For Cherokee, "Winter Track" continues to be a time to prep for the Spring season. Coaches focus on base and strength training for the distance athletes, and skills and conditioning for the sprinters, jumpers and throwers. Even so, the team participates in a number of meets for both experience and a change of pace.
New York City Armory: Quint Meet
On December 16, 2005, Cherokee athletes participated in a Quint Meet at New York City Armory, sponsored by Indian Hills, H.S. Competing informally against four other teams from New Jersey, Cherokee made no special effort to win the meet but they managed to do so anyway! Reported highlights included Matt Applegate's first sub-five minute 1600m and Rich Nelson's 2:02.5 split in the 4 X 800m.
Sports photography indoors -- fast moving people, dark venues -- is practically impossible for amateurs and here are a few from the Armory to prove the point! To review the pictures below, hover over the picture for a brief description; click on the picture to open a larger version.
SJTCA Meet, Haverford College
On January 6, 2006, Cherokee athletes participated in the South Jersey Track Coaches Association, Big-School Relays at Haverford College. The Distance Med of Will Andes, Chris Steliga, Rich Nelson and Alex Yersak took first in 11.13.1, with Chris Steliga hitting a PR split of 53.9 in the 400m!
Again, there are some pictures but the quality is poor.
Haddonfield Winter Scrimmage II
On January 12, 2006, Haddonfield High School's Winter Scrimmage II gave many of the new guys a chance to throw and race. And, while many set starting PR's for themselves, the highlight of the exercise was veteran runner Matt Applegate's 4:47.3 in the 1600m! That's about 10 seconds faster than his previous best last week!
Although the winter sun was disappearing quickly, some pictures from the meet are available.
Lavino Relays, Lawrenceville Prep
On January 14, 2006, the team participated in the Lavino Relays at Lawrenceville Prep and showed significant progress in several areas! Highlights include 2nd place in both the Distance Medley, 10:47.8 (Alex Yersak - 3:21.4, Chris Steliga - 54.2, Will Andes - 1:59.5, Rich Nelson - 4:32.5) and the Sprint Medley, 3:41.00 (Steve Iwanczuk - 24.1, Sam Shapiro - 24.1, Will Andes - 52.4, Rich Nelson - 2:00.4), with two significant PR's for Nelson! The highlight among the jumpers was Chris Steglia's 20' 1" leap in the Long Jump, another PR for the day!
Once again, the photographer had more trouble than the runners, to the point where he borrowed the first five pictures shown below from Pat Montferrat, a FOC (friend of Cherokee).
NJSIAA State Relay Championships & The Lawrenceville School
On January 21, 2006, the Cherokee Track and Field team divided its efforts between the NJSIAA State Relay Championships at Princeton University and a dual meet at The Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, NJ. In both places, the team produced some impressive performances!
At the Relay Championships, two teams competed: the Distance Medley and the Sprint Medley. In the DM, Cherokee ran 10:43.82, taking 3rd behind Hillsboro and CBA. (Will Andes - 3:14.3; Chris Steliga - 53.1; Rich Nelson - 1:59.8; Alex Yersak - 4:36.6). In the SM, Cherokee ran 3:40.92 for 1st in their heat but 3rd overall. (Will Andes - 52.5; Chris Steliga - 23.9; Steve Iwanczuk - 24.6; Rich Nelson - 1:59.8). CBA ran 3:40.71 and Old Bridge ran 3:40.75 in another heat to force Cherokee into 3rd place.
Full results at: MCTCA.
At Lawrenceville, the rest of the team did well too! PR's include Kevin Schickling's 10:29.0 and Matt Applegate's 10:31.9 in the 3200m! Sam Shapiro set his own Indoor PR in the 200m (23.4), as did Steve Watson in the 400m (55.6). Chris Chen (8.5) and Robin Chen (8.7) set PR's in the 55HH too! Finally, four Freshmen had great races in the 1600m: Marc Saccomanno (5:16.2), Ryan McNair (5:17.8), Chris Applegate (5:20.2), and, coming back from illness, Sean Hartnett (5:31.5)!
Unfortunately, no photographs are available from either of these meets.
NJSIAA Group State Championships
On January 28, 2006, several of Cherokee's finest met the qualifying standards and participated in the NJSIAA Group State Championships on the relatively slow track at Princeton University. In the 55m, Sam Shapiro and Steve Iwanczuk; in the 200m, Sam Shapiro and Steve Watson; in the 800m, Will Andes and Rich Nelson; and in the 3200m, Alex Yersak and Matt Applegate.
Highlights: SeniorWill Andes took home a big win in the 800m (1:59.24) and he was closely followed by Senior Rich Nelson (2:00.41) in 3rd. The victory was all the more satisfying because both athletes had poor starts and were in last place 50m into the race! Sophomore Alex Yersak took 8th -- and qualified for the up-coming Meet of Champions as a wildcard -- in the 3200m (9:55.43), while Matt Applegate ran a PR (10.34.70) in the same race! And Sam Shapiro ran 6.97 in the 55m, narrowly missing the qualifying time of 6.90.
