Lady Jags gearing up for run at SCT title defense Jackson girls’ track team wins at Ocean County Relays By Mike White Staff Writer The Jackson High School girls’ lacrosse team overcame a slow start Monday afternoon before exploding in the second half to register a routine 14-5 victory over host Central Regional High School, Bayville, in a Shore Conference A South game. The Lady Jaguars took a narrow 4-3 lead into intermission. Central scored the first goal in the second half to knot the game at 4-all, but as it has done all season, Jackson’s offense ignited midway through the second half, scoring seven unanswered goals to forge an 11-4 lead. Junior attacker Katie Batiuk, who scored a game-high seven goals, notched four goals during the tear that led Jackson to victory. The Jags are now 14-0 overall and 13-0 in A South. "That’s about as close a first half during a regular-season game as we’ve had in the last two years," Jackson coach Lori Johnson said. "Our shot selection in the first half was poor. We were putting the ball right on their goalie’s stick. We had very bad shot placement." Batiuk, who leads the Shore Conference in scoring with a total of 68 goals, added three assists. Teammates Melanie Pacheco and Erica Midveitt chipped in with a pair of goals each. Chrissie Carleton, Amy Rizzo and Lindsay Pedersen added a goal apiece. Jackson defeated Central Regional 17-1 in the first meeting between the two schools this season. The second time around proved much more difficult for the Jags. "For some strange reason, it seems every time we play them later in the season, the games are always much closer," Johnson said. "They are much improved from the first time we saw them." In a 15-0 shutout over Manchester Friday, Jackson outshot its opponent by a gaudy 30-5 margin. Batiuk led the attack with four goals. Sarah Kahle made five saves in goal. Jackson played its last regular-season game Wednesday against Southern Regional High School, Manahawkin. The Jags have their sights set on the Shore Conference Tournament, which opens Monday with first-round matches. Jackson is the defending SCT champion. Johnson said repeating as champs will be no easy task. Ocean, Shore Regional (West Long Branch) and Red Bank Catholic are just a few of the teams capable of winning the event, Johnson said. "This team has a lot to live up to," Johnson said. "We’re looking forward to defending our title. We’ll take it one game at a time. This is not going to be a walk in the park. We need to come ready to play every single game. There are a number of teams out there who could take this thing." Lady Jags win relay championships Sparked by the performances of Lisa Schenk, Nicole Montegary and Jessica Fortune, Jackson’s girls’ track team captured the Ocean County Relays last weekend in Stafford. Schenk, Montegary and Fortune all captured four events as Jackson amassed a total of 101 points. Toms River East finished second with a total of 79 points. Toms River North was third (62). Lakewood was fourth with 38 points.