Opening day, April 3rd, 2004 just wasn't the perfect day for Cherokee Track and Field. It was cloudy and cold all day; the officials ran the meet like it was their first experience with Track and Field; several key team members were nursing minor injuries; and many of the seniors were in Florida on the Senior Trip. It was, then, a chance for the younger guys to get some experience, and for the coaches to learn more about them.
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Coach Shaklee returned to his Alum Mater (Class of '73) on April 8, 2004 for the first "dual meet" of the season, and Cherokee defeated East 93 - 47. In passing, the coach highlighted Tom Nessler's 139' 5" throw in the Javelin; Alex Whirledge's victories in three events, if you include his anchoring of the 1600m relay; and the lopsided victories of the distance team in the meet.
On Saturday, April 10th, the Varsity Track and Field Team saw action at the Bridgeton Relays. The highlights of the meet came from the weight men. In the Discus Relay, Tom Nessler and Tom Ajderian threw two PR's and took 3rd place; and in the Shot Put Relay, Steve Addezzio and John Kerbaugh also threw PR's, taking 5th place in the event! On the running side, Cherokee was forced to settle for 3rd in the 4 X 800 when all-around go-to guy, sprinter Alex Whirledge was slowed by a hamstring injury. Will Andes ran a decent 2:01.3 in the 4 X 800; and Tom Yersak ran a PR of 2:05.1 in the DMR. Finally, the 2 X 400 IH Relay team of Brett Wintermute and John Convery took 5th with a 2:01.1.
On Saturday, April 10th, while the Varsity competed at Bridgeton, the Frosh/Soph squads saw action at the Wrobo Frosh-Soph Relays in Lawrenceville, NJ; and then, on Monday, April 12th, the same group competed in the Highland Frosh-Soph Meet. They did well at both!
At Wrobo, the squads took home 18 medals, with two major firsts! The Sophomore team of Greg Bredeck, Steve Watson, Rich Nelson, and Vin Marziano took first and set a new meet record in the DMR of 11:33; and the Sophomore team of Greg Bredeck, Mike Brown, Vin Marziano and Rich Nelson combined to win the 4 X 800!
These pictures from Wrobo were provided by Pat Montferrat of MySportsShot:
At the Highland Frosh-Soph Meet, many athletes did very well, despite the cold, wind and rain! Sophmores dominated the 3200 with Will Andes taking 1st in 10:13, Greg Bredeck taking 2nd in 10:14, and Vin Marziano taking 5th in 10:40. Rich Nelson won the Sophomore 800 in 2:11. Adrian Lu took 5th in the IH in 67.3, a 3 second PR. Fighting a strong head wind, Steve Watson took 4th in the 100m in 12.3. And Dan McCusker made great strides in the shot and disc, setting two PR's!
On Saturday, April 17th, the team competed at Willingboro, instead of the traditional meet at Woodbury. Coach Shaklee entered many of the younger members of the team in the meet and avoided doubling anyone. The stronger runners ran in the DMR (Andes, Wintermute, Maneval, and Yersak), taking 1st in 10:37.9 and winning watches! Other highlights came when Sean McLaughlin returned to serious competition and took 1st in the Open 3K in 9:13.81; and Brian Sand took 3rd in the PV at 11 feet.
