Upper School

JV Cross Country 

The Junior Varsity Cross Country team came home with a first place finish from the St. Thomas Aquinas Invitational. The team always looks forward to running in Hammond because it is one of their favorite courses to race on. There are two sections with wooded trails that provide shade for the runners. Sacred Heart entered a total of 15 runners in the JV race with 9 other teams. The girls got off to a fast pace and they were aiming to run personal records on this flat course. Reese Tennison '26 was the first female finisher in the entire race and the number 1 runner for the Cardinals. She ran a new personal record time of 22:47. Libby Stassi '26 surprised herself with another great 3 mile finish with a personal record of 23:15. Edie Yockey '26 was the 3rd finisher for the team and finished the race in the top 15. Edie paced herself with Libby and ran her first 3 mile race with a very impressive time of 23:19. Maria English '24 ran a new personal record of 24:08 to help score valuable points for the team. Colette Shannon '25 came in as the Cardinals number 5 runner which pushed the other teams back and rounded out the scoring for the Cardinals. 

JV Volleyball 

The ASH JV had a busy 5 days of volleyball this past week. On Oct 11th the John Curtis Patriots came to the Rosary Gym. It was a tense match with lots of good back and forth play. Slowly the Cardinal serving machine started to wear down the Patriot serve receive, forcing them into many out of system plays. In the end the JV team prevailed 25-15 and 25-22. It was a good win for the Cardinals as the JC JV squad is a solid team with very good players. Some of the highlights were 3 big blocks from Bria Egana ’25, 2 kills apiece for Natalia Mehaffie ’25, and Ava Lowe ’25 and 2 aces each from Piper Rubin ’25 and Claire Moriarty ’25.

Taylor Robert ’25 paced the defense with 4 digs and some good setting and attacking from the Libero position. On Oct 13th the Newman Greenies came to visit. The gym was packed and rocking with the ASH student section. Both teams went at it full blast and took turns just cranking the ball at each other. The Greenies ended up winning 26-24 , 23-25, and 15-12 in a super tight match that could have gone either way. Natalia Mehaffie ’25 led the offensive attack with 7 Kills. Ava Lowe ’25 and Olivia Monsted ’26 added two kills as well. Charlotte Bush ’25 and Bria Egana ’25 helped the cause with some nice blocks for the Cardinals. The next day the JV traveled to the Newman Gym to take part in the Newman JV tournament. For this tournament the Cardinals were split into Frosh and Soph units. On Friday the Frosh lost in a tight 3 set match to the Destrehan # 1 unit. They then turned around and beat the Newman Freshman team in 2 sets. Eleanor Erazo-Pierson ’26 led a group of very tough Frosh JV servers that helped the team score key points all day. Ellie Habetz ’26 and Shayde Randolph’26 were digging balls all over the place while Olivia Monsted ’26 and Riley Ralston ’26 threw down some nice kills. Sally Irwin ’26 and Sofia Udhrain ’26 led us in setting, giving our hitters chances to score whenever possible. 

The Soph unit lost to John Curtis in two sets in their first match. JC was fired up and out for revenge after having lost to the Cardinals just three days prior. The JV then tangled with the Chapelle Chipmunks in the 2nd match of the evening. It was an exciting 3 set affair with the Cardinals winning 15-10 in the 3rd . On Saturday morning the Frosh unit beat Belle Chasse in an exciting match, coming back from being down 22-17 to prevail in the 2nd set and winning the match in two. The youngsters showed great fight to battle through some on court adversity. They then got to play against the Newman # 1 squad. The Frosh fought hard and made the Newman team fight for every point. In the end the experienced Newman team won but it was a great learning opportunity for the Cardinals. The Soph unit started their day beating Riverdale and the Destrehan #2 teams. Then Natalia Mehaffie ’25 and Piper Rubin ’25 had to dash downstairs to change into their swimsuits in order to compete in the swim meet also being held at Newman. Luckily they finished all their events in time to come quickly back upstairs to change back to their VB gear with their hair still dripping wet they took the floor against Newman #1 in the semifinals match. It was another hard fought battle with the Greenies. There were some great back and forth rallies all match long. Both teams played with tremendous hustle and good execution of skills. The Greenies prevailed 27-25 and 25-23. Once again it was one of those matches that could have gone either way. The Cardinals had great support from ASH swimmers, ASH Frosh VB players, and some Cross Country runners who showed up to cheer and even helped call lines and score. It was great seeing that kind of school spirit on display.

