay.

It was the last race of the day, and the last race of Wasserman’s high school career as she lined up for the seeded heat of the 2,000-meter steeplechase at the New Balance National Championships on Saturday, June 20.

By the time the introductions for the seeded heat were finished and the athletes came out of the tunnel and onto the track, the lights were on and the sun was down as the clock struck 8:30 p.m. Wasserman came in with the fastest time in the nation for the season, but she almost had to withdraw after suffering an injury during the week. 

She withdrew from the 4x800 relay event the day before, but she didn’t want to miss her last chance to compete at nationals even though the steeplechase event can be jarring going over hurdles and a water obstacle with a leg injury.

All-American

By the time she was finished, Wasserman had earned All-American status as she crossed the finish line in second place. 

Caitlin Kasten from North Carolina ran an amazing race to win the title with a time of 6:26.30, and Wasserman was second ahead of the rest of the field with a time of 6:34.3. It was four seconds faster than her previous personal best time in the event.

“That was the latest race I’ve ever run, they kept us in the corral for a while, and the anticipation waiting all day long was awful,” Wasserman said of the late starting time. “I had a bit of an injury and didn’t run for two days, but I’m happy that I did it and I’m really happy that I was able to come away with second place. It’s a long season, and I have no regrets. I gave it my all and I’m happy. My last race, I got All-American and ran a p.r., and I’m just super-grateful for everything. It hasn’t really sunk in yet that I will not be running in a John Jay jersey next year.”

A string of victories

She certainly left her mark as her second-place finish at Nationals caps off an All-American career and an incredible senior year. She started it off by winning the New York State Class B championship in cross-country and leading John Jay to the Class B team title. She was then the New York State and Federation champion in the 3,000-meter race indoors, and she won a triple crown in the New York state outdoor championships claiming the 3,000-meter Federation and state title, the steeplechase Federation and state title, and anchoring John Jay to the 4x800-meter relay State Class B title.

“This year was so special, states was our focus, after the 4x8 I just started crying, it was like wow, it’s been such a long journey and that meet made it all worthwhile,” Wasserman said of the state meet. “Every day I remembered how I felt after losing at states last year and I was so locked in, worked very hard every day and it paid off. It made winning this year feel that much better.”

She burst on to the scene as an eighth grader, about a foot shorter than most of the seniors and upper class girls battling near the front of the pack in varsity races. She has been consistently among the best distance runners in Section 1 for five years, but she was getting frustrated, unable to take the next step to come out in front.

Coach makes a difference

Then John Jay hired coach Dey in her sophomore season, and the results are clear with six state championships this season for Wasserman and the Wolves.

“I remember everything, I remember every race,” Wasserman said. “I was so nervous before my first county meet that I vomited. I was doing well, but I did not match my p.r. for two years. My biggest high school accomplishment was that I did not quit. It took time, good things take time, and in 10th grade Dey changed everything. I could not have done this without Dey. I put my trust in him and I’m extremely lucky, John Jay is lucky to have him. There is a really good group of girls behind me, they’re eighth and ninth graders and they have the advantage of starting out with Dey and they can be so good.”

Those girls were at the nationals competing in the 4x800-meter relay. Wasserman helped the team win the state Class B title to qualify to compete at nationals. 

With her withdrawn, the John Jay quartet of eighth-graders Lila Rotter and Rylee Gaudron, ninth-grader Maya Serai, and sophomore Mia Haimelin teamed up to be one of the youngest squads in the field and they finished 45th overall out of 76 teams with a time of 9:36.

Dey feels a big part of why he was hired by John Jay Athletic Director Christian McCarthy was because of Wasserman. He knows how far she has come and what she was able to achieve this year leading the way for the Wolves.

“When I first came here she was a mess, more than the training, she had to tackle her mind set for her to realize her potential,” Dey said of Wasserman. “Last summer, when we started training for cross-country, that’s when I started to see a big change. She did not miss a single day, started working out early in the morning, and I knew it was going to be a good year for her. I don’t think there are many athletes that did what Sloan did. I’d say she is one of the best John Jay runners ever.”

She is the best

In terms of state championships and accomplishments, she is the best. She owns just about every distance mark in the John Jay record book. And Dey admits it goes beyond just her individual accomplishments in terms of what she has done for the program.

“What makes it even better with cross-country, not only her winning the race, but helping the team win,” added Dey. “She just makes all the girls better, they all have the mind set seeing Sloan work hard like that, she showed it and the team followed. If we keep up our training, I think the state of New York will be talking about John Jay running for a while. I’ll try my best to build a good program. They have a lot of potential.”

The sun has set on her John Jay career, but Wasserman has no plan to slow down. She will be moving on to compete in college at the Division I level at Boston College in the fall, where she looks forward to competing in longer distance races like the 5,000-meters.

“It will be hard physically and mentally, but I’m really excited,” Wasserman said of college. “I feel the longer the distance the better I am, and in the future I want to run marathons. I have a lot of running in front of me, it’s far from over.”