This page marks the actual beginning of the Spring Season highlighting the Burlington County Hall of Fame Relays (postponed to April 9th); the Highland Frosh/Soph Meet (also on April 9th); the dual meet with Eastern HS (April 11th); and the Moorestown Invitational (April 14th). GO CHEROKEE!
Burlington County Hall of Fame Relays
On April 9, 2007, a large group of Varsity athletes bussed to Maple Shade High School for the weather-postponed Burlington County Hall of Fame Relays. The weather was only slightly improved -- no rain but temperature in the low 40s with substantial wind! Still, the team performed well! Highlights include five First Place finishes: the 4 X 1600m Relay won by Steve Burkholder, Kevin Schickling, Chris Applegate and Alex Yersak; the Shuttle Hurdle Relay won by Aaron DeCaires, Mike Schiafone, Chris Chen and Major Mobley; the Javelin Relay won by Devon Prate and Demetrius Richardson; and the Long Jump and Triple Jump Relays won by Chris Steliga and Steve Watson! Also, team members placed second in three additional relays: Chris Steliga, Steve Watson, Joe Gentes and Kevin Merrigan placed 2nd in the 4x200 Relay; Alex Yersak, Kevin Merrigan, Kevin Schickling and Chris Applegate placed 2nd in the Distance Medley Relay; and Dan Farid and Chris Ratkis placed 2nd in the Discus Relay!
The pictures do not feature every event because the photographer had to cover two meets but here is a selection that gives some idea of the action!
Highland Frosh/Soph Meet
Also on April 9, 2007, a team of Freshmen and Sophomore athletes traveled to Highland High School in Blackwood, NJ for the Highland Frosh/Soph Meet. The team took home many medals but only Sophomore Chris Jackson took home a First Place! He won the 100m Dash and then took 2nd in the Long Jump and 3rd in the Triple Jump! Further details later!
Here are some pictures from that meet!
Dual Meet: Eastern Regional High School
On April 11, 2007, the team faced its first dual meet against the traditionally powerful Eastern Regional High School and came out a winner! Many team members "stepped-up" to surprise the Vikings, including Aaron DeCaires who set four PR's while scoring in four events -- 1st in the HH, 2nd in the IH, 2nd in the LJ, and 3rd in the TJ -- and the High Hurdles squad in general, composed of Chris Chen, Major Mobley and Mike Schiafone, who swept the first four places in the event! Other outstanding performances came from Mike Merrigan who had three PR's while winning the 400m, and taking 2nd in the 100m and 200m! In the field events, Demitrius Richardson won the Javalin with a huge PR and Dan Farid won the Discus with his own PR! Lynell Payne and Justin Turner took 1st and 2nd in the High Jump, also with PR performances! And Chris Steliga won the Long Jump with another excellent performance! In the distance events, Alex Yersak who won both the 1600m and 3200m races. He ran a great tactical race in the 1600m, setting his own PR for the 800m in the last half of the race! Also, Kevin Schickling, running a similar race with negative-splits, won the 800m with a super last 400m and a incredible dive at the finish line! "Ya shudda seen it, Dude" remarked one eloquent observer, "it was crazy!"
Crazy or not, led by these guys, the team scored 81 - 59 against Eastern . . . a very nice way to begin the dual meet competition! The record for 2007: 1 - 0! GO CHIEFS!
Here are some pictures from the meet including, this time, many of the Weight team!
Moorestown Invitational
On April 14, 2007, many of the team's top performers bussed to Moorestown HS for the 1st Moorestown Invitational. There, five relay squads took 1st place laurels, while another two took 2nd, and one took 3rd! The 1st place relay teams included the 4 X 110HH Relay of Chris Chen, Mike Schiafone, Major Mobley and Aaron DeCaires; the Sprint Medley Relay of Sean Farrow, Bill Iamurri, Chris Steliga (PR) and AJ Valentine; the Discus Relay of Chris Ratkis and Dan Farid with two PR's; the Long Jump Relay of Chris Steliga and Aaron Decaires; and the High Jump Relay of Lynell Paine and Justin Turner.
The second place teams included the 4 X 100m Relay of Kevin Merrigan, Sean Farrow, Chris Steliga, and Sam Shapiro; and the Triple Jump Relay of Major Mobley and Travis Sutton. Lastly, the 3rd place 4 X 400m Relay team consisted of Mike Schiafone, Kevin Merrigan, Joe Gentes, and Devin Prate.
Also at this meet, Sean Hartnett deserved special recognition for his performance in the 5K where he dropped a half-minute off of his PR!
Boys Track Spotlight: Burlington County Times
On April 18, 2007, Kevin Merrigan was the spotlighted "Track Athlete of the Week." The BCT had this to say:
"Kevin Merrigan has a football injury to thank for his track career. Merrigan was strictly a football/baseball player his first three years at Cherokee High School, but a shoulder injury he suffered playing football last fall ended both careers. He turned to track, and the results have been terrific.
"Merrigan has already run 11.1, 22.7 and 51.7 this spring. At the Hall of Fame Relays, he helped the Chiefs place second in both the 800 relay (with Joe Gentes, Steve Watson and Chris Steliga) and distance medley (with Alex Yersak, Kevin Schickling and Chris Applegate), and at Saturday's Moorestown Invitational he teamed with Sean Farrow, Steliga and Sam Shapiro to place second in the 400-meter relay in 44.6.
"'Right from the start, he was a dedicated, hard worker, and he found that he really loved the sport,' Cherokee coach Steve Shaklee said. 'It's amazing to think that he just started running in December. He already does everything right, from warm-up to stretching to workouts. He's a team leader by example and just a great kid to have in the program.'"
Congratulations to Kevin on this recognition of his fine performances!
