The Early Spring is a time of continuing preparation for the championship meets at the end of the season. It begins with a scrimmage and an unoffical roadrace, and quickly moves into the dual meets and several local relay meets. While there are many opportunities for everyone on the team to participate in these events, the newer team members also have several Freshmen/Sophomore/Novice Meets where they may hone their skills and perhaps qualify for Varsity competition. GO CHEROKEE!
Scrimmage: Timber Creek and Haddon Heights High Schools
On March 18, 2009, the team welcomed both Timber Creek High School and Haddon Heights High School to their newly upgraded facility for the first scrimmage of the 2009 season. And while the team gnenerally does not report on performances at scrimmages because many athletes are trying new events and learning new skills, it would be a total injustice to overlook the performances in the High Jump! Newcomer Brian Regensberg, participating for the first time in Cherokee Track and Field, easily cleared 6', and Junior Ed Kramer did the same! Even more significant, however, Senior Justin Turner upped his PR from last year by 6", setting a new school record of 6' 8"! The old record of 6' 4", by Mike Chiusano, had stood since 1979! Yikes!
Briefly, in other events, Will Rapp won the 200m Dash in a handtimed 21.9, an unofficial school record; and Major Mobley won the 110m High Hurdles, the LJ and the TJ! Also in the hurdles, Major was followed closely by Mike Brocco and Darren McCluskey.
.Haddonfield Adrenaline Run
Each year at this time, members of the distance team enter the Haddonfield Adrenaline 5K Race as the Cherokee Track Club to get some idea of their fitness for the up-coming season, and this year was no exception. On March 21, 2009, thirteen of Cherokee's distance athletes competed in the race. Steve Burkholder (31st in 16:32), Chris Applegate (33rd in 16:34), and Marc Saccomanno (34th in 16:36) led the team to the finish line; with Matt McCarroll (53rd in 17:26), Kyle Miller (56th in 17:29), Greg Malloy (57th in 17:29), and Ryan Bobb (59th in 17:31) counting among the top seven on the team! Interestingly, Freshman Aiden Lynch, who finished 8th on the team and 61st overall in 17:36, won his age group category!
Not to be left out of the fun, three other segments of the Cherokee family were represented. Alums were represented by Marc Pelerin ('02) who took 3rd overall in 14:43, Vin Marziano ('06) who finished 21st in 15:57, and Aaron Boucher ('99) who finished 30th in 16:27! (View Alumni comment and pics at the Alums page.) Parents were represented by Don Henriksen who took 143rd in 19:59, and Mike McCarroll who finished 220th in 22:03! And Wives of Coaches were represented by Aime Callinan who completed the first roadrace of her life!
Results at: L and M Sports Results.
Just Thinking: . . . today, we overheard a conversation between a very slow, older runner and some family and friends. They were asking him why he continued to run, and why he tried to run so hard, when it was obviously so painful for him. He said, "to prove I can." But to whom? To others or to himself? Those of you who have had the same question asked of you might simply say, "Because I can" and let them figure out what you mean by that statement. In a similar vein, late last year, ESPN highlighted a story about someone that you might find inspiring: A 12 Minute ESPN Feature.
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Newark Star-Ledger's Winter Track: All-Group IV Team
Congratulations to Junior Steve Burkholder for being named to the State All-Group IV, Second Team in the 1600m by the Newark Star-Ledger! This is a reflection of his performances in the final meets of the winter season. Rob Andrews of Manalapan High School, who set several national records over the season, including one held by Alan Webb, was named to the First Team in the 1600m. Details at: Star-Ledger OnLine.
Camden Courier-Post Winter Track: All-Group IV Team
Congratulation to Junior Steve Burkholder for being named to the South Jersey All-Group IV, First Team in the 1600m by the Camden Courier-Post! And congratulations to Hurdler Major Mobley and High Jumper Ed Kramer for being named to the South Jersey All-Group IV, Second Team in their events! Details at: Courier Post Online
New Jersey Scholastic Coaches Association: Hall of Fame Award
On March 22, 2009, the New Jersey Scholastic Coaches Association held its annual awards banquet in Edison, New Jersey to recognize the state's interscholastic "Coaches of the Year" and to induct others into the state's "Hall of Fame." Coach Shaklee was inducted into the organization's Hall of Fame to recognize his twenty years of outstanding Cross Country coaching. The citation included 5 State Group Championships; 6 State Sectional Championships; 13 County Titles; 16 Divisional Titles; 2 NFHS Coach of the Year Awards; 1 NJ State Coach of the Year Award; and 2 South Jersey Coach of the Year Awards! Congratulations to Coach Shaklee, to Coach Callinan, and to the many athletes who, over the years, helped him to earn this honor!
Dual Meet: Washington Township High School
On April 1, 2009, Cherokee hosted a much-improved Washington Township High School, the second- ranked team in the Courier-Post poll -- Cherokee is ranked 6th -- for the first dual meet of the season, and suffered its first dual meet defeat since losing to Eastern Regional High School in 2006! The score, a close 74 to 66.
Despite the loss, there were a number of fine performances. Will Rapp doubled by winning both the 100m and 200m Dashes! Mike Palmieri recorded a personal best to win the 400m Intermediate Hurdles, with Mike Brocco in 3rd, also with a personal best time. And Major Mobley, Darren McCluskey and Mike Brocco all ran well to take three of the top four places in the 110m High Hurdles. Among those in the field and throwing events, Justin Turner, Ed Kramer and Brian Regensberg swept the first three spots in the High Jump, while Chris Jackson, Justin Turner, Brian Regensberg and Major Mobley swept the first four places in the Long Jump. In addition, Matt Maze won the Pole Vault, Dom Roskoski won the Discus, and Justin Nykiel set a new personal best to win the Javelin! Record: 0 - 1.