Full results at: MCTCA.
A video tape of the races is available and will be posted when (if) the webmaster figures out how to do it!.
New Jersey Metropolitan Invitational
On February 1, 2006, many of Cherokee's athletes participated in the NJ Metropolitan Invitational at the New York City Armory. Highlights included: Steve Watson Triple Jumped 40' 1/4" for a new indoor and outdoor PR! In the 4 X 200m, Chris Steliga (24.1), Sam Shapiro (23.3), Steve Iwanczuk (23.4), and Steve Watson (23.8) posted a 1:34.6 and finished 4th. Colin Cunningham PR'd in the 800m (2:08.3). And in the 1600m, PR's were set by Rich Nelson (4:33.1); Alex Yersak (4:35.3); Kevin Schickling (4:48.8); Sean Hartnett (5:24.7); and Adam Hendrickson (6:15.2).
Possibly the most fascinating aspect of the meet was the unusual technique used by the officials to run the many unseeded heats of the 200m. A few seeded heats were run as usual, with only one heat on the 200m track at a time. After that, however, the officials lined up three or four heats and started them within seconds of each other. Indeed, at one time there were four separate heats competing on the track at the same time! After the first heat was started, runners in the second heat had seconds to get into position before their heat was sent along after the first. This continued through a third and even a fourth heat, each only seconds after the previous heat! Amazing! The officials did a brilliant job of processing the heats -- the Penn Relays officials are sluggish in comparison -- but many of the runners were obviously so unnerved by the process that they failed to make legitimate starts . . . and they probably didn't set any PR's either! . . . Ah, the penalty we pay for having a meet on a school night!
Indoor again but here are some pictures that passed the "basic skills test!"
New Jersey Varsity Classic
On February 6, 2006, several of Cherokee's varsity participated in the NJ Classic at the New York City Armory. Highlights: Sam Shapiro sprinted to a PR of 23.25 in the 200m; and then he and Steve Iwanczuk both qualified for the semi-finals in the 55m Dash, running 6.61 and 6.66 respectively! Chris Chen also PR'd, clocking an 8.4 in the 55HH!
The 4 X 800m Relay posted an 8:15.5 to qualify for the Eastern States Relays later this month. Lead-off Rich Nelson (1:59.4) and anchor, Will Andes (1:57.8) had solid races and Colin Cunningham ran an outstanding 3 second PR on the second leg (2:04.8). Chris Steliga, a novice at this distance, showed impressive character as he struggled to keep the team in the race!
Finally, Kevin Schickling PR'd in the 3000m! Unfortunately, he was in the 3200m! Misled by the officials, he stopped a lap short with a time of 9:42.9. He was on pace to run a sizable PR in the 3200m . . . probably around 10:23!
Howell High School Shot Put Championships
On February 8, 2006, ten of Cherokee's Weightmen traveled to Farmington, NJ for the 2006 Rebel Shot Put Championships at Howell High School. Highlights included six PR's: Austin Dill, Mike Guadian, Chris DeSantis, Dan McCusker, Matt Reed and Mike Dunn! In the Freshman Division, Mike Dunn took 5th and Kenny Maher took 6th. And in the Sophomore Division, Matt Reed took 2nd and Nick Walker took 5th.
Sorry, no photographs available from this meet.
Poreda Invitational
On February 18, 2006, part of Cherokee's squad participated in the Poreda Invitational at The Lawrenceville School in Lawrence, NJ. Highlights include a 1st in the Long Jump by Steve Watson (41' 4 1/4"); and a 2nd and 4th in the 55m Dash by Steve Iwanczuk (6.6) and Sam Shapiro (6.9). Also, Chris Steliga had a nice 400m split (52.1) in the Sprint Medley.
Sorry, no photographs available from this meet.
NJSIAA State Meet of Champions
On February 19, 2006, three of the Cherokee's distance guys arrived to compete in the NJSIAA State Meet of Champions at Princeton University: Will Andes and Rich Nelson in the 800m, and Alex Yersak in the 3200m.
In the 800m run, Will and Rich competed in the seeded heat. After a slow start, Will quickly made up the distance and took the lead, only to relinguish it at the finish line! In a torrid finish surrounded by three other runners, Will clocked a 1:59.08 but was forced to take 5th place overall . . . only 0.26th of a second separated the 1st and the 5th runners! Rich also experienced a difficult start but ran steadily throughout the race slowly closing on the front runners! His kick was not enough, however, and he ended up less than two seconds behind the winner, clocking a 2:00.26 for 7th overall!
This past week, Alex was working on a sinus infection and it was clear that he was not ready to race at his best in the MOC. Hoping he would recover in time to compete in an up-coming regional race, he and the coach reluctantly decided that he would not race.
Full results at: MCTCA.
A video tape of the race exists but the webmaster is still working on how to post it!
The following pictures of the race were a gift of Pat Montferrat, an old FOC (friend of Cherokee)!:
And special thanks to Toby Nygaard, a new FOC (friend of Cherokee), who provided these pictures of the race!