Varsity Cross Country 

Waking to their 5 am alarm clock going off was the norm for the Varsity Cross Country runners this past Saturday morning as they traveled to Hammond for the 8:00 a.m. start of the BSN Invitational on the campus of St. Thomas Aquinas High School. Upon arrival, the 6 runners on this day that were able to attend and represent their team, were excited about the cool weather conditions. Considering that this race was smaller than normal with only 76 total competitors, these 6 Sacred Heart runners still knew that their toughest competition would always be themselves and they pushed throughout the 3 miles. Once again achieving their current goals…taking what they practiced during the week of pack running which is accelerating around blind spots on the course and passing as many other runners as possible. Leah Varisco ’26 - 18:50, led her team once again by finishing 2nd overall while accomplishing another personal best time. She did most of this on her own because she was out in front of everyone except the lead runner that eventually crossed the line only 16 seconds ahead of her. Leah also defeated the defending state champion from last year’s meet, which is testament to all of her offseason training that she did. Colette English ’27 in 21:08 (14th), ran her best race of the season thus far and helped push her four teammates trailing her to their fastest times of the season also. Lily Varisco ’27 - 21:12 (15th) paced herself very nicely and gradually closed the distance between her and Colette over the last 2 miles. Lily found herself sprinting around the last turn on the track and finished just behind her teammate in a new personal record. What the next three runners did throughout the entirety of the 3 mile course was something we have been hoping to see and it worked wonderfully. Abby Truxillo ’26 - 21:23, (17th) set a personal record, CC Johnson ’23 - 21:33, (18th) had a season best and Lucy Mason ’26 - 21:24 (19th) had a huge 2 minute and 15 second drop from her previous best. All of these runners kept pushing and encouraging each other during the race. When one may have slowed down, Coach Greg saw other teammates looking back and telling them they could do it and to get back with them. It has been a very long time since our runners have been able to accomplish this and it has and it can pay dividends as the season continues to roll along. Our overall team is getting stronger every week and with just 4 weeks before the State Meet, the entire team of potential runners on November 14. Pack running together is what all coaches hope for and with 7 - 12 of our runners continuing to train and push to make it to the starting line at the State Meet where only 7 will run. The remaining practices and meets sure do leave us excited about what the future holds.

For their efforts, while missing 2 of their top 7 runners, these 6 captured 2nd place as a team and bettered 6 other teams in doing so. Final results listed below: 

18:50 - 2nd - Leah Varisco - Personal Record

21:08 - 14th - Colette English - Season Best

21:12 - 15th - Lily Varisco - Personal Best

21:23 - 17th - Abby Truxillo - Personal Best

21:23 - 18th - CC Johnson - Season Best

21:24 - 19th - Lucy Mason - Personal Best

The entire Cross Country team will be in action this Saturday, October 22, in City Park in New Orleans. 

Swimming

Congratulations on a great meet this past weekend at Newman. I'm really proud of how the team is performing going into our championship season. Keep practicing hard because our District Championship Meet is October 29. 

Swim Meet highlights: 

First Place finishers:

200 yd Medley Relay: Natalia Mehaffie ’25, Reese Lacaze ’24, Elodie Scafidel '26 and Claire Parrish ’25.

Claire Parrish ’25 in the 50 yd Freestyle

Reese LaCaze ’24 in the 100yd Breaststroke 

Second Place finishers:

Natalia Mehaffie ’25 in the 200yd Individual Medley

Reese Lacaze ’24 in the 100yd Butterfly

200yd Freestyle Relay: Natalie DeGruy ’27, Piper Rubin ’25, Adelaide Williams ‘26, and Natalia Mehaffie ’25

400yd Freestyle Relay: Elodie Scafidel ’26, Claire Parrish ’25, Natalie DeGruy ’27, and Reese Lacaze ’24

Third Place finishers:

Natalia Mehaffie ’25 in the 100 yd Freestyle

Our "Red Cap" qualifiers are:

Natalie DeGruy ’27 in the 200yd Freestyle

Natalia Mehaffie ’25 in the 200yd Individual Medley

Our next competition is our District Championship Swim, Saturday, Oct 29 at Newman for 10am. Come support your swim team.

Varsity Volleyball

The Varsity Cardinal Volleyball team had another competitive week on the court taking on John Curtis High School and Isidore Newman. The Cardinals took both teams to five sets, falling short to both in the end. With combined totals for both matches, the Cardinals served up 15 aces with 4 coming from Katherine Hale ’23. Our offense was led by setters Kate Farris ’24 with 21 assists and Lily Stone ’24 with 43 assists. Staying aggressive at the net for both matches were hitters MC Mazzanti ’23 with 25 kills, Cami Davis ’23 with 17 kills, and Gigi Gibbens ’24 with 15 kills. Other dominant hitters were Kate Farris ’24 with 10 kills and Isabelle Moore ’23 with 7. Our defense began with big blocks at the net from Cami Davis ’23, Kate Farris ’24, and Gigi Gibbens ’24 with a few others adding to the 19 total blocks for the team. Holding down the back row in defense were Katherine Hale ’23 with 37 digs, Lucy Vaicius ’23 with 16 digs, and Lily Stone ’24 with 15 digs. 

On Saturday, the Cardinals hosted Sacred Heart Grand Coteau for a Network day to celebrate the spirit of attending a Sacred Heart School. The girls began the day with a friendly match where our Cardinals prevailed 25-14, 25-16, 25-14. The Cardinals finished the match with 12 aces, 35 kills, 3 blocks, 33 assists, and 34 digs. After the match, the girls gathered together to share a meal and exchange gifts. Followed by a tour of our New Orleans campus. We were thrilled to have them and look forward to our continued support of each other as Sacred Heart sisters. 

Varsity Sports Now Partnership

We are excited to continue our partnership with VSN this year to livestream many of our home volleyball, basketball, and soccer games. With your support through the Booster Club, we hope to be able to extend this opportunity to our other sports as well. 

This is the link to subscribe to VSN. It is important to use this specific link, as Sacred Heart will get back 50% of the subscriptions fees.

Join the Booster Club!

Please consider joining the Booster Club if you have not done so already. Your membership provides opportunities for our Booster Club to enhance the athletic experience for each athlete. As a Booster Club member, you have many opportunities throughout the year to volunteer to assist at athletic events.

For more information about our Booster Club, please visit our website via the link below.