As Coach Bill Bowerman said to Steve Prefontaine just before one of Pre's championship races, "The hay's in the barn, Pre." . . . The physical and mental preparation are over, the work is finished, now it's time to go out and make history! GO CHIEFS!
On November 4, 2006, Cherokee traveled once more to Delsea High School for the South Jersey State Sectional Championships, the first qualifying step towards the State Group Championships at Holmdel on November 11th and, ultimately, the State Meet of Champions on November 18th. The weather was great for Cross Country, with cool temperatures and little wind; and the course -- flat and dry -- was ideal for fast times! Indeed, Cherokee imagined that a first place showing was well within the realm of possibility! But not all worked according to plan . . ..
In the Group IV race, there were 19 teams but only the top five finishers advanced to the State Group Championships. Alex Yersak, Cherokee's favorite to win the race, did as expected and took 1st but the team had to settle for a disappointing 4th place. Chris Applegate followed Alex in 10th, with Colin Cunningham in 19th. Steve Burkholder in 48th and Kevin Schickling in 51st completed the scorers. They were followed by Mike Medvec in 53rd and Matt McCarroll in 56th, who rounded out the team. Still, they qualified for the State Group Championships, and they still had an opportunity to make history on the hills of Holmdel Park!
The last time Cherokee missed qualifying for the Meet of Champions, the present Freshmen on the team were just out of diapers! That was in 1996! And, for nine years in a row -- a record in the state -- Cherokee finished among the top six teams at the Meet of Champions! Knowing this, and despite the early setback at Sectionals, expectations were high for adding a 10th year to this record! GO CHEROKEE!
The coaches once again selected Alex Yersak as the "Runner of the Meet." He had a job to do and he did it! GO ALEX!
Full State results at: Shore Conference Track and Field
On November 11, 2006, an unusally hot and humid day for November, Cherokee once again took the long bus ride up to Holmdel Park, the state's championship course, for the State Group Championships. And for Cherokee, it was one of the most unusual races in its history!
In the Group IV race, 20 teams qualified at their Sectional meets the week before, with Cherokee only 4th in the South Sectional. Indeed, everyone thought it would take extraordinary races by everyone to qualify for the upcoming Meet of Champions. But, oddly enough, it would be less-than-extraordinary races by practically everyone in the field that enabled the team to advance!
The scorers were led by Alex Yersak (8th overall, 5th in team scoring), followed by Chris Applegate (31st overall, 21st team), Kevin Schickling (41st overall, 31st team), Colin Cunningham (55th overall, 45th team), and Steve Burkholder (111th overall, 98th team). They were followed by Mike Medvec (117th overall, 104th team) and Sean Hartnett (128th overall, 115th team). The team finished 5th in the race -- only the top 3 teams qualify -- but strange things were happening!
The team score added up to an incredibly high 200, a number usually well over the threshold for qualifying. But it was enough to beat all of the other South Jersey teams that qualified at Sectionals -- Toms River East (204), Toms River North (249), Mainland (291), and Southern (327) -- and to put them in a position to receive an "At Large" invitation to the MOC! Briefly, the first three teams in the six races automatically qualify for the MOC and then the next two teams from all the races with the lowest average team time receive "At Large" invitations: 18 teams qualify plus 2 "At Large." Phillipsburg, 4th in the Group IV race with an average time of 17:27.80, received the 1st "At Large" bid; and Cherokee, with an average team time of 17:34, received the 2nd! Anyone here believe in destiny? GO CHEROKEE!
For the record, this was the 10th straight year that Cherokee won a position in the Meet of Champions!
And, as an aside, another record was broken at Holmdel: Sean Hartnett had an upset stomach and threw up a record 6 times during the race! GO SEAN!
The coaches selected Kevin "Ted" Schickling as the "Runner of the Meet." It was only his second varsity race since his back injury and he ran faster than he did last year on a day when very few others did! GO TED!
Full results at: Lou Fraulo Racing Systems
On November 18, 2006 -- a fantastic day for cross country racing with the sun shining, temperatures in the high 40s and only a light wind -- Cherokee competed in the New Jersey State Meet of Champions at Holmdel Park for the 10th year in a row! The goal was to, once again, stand on the winner's platform by finishing among the top 6 teams in the race, but that was not to be.
The team, led by Alex Yersak in 22nd, finished 9th overall, and 3rd best among South Jersey teams! Chris Applegate was second on the team, taking 39th; and he was followed by scorers Kevin Schickling in 116th, Colin Cunningham in 129th, and Steve Burkholder in 132nd. Sean Hartnett and Mike Medvec rounded out the team in 135th and 143rd respectively.
The coaches selected Chris Applegate as the "Runner of the Meet!" His 39th place was the 9th best finish by a South Jersey runner, and his time of 16:46.5 placed him 12th on Cherokee's All-Time List! GO CHRIS!
Complete details at: Lou Fraulo Racing Systems
On November 25, 2006 -- another fantastic day for cross country racing -- three members of Cherokee's team traveled to VanCortlandt Park in the Bronx, New York City for the Footlocker Cross Country Regional Championships. Junior Alex Yersak competed in the Seeded Race against 256 others and took 66th overall -- 1st South Jersey and 10th New Jersey athlete to cross the line -- in 16:28.6. Interestingly, in 2004, Senior Tom Yersak, Alex's brother, finished the same race in 61st while clocking a 16:34.6!
Chris Applegate competed in the Sophomore Race against 274 others and took 8th place -- 1st South Jersey and 3rd New Jersey runner to finish -- in 16:52.3. Skimming through the results of the other races, Chris would have finished 5th in both the Junior and Senior Races and 111th in the Seeded Race!
And Steve Burkholder competed in the Freshman Race against 142 others and took 16th place -- 2nd South Jersey and 3rd New Jersey runner to finish -- in 17:53.5. Another interesting piece of information: in 2004, Alex Yersak competed in the Freshman Race . . . he finished in 20th place, clocking an 18:14.8!
Complete results at: Foot Locker Results.
The team photographer was unavailable but this shot was provided by a friend with a sense of humor. Any other friends out there?
On December 3, 2006, the Cherokee Cross Country team held its annual banquet where the team, coaches, parents and friends enjoyed a meal together, and Coaches Shaklee and Callinan recognized the accomplishments of the team in 2006. Their remarks are documented in the Coaches' Message.
This section is meant to briefly summarize those accomplishments.
--- The following awards were announced by Coaches Shaklee and Callinan:
--- The following awards were announced by the South Jersey Track Coaches Association, the Camden Courier-Post, the Burlington County Times, the Trenton Star-Ledger, the Ed Grant Newsletter, and the Olympic Conference: