Brilliant career comes to an end for Capra

BY WARREN RAPPLEYEA
Staff Writer

CHRIS KELLY staff Old Bridge’s Jaime Capra graduates as one of the most successful athletes in Old Bridge High School history, having starred on the varsity basketball, softball and volleyball teams over the course of her career.

The recipient of 10 varsity letters, a six-time MVP, three-time Greater Middlesex Conference champion, the all-time leading scorer in basketball at Old Bridge, the female scholar athlete and the school’s 2004 Athlete of the Year — all that, if you do the math, adds up to Jaime Capra.

During the past four years, the indefatigable Capra has seemingly done it all at Old Bridge, leading her basketball coach, Ken Fischer, to call her "arguably the best athlete to ever walk through the doors at Old Bridge High School."

Best-known for her exploits on the hardwood, Capra had her best year as a senior, averaging 20 points, despite being double- and sometimes triple-teamed, and pulling down 9.5 rebounds per game. She served as team captain for the second straight season and was outstanding from start to finish, hitting 83 percent of her free throws along the way. She will continue her career next year at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass.

When point guard Kathy Rutter suffered an injury, Capra moved from forward to point guard, where she averaged 27 points and helped the Lady Knights win three of five games.

She became a fixture for the Lady Knights as a freshman. She worked her way into the lineup and averaged 6.5 points.

Capra entered her senior season after averaging 15 and 18 points, respectively, as a sophomore and junior.

There would be no hiding. Every team in the GMC knew about her. In the season-opener, she scored just six points, but quickly adjusted.

"I was so disappointed after that game," she said. "I had a lot of trouble with the coverage and I wasn’t used to it. We always had someone else that defenders paid attention to, so it was new to me. But I got used to it and my teammates helped a lot, setting picks and screens, and getting me the ball in good position."

Capra recalled the evening when she scored her 1,000th point in front of a cheering, home crowd.

"I was so nervous," she said. "Everyone was yelling and rooting for me, and I only needed four points. I missed my first three shots and I didn’t really calm down until I got to 1,000; then I was able to play my game."

Her career highlights included two trips to the GMC finals, 1,545 points and, as Fischer said, "untold contributions to so many wins." The most spectacular of which came when Capra took a shot from half-court against Woodbridge that turned a 1-point deficit into an Old Bridge victory. She was named the team MVP each of the last two years.

"Jaime has the uncanny ability to put a team on her shoulders," Fischer said. "We were never out of a game with her on the floor."

She began playing basketball in elementary school and later played at Salk Middle School, but played one season of recreational softball before returning to the game in seventh grade. Yet, she made the Old Bridge varsity softball team as a freshman, and coach Sue Klein made Capra the starting shortstop.

Despite an unorthodox throwing style, her excellent range and speed made Capra a solid defensive player. She batted just .205, but her 17 hits showed the potential of things to come.

As a sophomore, she batted .295 with three homers and 11 RBIs, and hit .287 as a junior with a pair of homers and 11 RBIs to help Old Bridge to its first GMC softball title.

Capra’s stats are all the more impressive when one considers that many softball players are active year-round.

"My teammates kid me about that, and I tell them that I close my eyes and swing," she said. "Actually, it takes me a while to get going. I got off to a slow start this year until I got accustomed to the speed."

She ended her senior season with a .326 average, two homers and 15 RBIs, and led the Lady Knights to the GMC semifinals, where they lost a 9-8 heartbreaker to Middlesex. One of the homers came against Rancocas Valley — a team that allowed just three earned runs all year — in the state tournament. Capra keyed a 13th-inning rally that resulted in a win over J.P. Stevens in the GMC tourney, and her walk-off double scored the game-winner against Hunterdon Central. Her exploits earned Capra her second successive team MVP award.

"Jaime’s greatest strength is her ability to bear down at the plate," Klein said. "Out of our 17 wins, she was directly involved by either batting in, or scoring the winning or tying run, in eight of them. She’s just an excellent competitor. That, combined with her sense of humor, brings everybody up."

Her grace and athleticism extended to the volleyball court when, as a junior, Capra’s friend, then-senior Amanda Meatto, a teammate on both basketball and softball, talked her into trying out for volleyball.

"She [Meatto] kept bugging me; she told me it would be fun," Capra said. "I didn’t even like volleyball, and I wasn’t going to play, but Amanda talked me into it."

At 5-foot-10, Capra’s height proved a valuable advantage, and she and Meatto helped the Lady Knights win the GMC crown. With Capra back on board, Old Bridge successfully defended its crown last fall.

"When she went out for volleyball, I knew she would succeed," Klein said. "Jaime is such a talented athlete, I’d say the most accomplished athlete at Old Bridge High School. And a great kid with a good personality, too. Jaime loves to play the game, and teammates, opposing coaches and umpires could see it. They’d kid around with her and she’d joke with them. One other thing about Jaime, she never blames anyone for her mistakes. Jaime holds herself accountable; and she leaves her teammates and the school a great legacy."

Ranked 19 in a class of 676 students, Capra had several scholarship offers, and was close to accepting one from Fairleigh Dickinson. In the end, Capra turned down the scholarships and selected Brandeis, where she will study law and, of course, play basketball.

She credits her parents, Bob and Diane, as well as older brother Brian, with helping her hone her many skills.

"We had a hoop in the yard, and I played against my brother a lot," Capra said. "And my dad was a big help, but he never pressured me. He’d go out whenever I wanted. That made it easy."

As the days count down to her June 21 graduation, Capra has her eye on another date, Aug. 29, the day she leaves for Brandeis and starts a new chapter in her life.

"I’m looking forward to college, although I’m going to miss high school," she said. "I’ll miss the atmosphere and recognition the most. Everyone knows me here, and I know them."

And, based on her athletic exploits of the over the last four years, that recognition spreads well beyond Old Bridge Township.