Burlington County Hall of Fame Relays
On April 4, 2009, an incredibly windy day, Cherokee participated in the Burlington County Hall of Fame Relays at the Maple Shade High School. Even in this relatively protected environment, the wind made several of the races highly tactical affairs where winning became the goal and few worried about the stopwatch! Perhaps the most interesting "tactical" race of the day was the 4 X 1600m Relay which, at times, slowed almost to a jog. The victors, Cherokee's Ryan McNair, Kyle Smith, Kyle Miller and Chris Applegate! Other teams who ran, threw, or jumped to 1st place finishes were: the Shuttle Hurdle Relay of Mike Brocco, Darren McCluskey, Mike Palmieri and Major Mobley; the Javelin Relay of Justin Nykiel and Frank Wall; and the High Jump Relay of Ed Kramer and Justin Turner who set a school relay record of 12' 4" - both clearing 6' 2"! Complete results at: Milesplit, NJ. Picture from Dennis McDonald, Burlington County Times.
Moorestown Invitational
On April 11, 2009, Cherokee experienced almost biblical weather conditions at the Moorestown Invitational! The winds of last week had died down a bit but constant rain made it a very unpleasant day! Despite that, Mike Brocco, Mike Palmieri, Darren McCluskey and Major Mobley won the Shuttle Hurdles Relay and set a meet record; and AJ Valentine, Ryan McNair, Steve Burkholder and Chris Applegate won the 4 x 800m Relay!
In addition, Chris Jackson, Darren McCluskey, Tim Brill and Kyle Miller finished 2nd in the Sprint Medley Relay, with Miller running his best 800 by 4 seconds! And the 4 x 400m Relay of AJ Valentine, Mike Palmieri, Will Rapp and Josh Ungerleider also finished 2nd. Other personal highlights included Mike Czuba's victory in his heat of the 1500 meter Run with a big PR; and Greg Malloy's and Ryan Bobb's PR's in the 5000 Meter Run!
Complete results at: Milesplit, NJ. Picture from Dennis McDonald, Burlington County Times.
Spring Break!
Just Thinking: it's "Spring Break" for most of the students at Cherokee High School but for the team there is no rest for the weary: multiple meets are scheduled and there are practices on the open days! Still, there's lots of free time when you might check out LetsRun.com, one of the big-time websites devoted to our sport. Where else can you learn that legendary marathoner Bill Rodgers is returning to the Boston Marathon next week; or look for our Cherokee Alums in the results from practically every important track meet in the country; or that Usain Bolt demands $250,000 just to appear at a race and expects to be the first track star to earn $10 million a year by 2012; or the "Best Running Movie of All Time," a list of the "Top 10" selected by LetsRun.com readers?! Hey, you might set up a "film festival" on one of those slow days! Check it out . . . and pass the popcorn!
Ryan Hall
Alum Marc Pelerin ('02) gave us this fascinating video on Ryan Hall training for the up-coming Boston Marathon: Ryan Hall in Training.
Dual Meet: Pennsauken High School and Cherry Hill High School East
On April 14, 2009, the scheduled dual meet with Pennsauken High School was postponed because of heavy rain and it was re-scheduled for April 16, 2009 as a double-dual with Cherry Hill High School East. Cherokee won both meets by significant margins: 83 to 57 over Pennsauken, and 97 to 43 over East! Sprint/hurdle highlights for the team include Will Rapp winning both the 100m and 200m against a very strong sprint squad from Pennsauken and, with Jon Scott and Chris Jackson, sweeping both the short sprints against East. Major Mobley picked up three wins against East in the long jump, triple jump and 110m High Hurdles! Mike Palmieri and Mike Brocco both broke 58 seconds to take 1-2 in the 400m Hurdles with AJ Valentine taking 3rd against Pennsauken in his first attempt at the event! In the field events, Justin Turner soared over 6' 6" to win the high jump against Pennsauken, while Matt Maze picked up a double victory in the pole vault, with Jack Conway vaulting a PR to grab 2nd against Pennsauken! Among the distance events, Steve Burkholder picked up a double win in the 1600m, while Chris Applegate and Marc Saccomanno took the first two spots in the 3200m! And, finally, in the throwing events, Dom Roskoski and Justin Nykiel picked up wins against East in the discus and javelin, respectively, with freshman, Brandon McCleese, taking 2nd in the jav and 3rd in the disc! Record: 2 - 1.
Cherokee Parent in the Boston Marathon!
On April 20, 2009, parent Don Henriksen, the father of Senior runner Adam Henriksen ran the 113th Boston Marathon for the first time and acquitted himself well! He finished in 3:13:35, 3344th in a field of over 25,000, and 324th in his division! His results are available at Boston Marathon -- hover over the "Boston Marathon" link on the top menu, scroll down to "2009 Boston Marathon Results," then enter his bib number (7212) in the search page. The results suggest a 7:00 per mile plan that held up pretty well through the Half-Marathon; the second half of the Marthon shows a drop to 7:35, with an average of 7:23 through the entire Marathon! Be sure to give him a loud "Go Cherokee!" the next time you see him! And check out the Alums page to learn about another Cherokee athlete in the Boston Marathon!