At the 2025 track and field championships for the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies, four-time defending champ Mount St. Joseph saw its win streak broken by Gwynedd Mercy Academy. In the final team totals, the Gwynedd Monarchs outscored the Mount Magic, 170.5 to 161.

Last Friday, the Mount took back the AACA title, finishing with 183 points while Gwynedd was the runner-up with 161 and Merion Mercy Academy was a distant third, with 77 points. After these three came Villa Joseph Marie (67), Villa Maria (54), and Sacred Heart Academy (2).

The Magic won three of the seven field events and four of the 11 track events, and they also piled up points through their team depth.

In the 100-meter hurdles, for example, they captured three of the top five places, and four of the top five in the 300 hurdles. In the 3200-meter run, the Mount had five of the top eight places, and in the long jump, the Mounties occupied four of the top five spots.

The winner of the long jump, at 16 feet, 7.25 inches, was senior Morgan Cross, who also won the triple jump (35’2”). Also a key player on the Mount’s basketball team, Cross will be taking her talents to Catholic University in the fall. Another 12th-grader, Kaitlyn Cunningham, placed second in the long jump and third in the triple.

Clearing the bar at five feet even, junior Cecilia Esbensen won the high jump, and she also excelled on the track. She won the 100-meter hurdles (16.75 seconds) and in the 300 hurdles she was runner-up to her classmate J.J. Miros. Miros placed second in the 200-meter dash and seventh in the 100 meters.

Villa Joseph Marie Academy got its best performances in the short sprints, winning the 100 and 200, and also the 4x100 meter relay.

There was a dramatic finish in the 400-meter dash, with a lean at the finish line giving the victory to Mount junior Caroline Dougherty (58.51 seconds) over Gwynedd senior Lucie Van Hoof. Dougherty came in third in the 100.

Although Gwynedd Mercy dominated in the distance races, Mount junior Annie Seminack picked up some valuable points for the Magic. She finished second in the 800, and fourth in both the 1600 and 3200. Her classmate Charli Schoen came in third in the 3200.

Reese Miller, a Gwynedd senior headed for Penn State, won the 1600 (4:55.36) and the 3200 (10:46.65) and was a member of the Monarchs’ victorious 4x800 relay team.

The meet concluded with Mount St. Joseph winning the 4x400 relay in a time of 4:06.12. The Magic quartet was made up of freshmen Ava Atkinson and Lucy Atkinson, and juniors Taylor Vogel and Julia McGlynn. Mount head coach Kitty McClernand pointed out that this was definitely a family affair: The Atkinsons are twins and Vogel is their cousin.