On September 27th, Cherokee met Cherry Hill High School East and district-rival Shawnee High School in another "double-dual" meet at Gloucester County College. East has a large team but it is a rebuilding year for them. Still, the coaches did not take them lightly and most of the top Cherokee runners were in action. Their orders were to run "threshold" unless more was needed and, following those orders, they defeated the Cougers of Cherry Hill East, 17 - 46. The Shawnee Renegades were defeated 22 - 36.
Alex Yersak and Greg Bredeck led the Chiefs to the finish line, closely followed by Vin Marziano, Rich Nelson and Will Andes.
Mike Medvec was named "Runner of the Meet" in recognition of his going under 18:00 in the 5K for the first time! When you see him, ask him about his special secret preparation for this meet! GO MIKE!
The following pictures are from the meet:
On September 29th, Musicologist Vin Marziano briefly explained in the Philadelphia Inquirer how he motivates himself for competition and for practice: Harriers . . . keep mental focus.
On October 1st, 2005, Cherokee traveled to the state championship course at Holmdel, NJ for the Shore Coaches Cross Country Invitational, the most challenging meet on the regular season schedule. The team scored well in the Division A race finishing 4th against 27 other teams. Greg Bredeck led the Varsity squad in 8th place, with Alex Yersak in 10th, Rich Nelson in 20th, Will Andes in 42nd, Mike Medvec in 69th, Kevin Schickling in 73rd, and Matt Applegate in 82nd. Almost 200 athletes finished the race.
In the JV Division A race, the Cherokee squad competed against 43 other teams with 276 athletes finishing the race. Steve McCarroll and Joe Foley led the way, finishing in 33rd and 35th respectively. Ryan Lutz (116th), Liam Eells (157) and Geoff Schellack (159) completed the team scoring for Cherokee. Overall, they took 19th place.
In the Division A Freshman race, Cherokee entered only four competitors but they scored well against the 25 teams and over 200 athletes in the race. Marc Saccomanno led the team, finishing in 11th place, with Rob Roselli in 25th, Sean Hartnett in 61st, and Graham Davis in 149th.
While Rich Nelson certainly deserves "bragging rights" for dropping his PR at Holmdel by 35 seconds, the coaches selected Marc Saccomanno as the "Runner of the Meet," pointing to his excellent performance in the Freshman A race! Marc finished 11th in his race and placed 20th among all of the 540 freshmen who raced this day! GO MARC!
Complete results at: Scullion.
Senior Ryan Elliott caught these pictures with his new Nikon at the top of the bowl!
On October 6th, 2005, several of Cherokee's Freshmen and Sophomores competed in the Burlington County Frosh-Soph Meet at the new Rancocas Valley Sports Complex. The Freshman race was the most exciting with Marc Saccomanno taking the lead in the first mile only to lose it in the last 400m of the race. Sean Hartnett and Graham Davis continued to improve their times over their previous 2 mile at the Cherokee Challenge: Sean by almost a minute and Graham by almost three minutes! Rob Roselli missed this race because of an injury sustained in gym class.
Three Sophomores represented Cherokee in the second race -- the Varsity distance of 3.1 miles -- and all three made significant improvements over their performances just last Saturday! Both Ryan Lutz and Liam Eells dropped more than a minute and went under 20 minutes for the first time: Ryan finishing in 19:05 and Liam clocking a 19:45! Geoff Schellack also dropped his time significantly -- by almost a minute -- finishing in 20:06! Other Sophomores -- Steve McCarroll, Kevin Schickling and Alex Yersak -- continued to train for Saturday's SJ Open.
The coaches named Liam Eells the "Runner of the Meet" based on his PR performance, the first time he broke 20 minutes in the 5K! GO LIAM!
Complete results at: Burlington County T & F. Scroll to the bottom.
On October 8th, 2005, Cherokee sent the the Freshman and JV teams to the SJ Open for races that were all the more exciting because of a passing tropical storm! Local weathermen reported that more than 6 inches of rain fell in 24 hours and winds reached more than 50 mph . . . no one at the state's South Jersey Sectional Championship course in Delsea would doubt that!
Despite the weather, the races went off on time and the athletes responded well. In the Freshman Race, Marc Saccomanno finished 7th, with Rob Roselli and Sean Hartnett finishing 17th and 24th. They were closely followed by Graham Davis.
In the JV race, the team finished 3rd overall with Colin Cunningham taking the lead early and expanding that lead throughout the race! Close behind was Steve McCarroll who finished a strong 4th in the race! These two were followed by Joe Foley, Ryan Lutz and Liam Eells.
Coach Shaklee selected Colin Cunningham as the "Runner of the Meet" in recognition of his outstanding victory over the field and the elements! GO COLIN!
Thanks to Senior Rich Nelson for coming to the meet and helping the young guys! And thanks to the insane parents -- spotted were Messrs. Hartnett, Saccomanno, Foley, and Mr. and Mrs. McCarroll -- who braved the elements and the confusing SJ road system to cheer the team!
Official results are (temporarily) available at SJTCA
On October 11th, 2005, Cherokee's Cross Country team stepped-up the pressure to beat another highly-respected South Jersey team. In the final double-dual meet of the season, Cherokee won the Division title -- its 9th straight Division title, by the way -- by defeating 5th-ranked Washington Township High School, 20 - 36 and cross-district rival Shawnee High School, 15 - 48.
It seemed like everyone on the team played a role as they battled opposing athletes on their level. But up front, Alex Yersak and Greg Bredeck led the team, taking 1st and 2nd against the determined # 1 runner on the Washington Township team. Will Andes took 4th as Washington Township's # 2 runner was forced to accept 5th. Then Rich Nelson and Vin Marziano took 6th and 7th, completing the scoring in the Varsity contest! For added insurance, Kevin Schickling beat their 5th runner to clinch the victory!
Incidentially, this year's 7 - 0 dual meet record marks the ninth straight year without a defeat in the Olympic Conference!
The coaches selected team Captain, Vin Marziano as the "Runner of the Meet." Vin has been dealing with a minor injury and hasn't been at full strength all season, but he stepped in and took the final scoring points in the meet! GO VIN!
