Summertime means two things for Jessie Gohde: sports and travel.

Both are typically intertwined for the Secaucus rising senior, given that volleyball, bowling and softball keep her moving throughout the school year.

Then, there are the family vacations.

“We’ve been to Mexico and the Dominican Republic,” Gohde said Monday, not long before heading out the door to yet another activity. “This year, we’re going to Jamaica.”

Such is life when the first two letters of your last name are G-O.

Gohde, 17, helps propel the Patriots with her right arm, throwing strikes (on the diamond and the lanes) and serving up aces. Though she’s currently in softball mode, big things are always ahead for a Secaucus volleyball player.

As one of the oldest and most successful girls programs in New Jersey, Secaucus sits less than 25 wins away from reaching 900 all-time. Only one senior graduated from last year’s team, and Gohde is among a half-dozen from the Class of 2019 who have been making contributions since freshman year.

“I’m looking forward to volleyball,” the 5-foot-3 defensive specialist said. “We have a lot of potential this year. Our team is very close, which I think has a very good effect when we play together.”

Gohde, Amanda Ulrich and Gabby Pimentel all finished in the top four on the squad in digs. Pimentel, Alex Ianuale, Payton Intindola and Alyssa Perez lead the hitters that helped Secaucus finish 18-9 with appearances in the Hudson County final and Group 1 state quarterfinals last autumn.

“We’re friends on and off the court,” said Gohde, who amassed 209 digs and 52 aces in her first three varsity seasons. “So it’s fun playing all the sports with them … we all have our [drivers licenses] now, so we literally hang out every day.”

Ianuale, Perez and Pimentel also play for the Secaucus softball team, for which Gohde has been pitching the past two springs. Her career record is 20-15 with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of better than 2-to-1 (132 K, 63 BB), and she earned All-NJIC Meadowlands honorable mention as a junior.

Baseball is the family sport – her father, Louis, played during high school in Middletown, and Jessie took a liking to the Mets since both her parents are fans.

“They’re very supportive, they come to all my games,” Gohde said.

Bowling, meanwhile, has become a growing attraction. She really had not tried it before ninth grade, but since then, her average has risen from 117 to 142, and she earned the awards for girls high average, game (200) and series (510) in the coed NJIC Meadowlands Division last winter.

“I joined my freshman year not really knowing anything, but I find it a lot more interesting now than I did then,” Gohde said.

 Her interests in the classroom are mainly in the field of science. She’s a scholar-athlete now but may pare down for college, which she would like to be somewhere in-state.

“I’d prefer to focus on my academics,” Gohde said, “but if the chance [to play collegiate sports] does come up, then I would do it.”

Whatever keeps her on the go.

In her own words

Gohde on the people who have influenced her in athletics:

“Although I have had many coaches and people to guide me throughout my high school career, [volleyball] coaches Cory Roesing, Zac Schlemm and Dylan Caruso have impacted me both on and off court. These coaches have gone beyond teaching volleyball skills, they have taught me valuable life lessons that I will have with me forever. I have learned sportsmanship, leadership and how to be a team player. Every day, they push me to do more than I think I can, and they encourage me to believe in myself and my teammates. Great mentors are hard to find, and I was lucky enough to have found three.”

Written by Greg Tartaglia – Record Sports Department