Salute to Seniors: Ean Jaffe of Holmdel HS


Salute To Seniors is a medium for "senior farewells". We wanted to give everyone a chance to salute them one more time as well as invite those seniors to tell their stories from the past four years. We will be posting this series through July, we already have a number of submissions and if you would like to submit check out this article for how to do so.

What was your most memorable race/throw/jump/vault/moment?

Shore conference of my junior year in cross country will always stand out in my mind because one of my reach goals that year was to break 16 for 5k. Despite being really sick that week I managed to run 15:59, but sub 16 is sub 16 in my book.

Who would you consider your biggest competition over your four years?

In terms of an individual from Monmouth county/shore conference I'd say Donovan Hackley from Raritan. Last year him and I went back and forth in all 3 seasons. If I had an early lead on him in the race it was usually in my favor, but if it came down to a kick he'd always sauce me up.

Outside of the county/conference this one hands down has to go to Bobby Hastie from Robbinsville. Just like Donovan, I've always felt like him and I went back and fourth a lot. 

What was your greatest accomplishment?

Qualifying for MOC in cross country last year definitely takes this cake. I'll never forget battling down the back woods with Ty Miller trying desperately to stay in the top 10

If you could do it all over again what would you change about your running or field career in high school?

Not taking it more seriously my freshman year. I blasted a 27:49 5k, 2:45 800, 12:24 3200 and 5:25 in the 1600. While I don't regret it as much as freshman year, Sophomore year was also pretty bad up until spring when I ran 19:19/2:15/10:34/4:44.

What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome?

Junior year I got burned out every single season from pushing it too hard on the recovery days and base run days. This year I learned to more accurately judge how I feel and to just kinda go with the flow.

What will you miss the most?

First, I'll miss my awesome teammates. Second, I'll miss all the people I've made friends with from other teams. And third, I'll miss the NJ running scene in general.

What advice would you give to younger athletes?

Get a pair of flats for speed work, you can't outrun a bad diet, hard work always pays off in the long run, and finally, how hard you work at practice is just as important as how hard you work on doing the little things outside of practice.

What influence has your coach had with respect to your performance and overall life goals?

I've been with the same coach for 9 seasons. Being with the same coach has definitely helped me because I always knew what was expected of me and I was always doing the same type of training every single season.

What are your post-high school or college plans?

I will be running at the University of California - Riverside while majoring in Business, and hopefully getting my MBA.

Who would you like to say 'thank you' to?

Everyone that helped me get to the point I'm at now. Before I took running seriously my grades were god awful and I was a huge slacker. I can honestly say that if I never made the decision to take running seriously I would not be following my dream of going to school in California, I probably wouldn't even be attending a 4 year University without running and the people that were there to push me every single day to be better.