Field hockey star Jay Quinn has been selected to go into the WHS Athletic Hall of fame in 2017.
(The Watertown High School Athletic Hall of Fame provided the following profile)
Growing up near Victory Field, it was impossible for Jay Quinn, Class of 2002, not to be aware of the tremendous history and success of the Red Raider Field Hockey program. In addition, her older sister Lauren was among the Middlesex League’s best players and leading scorer during her WHS career before playing 4 years at Princeton. Though she played youth soccer growing up in town, Jay also had a close friendship with Hall of Famers Bethany, Jane, Catherine and Mary Rogers, which eventually led her down the fortuitous path to WHS field hockey, its winning tradition, and success as a Captain, All-American, and State Champion.
Quinn jokingly told us that after her first practice as a freshman she could barely walk. The program was coming off its seventh overall state title, and she couldn’t wait to be part of the prodigious program. Her Coach, Eileen Donahue, told us “she was a natural athlete with tremendous stick handling abilities. But her greatest asset may have been her vision. She could see everything on the field.” Of course, being able to see everything on the field can be both a curse and a blessing. Her vision, added with a high level of versatility, led Donahue to feel comfortable with Quinn practically anywhere on the field, telling us “she could clearly handle multiple positions with ease. She had the gift of making her teammates better.” In fact, as a freshman, Quinn played 4 different positions in the starting lineup for the Middlesex League Champs. Speaking like a true leader, Quinn told us she “was just happy to be playing as a freshman.”
Over the course of the next 4 years Quinn solidified her position in the starting line up and continued to play and dominate all over the field. It sounds redundant, and for a lot of us it sounds incredible, but she was part of four consecutive Middlesex League Championship teams. Donahue told us “she was never worried about personal stats. She was a great team player, who excelled at making her teammates better players.” As a sophomore she helped lead the program to another state championship game, only to lose a heartbreaking 2-1 overtime game to Greenfield. Quinn’s junior year ended in disappointment as well. After an undefeated regular season, the Red Raiders fell in triple overtime in the North Divisional final. As she headed into her senior campaign, Quinn was determined to “not disappoint the coach and the town by not winning a State Title. There was no way I was going to lose my final game in Worcester as a senior.”
During pre-season camp Quinn settled into the center-forward position and was soon commanding the offense. Donahue “had a lot of confidence in that team, on both sides of the ball. I was especially pleased with the leadership of the seniors, and counted on Jay every day.” The only regular season blemish was a 2-2 tie with Reading in the sixth game of the season. In the late season rematch, Quinn and her teammates outshot the Rockets 15-4 in a 2-0 decisive victory to wrap up the League title with a record of 17-0- 1. Quinn was the league’s leading scorer, and for her efforts was named the Most Valuable Player. But when you play field hockey in Watertown, regular season accolades mean little in the big picture, and Quinn knew that to get back to the title game, “we had to take it one game at a time. We talked about it all season. Focus on the game at hand, and everything else will take care of itself.” With Quinn leading the way the top seeded Red Raiders opened the tourney with shutout wins over Rockport and Tewksbury. It took OT, but a thrilling 2-1 win over Georgetown clinched the D2 North title. In the Eastern Mass final Quinn added 3 goals and 2 assists in a huge 6-1 win over Dedham, propelling them into the State Finals against Nipmuc Regional.
Adversity struck as Quinn badly sprained her ankle with about 16 minutes left in the game, and Nipmuc quickly took a 2-1 lead with her out. On the bench and with her back to the field, she “heard them score. I knew I had to get back in the game. But I didn’t think I could push off it at all. But I also knew that my teammates needed me in there.” Donahue called a time-out, Quinn went back in, and with just over 5 minutes to go she incredibly assisted on the game-tying goal. She was limping badly, but stayed on the field for rest of regulation and eventually into overtime, when fellow senior and Hall of Famer Sara York found the back of the net for the game and State Title winner.
After 4 hard years of work and dedication, Jay Quinn helped bring back a banner to Watertown, and the post-season accolades poured in. For her outstanding efforts, Quinn was named an All-Scholastic, as well as the Player of the Year. She was also named a Northeast Regional All-American. After graduation she attended Northeastern for 4 years and enjoyed a successful field hockey career, concluding with her selection to the America East All-Conference team. Not too bad for kid who grew up playing youth soccer at Victory Field.
Tickets are now available for the Watertown High School Athletic Hall of Fame Banquet to be held at the St. James Armenian Church Hall on Saturday October 21st. For more info contact Mike Venezia at 617-359-2788, or mikevenezia@gmail.com