For Cherokee, "Winter Track" continues to be a time of preparation 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 -- some of which are not reported here -- for both experience and a change of pace.
Haddonfield Invitational
Fortunately, December 12th, 2007 was a nice day for that time of year because the sprinters traveled to Haddonfield High School for the outdoor Haddonfield Invitational. Several athletes scored well in their first competition of the season, with Kevin Merrigan (6.5) and Chris Steliga (6.7) taking 1st and 2nd in the 55m Dash; Major Mobley (8.0), Chris Chen (8.2), and Mike Brocco (8.3) sweeping the 55m HH; and Matt Addezzio clocking a 24.1 leg on the 4 X 200m Relay!
Olympic Conference Meet
On December 22nd, 2007, the sprint and field squads competed in an Olympic Conference Meet at the Bennett Indoor Complex in Toms River. Kevin Merrigan set a high standard for the team, taking 2nd in the finals of the 55m Dash (6.67); and Chris Steliga did well in the 400m Dash, taking 2nd place (52.43)! Other noteworthy performances came from Major Mobley in the finals of the 55m HH (7th in 8.37); Jack Conway in the 55m Dash (7.74 PR); Ed Kramer in the High Jump (6th at 5' 8"); Matt Maze in the Vault (3rd in 10' 6"); and Matt Reed in the Shot Put (6th in 41' 7.25"). Complete results at: Bennett Indoor Complex.
Haddonfield Relay Invitational
On January 7, 2008, the entire team took advantage of good weather to participate in a outdoor meet, the Haddonfield Relay Invitational at Haddonfield High School. Highlights included the Sprint Medley Relay Team of Chris Chen, Mike Brocco, Mike Palmieri, and Major Mobley taking 2nd (33.7); the Distance Medley Relay "A" Team of Kevin "Ted" Schickling (3:24.2), Chris Steliga (51.4), Steve Burkholder (2:07.5), and Chris Applegate (4:49.9) taking 1st in 11.12.5; and the 4 X 200m Relay Team of Kevin Merrigan (22.9), Binah Moore, Matt Addezio and Chris Steliga (22.8) taking 1st as well! Another nice run in the Distance Medley Relay "B" Team race came from Marc Saccomanno who clocked a 4:49.7 in the 1600m segment!
Lavino Relays
On January 19th, 2008, selected members of the team traveled to The Lawrenceville School with its small but unique four-lane banked track for the Lavino Relays. Chris Steliga had a nice 200m (22.54), while Niraj Patel set a huge PR at the same distance (23.50)! Also, Ed Kramer matched his PR of a month ago, going 5' 8" in the HJ. Some pictures from the meet:
Olympic Conference Championships
On January 20th, 2008, the Varsity competed in the Olympic Conference Championships at the Bennett Indoor Complex in Toms River. The highlight of the meet came at the very beginning when the 4 X 800m Relay Team of Ted Schickling, Steve Burkholder, Matt McCarroll and Chris Applegate took 1st! Alex Yersak's "season opener" in the 1600m (4:35) was another distance highlight! The "lowlight" came when Alex Yersak then won the 3200m but, because of errors by multiple officials, he was awarded 3rd place! Complete results at: Bennett Indoor Complex.
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SJTCA Meet
On January 25th, 2008, the team again competed at the Bennett Indoor Center in Toms River, this time in the SJTCA Large-School Meet. The highlight of this meet was the excellent throw by Jon Turner in the Shot Put: a PR throw of 46' 10" to take 2nd place! Other positive results included Kevin Merrigan in the 55m Dash (6.84); Steve Burkholder's PR relay split of 2:05 in the 4 X 800m; and Ryan McNair's PR's in his leg of the 4 X 800m Relay and in the 1600m! Complete results at: Bennett Indoor Complex.
Poreda Invitational
On February 2nd, 2008, select members of the team traveled to The Lawrenceville School for the Poreda Invitational. Generally, a small group of comparable teams is invited to this meet and, with only 11 teams represented, that was the case this year. Cherokee used it as a primer for next week's Varsity Classic at the NY City Armory and the newly established Winter Group IV Sectionals at the Bennett Indoor Center.
The distance squad did well in both the 4 X 800m and the Distance Medley! In the 4 X 8, Ted Schickling, Steve Burkholder, Matt McCarroll and Chris Applegate ran their fastest time of the year (8:18.99) and won the event! The anchor, Chris Applegate, ran especially well finishing with a 4 second PR! In the DM, Alex Yersak, Kevin Merrigan, Steve McCarroll and Ryan McNair also ran their fastest time of the year (11:08) and finished 4th.
In addition to Applegates's finish in the 4 X 8, two other distance racers stood out! Anchoring the DM, Ryan McNair held-off a fast-closing challenger in the last 200m of the event! And, in a similar situation in the 1500m, Marc Saccomanno, who took the lead and held it from the first 400m of the race, battled a determined challenger in the last 200m of his race only to lose by a hair (really!) at the finish! Great stuff, Distance!
Among the sprinter/hurdlers, Major Mobley got banged-up in the Triple Jump but still managed to take 2nd in 40' 2 1/2"! And Mike Palmieri set a PR split of 54.0 in the 4 X 400m Relay!
