St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School - Athletics

Athletics

St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School competes in the Interstate Athletic Conference (boys) and Independent School League (girls). The girls' lacrosse team is a perennial power, currently ranked in the top five in the nation, having finished the 2008 season undefeated. In 1997 the girl's lacrosse team was ranked #1 in the nation. The 2010 girls varsity lacrosse won the ISL league title and the VISAA State Championships. The in 2009, the girl’s lacrosse team won their third consecutive VISAA title as number one.

The success of the girl’s lacrosse team lies behind Kathy Jenkins, the team’s coach. In 2008 Jenkins had been coaching the team for 32 years, and had even started the whole program along with Alix Fellows. Jenkins, who also works as a fifth grade PE teacher and coaches the seventh and eighth grade teams, works to teach girls how to play at a very young age, and as one athlete puts it, "Coach Jenkins basically breeds lacrosse players". Many of the varsity team has been at St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes since the lower school, and so are raised by Jenkins to succeed in the sport. Jenkins teaches the girls initially to master a wooden lacrosse stick instead of a metal one, which she claims is easier to throw and catch with. Jenkins asserts that in order to be a top team, intensity and dedication are integral, but wishes that the girls on her team would feel less pressure.

The school's wrestling program also has a rich history, regularly turning out state and IAC champions; three wrestlers to date have won the Lehigh National Prep Tournament, two of them twice. The 2010 varsity softball team won the ISL AA Tournament Championship and also finished the season tied for first place in the league. The 2010 boys varsity lacrosse team won the VISAA State Championship. The girls varsity tennis won the ISL Championship in 2010. The girls varsity field hockey also won the ISL and State Championships in 2010. Many St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School's athletes go on to play at the collegiate level each year. Recent SSSAS alumni compete for Wake Forest University, Yale University, Dartmouth College, The College of William and Mary, Denison University, Princeton University, Duke University, Cornell University, University of Pennsylvania, Kenyon College, Georgetown University, Columbia University, Norfolk State University, Davidson College, University of Virginia, Colgate University, Amherst College, Middlebury College, Trinity College, Williams College, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Vanderbilt University, and University of Maryland, College Park, Oberlin College among other schools.

The sports offered include: baseball, basketball, cross country, field hockey, football, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling.