The early part of the Championship Season ended with Cherokee's Varsity taking 2nd to cross-town rival Lenape High School by only 4 points at the Burlington County Championship; and then taking 2nd again to Lenape, this time by 7 points, at the Olympic Conference Championship! After those defeats, the team was even more determined as they faced even greater challenges at the South Jersey Sectional Championships, the New Jersey State Group Championships, and the State Meet of Champions! Meanwhile, the Non-Varsity runners looked forward to the New Jersey State Freshman-JV Championships! GO CHEROKEE!
On November 3, 2010, Cherokee's non-varsity competitors traveled to Thompson Park in Jamesburg for the New Jersey State Freshman-JV Championships, their final meet of the season. The park course, though flat compared to places like Holmdel, is a challenging one and the meet is even more so because it attracts runners from many of New Jersey's top running schools. Cherokee runners Matt Decker, Jason Brockman, Phillip-Robert Cerria, Sankeerth Kondapalli and Angus Endicott all ran well and very close to their PR's set at last week's Haddonfield Sub-Varsity Invitational!
Runner of the Meet honors go to Jeremy Morgan who ran his first sub-18 minute 5K on a championship course! GO JEREMY!
Meet details at: NJRunners.
On November 6, 2010, the team traveled back to Delsea High School for the NJSIAA South Jersey Sectional Championships, the first of two steps towards the final championship meet of the season, the State Meet of Champions. Cherokee was scheduled to run in the Group IV (large schools) race and the outcome was even more questionable than in previous years. Two of Cherokee's top athletes were nursing injuries and dangerously close to missing the meet entirely. But a qualifying streak of sixteen consecutive years practically demanded that these guys race if they could . . . and race they did!
Overcoming those and other problems, the team finished 4th in the South Jersey Group IV Sectional Championship race and advanced to the State Group IV Championship for the seventeenth consecutive year!
The team was led by the outstanding effort of senior, Greg Malloy, who placed 5th in a very strong field, running the second fastest time ever recorded on the Delsea course by a Cherokee athlete. Ryan Bobb, Billy Hornung, Aiden Lynch and Ty Somers all finished between 24th and 34th in the field of 124 runners to complete the scoring for the team and secure a top five finish and another trip to the State Group Championship race at Holmdel Park. GO CHEROKEE! GO BETTER!
Senior Ty Somers earned Runner of the Meet honors with his fastest race of the year in only his third meet back from injury. GO TY!
Meet details at: NJRunners.
On November 13, 2010, after staying the night at a local hotel, the well-rested Varsity squad bussed to nearby Holmdel Park, the site of all the top championship meets in New Jersey, for the NJSIAA State Group Championships. The day was almost perfect for running: sunny, relatively warm for November, with only a slight breeze.
Last year, for the first time in 13 years, the team failed to qualify -- finish among the top five teams in the Group IV race -- and advance to the State Meet of Champions. This year, with injuries to two of the top seven runners, it seemed even more unlikely.
Indeed, by the mile mark, with only one Cherokee runner in serious contention, it was apparent that the Chiefs would, once again, sit out the final championship meet of the season.
But that one runner, Senior Greg Malloy, still had a chance to make it to the Meet of Champions: all he had to do was finish among or close to the top ten in the race. A huge challenge, considering the incredible talent in the Group IV race!
Watching the race unfold, Greg had a great start, running about 25th at the mile mark! By the two mile mark, he had moved up to 17th, and two-tenths of a mile after that, he was 16th. He continued to gain slowly on the runners ahead of him and, by the finish line, he was in 14th place, clocking an amazing 16:17, the 5th fastest Holmdel time in Cherokee's long Cross Country history! Yikes! He had to wait until the end of the meet but his time proved to be the second fastest of all runners on non-qualifying teams, and that was enough for "wild card" admission to the Meet of Champions!
Meanwhile, Cherokee's other runners finished in pairs! Aiden Lynch and Ryan Bobb took 70th and 72nd; Matt Venanzi and Billy Hornung finished in 98th and 103rd; and Ty Somers and Eric Birkhead crossed the line in 122nd and 125th. Matching last year's finish, the team took a disappointing 13th overall, well off of what they hoped and worked for throughout the long summer and fall.
Greg Malloy was named the Runner of the Meet as he finished 14th in an incredibly competitive field, and won Wild Card admission to the State Meet of Champions! GO GREG!
Further details, including videos and thousands of pictures from the meet at: NJRunner.
A little topical humor here . . ..
On November 20, 2010, Greg Malloy, Cherokee's lone qualifier for the NJSIAA Meet of Champions, arrived at Holmdel Park with a contingent of coaches, team members, and supporters determined to run faster than the impressive pace he set for himself at the State Group Championships, and he disappointed no one!
Facing all of the top performers in the state, Greg ran competitvely throughout his race, dropping 3 seconds off his previous time on the course, finishing in 16:14 for 25th place!
Cherokee has always considered it a "big deal" when someone broke 16:30 on the state championship course at Holmdel, and before now, only seven Cherokee athletes have done so. Greg joined that elite group last week when he ran 16:17 at the State Group Championships and moved to 5th place on the list behind four of Cherokee's greatest distance runners: Marc Pelerin (15:43.7); Keith Krieger (15:45.8); Joe Halin (16:09.0); and Tom Yersak (16:12.1)! Today, he remains in 5th place with his 16:14.0!
At a time when the team had little to brag about, Greg's performance at the Meet of Champions was a great way to end the season with a smile! THANKS GREG!
Hmmmmmm, who's the Runner of the Meet . . .?
Details at: NJRunners
On Sunday, December 5, 2010, Cherokee's Cross Country team held its annual awards dinner at the school. There the team, coaches, families and friends, enjoyed a meal together, applauded the accomplishments of the team this season, and bid farewell to the graduating seniors. Highlights included the great meal provided by the parents, a special PowerPoint presentation of team pictures provided by Greg Malloy, and the Coaches' awards, including the Most Improved, Most Valuable, and the Unsung Hero. Coach Shaklee's remarks are recounted in Coach's Message.
--- The following Coaches' 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, and the Olympic Conference:
~ ~ Congratulations to everyone, and thanks for all your efforts this season! ~ ~
GO CHEROKEE!