Once again, 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 a Frosh-Novice Meet where they may hone their skills and perhaps qualify for Varsity competition. GO CHEROKEE!
Four-team Scrimmage: Cherokee, TC, Haddon Heights, and Highland
On March 17, 2010, the team traveled to Timber Creek High School to participate in a four-team scrimmage: Haddon Heights, Highland, Timber Creek and Cherokee High Schools. There were many nice performances among the distance runners, including Josh Perez' victory in the 1600m, Colin Merrigan's victory in the 800m, and newcomer Shawn Wilson's very nice result in the 1600m! Among the sprinters, Darren McCluskey looked good in both the 100m and 400mIH; as did John Barr in both the 100m and 200m, and Ed Kramer in the 110HH! Kyle Muench ran an excellent PR in the 4 X 400m Relay; and several others -- Cody McDonald, Jason Brockman and Ross Staudt -- also ran nice 400m races. Lastly, among the throwers, Justin Nykiel had a good day with the Javelin!
Here is an unusual number of pictures to introduce some new guys and welcome back the veterans!
Haddonfield Adrenaline 5K Run
Each year in mid-March, members of the distance squad enter Haddonfield's Adrenaline 5K Road Race to get some idea of their fitness for the up-coming season, and this year eleven guys and two parents showed up! While no upperclassman won his age group, Freshman Shawn Wilson kept one streak intact . . . well, OK, "the streak" was only one year old at this point but he kept it going! Last year as a Freshman, Aiden Lynch won his age group -- 14 and under -- category, finishing 61st overall in 17:36; and this year Shawn won the same category, finishing in 70th place in 17:31! GO SHAWN! (By the way, before Aiden, Chris Applegate was the last to win the Freshman, 14 and under category in 2006.)
In addition to the team runners, four Alums -- Marc Pelerin, Ted Schickling, and Matt and Chris Applegate are featured on the Alums page -- and two parents -- Don Henriksen and Mike McCarroll -- raced the challenging 5K course!
Results at: L and M Sports Results.
The photographer took these pictures about 4/10ths of a mile from the start and finish line.
Winter Awards Announced!
Congratulations to four athletes from Cherokee's Indoor Track team named to several All-State, All-Group IV, and/or All-South Jersey teams!
Senior Ed Kramer's name came up everywhere because of his outstanding performances in the High Jump! He began by winning multiple Olympic Conference meets, including the Olympic Conference Championships; the he won the Track Universe High School Invitational, the Poreda Invitational, the Varsity Classic, the South Jersey Sectional Championships, and the New Jersey State Group IV Championships! He shared a second place with others in the New Jersey State Meet of Champions, and then took 6th at the Nike Nationals to win High School All-American status! And while doing all of this, he jumped a PR of 6' 8", setting a new Indoor school record and tying the Cherokee school record for the Spring season as well!
For all of that, the Newark Star-Ledger named Ed to their All-State 2nd Team, the All-Group IV 1st Team, and the All-South Jersey 1st Team! In addition, NJRunners.com named him to their All-State 3rd Team; and the Camden Courier-Post named him to their All-South Jersey 1st Team and their All-Group IV 1st Team! GO ED!
Others received recognition too! Senior Distance runner, Steve Burkholder, who repeatedly dropped his PR in the 1600m every time he raced, and finished with an outstanding 4:19.97 at the NJ State Meet of Champions, was named to several teams, and put himself 4th on both the Burlington County All-Time List (Indoors) and the Cherokee All-Time 1600m List! In addition, he set a new Indoor Olympic Conference record in the 800m! Pehaps his most interesting performance was the 3200m race in New York City where he beat the New York City Cross Country Champion at the finish line! As a result, the Newark Star-Ledger named Steve to their All-Group IV Third Team, and the Camden Courier-Post named him to their All-Group IV 1st Team! GO STEVE!
Among the hurdlers, Darren McCluskey was the only Chief to receive end-of-the-season recognition! Darren looked strong in the 55mHH throughout the season, starting at 7.7 with an early win in a conference meet, and then he won the Olympic Conference Championship and the Track Universe High School Invitational! By the State's Meet of Champions, Darren dropped his time to 7.64, and he ended the season ranked #1 among New Jersey Junior class hurdlers, and 10th overall in Burlington County history! As a result, the Camden Courier-Post named him to the All-South Jersey 2nd Team and the All-Group IV 2nd Team! GO DARREN!
Among the sprinters, Cherokee's fastest man, Jon Scott received recognition too! As early as January, Jon set PR's in the open 100m and 200m and he continued to improve throughout the season! He was also a key in several relay events, including the Sprint Medley Relay and the 2 X 200m Relay where the team qualified for the the nationals in Boston! Jon ended the season in New Jersey by taking 4th in Sectionals and 5th in the State Groups! As a result, the Camden Courier-Post named him to the All-Group IV Second Team! GO JON!
Burlington County Hall of Fame Relays
On April 3, 2010, the team traveled to the 47th Annual Burlington County Hall of Fame Relays at Maple Shade High School in New Jersey. In the past, this meet was often ruined by the worst of "Spring" weather: rain, of course, but often cold temperatures, snow, sleet, and even some "cats and dogs" thrown in! But this time, the weather was glorious -- sunny, high 60s, little wind -- and the team's peformance was good too!
The Distance squad participated in four relays. In the Varsity Distance Medley, Josh Perez handed off in first on the 1200m leg with a negative split; Ty Somers PR'd in the 800m by about three seconds; and newcomer Freshman Shawn Wilson, despite starting way too fast, PRed on the 1600m leg as Cherokee finished 2nd to Northern Burlington. In the JV Distance Medley, Matt Venanzi ran a strong last lap on the lead-off 1200m to give Cherokee a big lead which was never relinquished. Billy Hornung ran negative splits on the 800m leg to really open things up. Ryan Bobb, running all alone in the lead, ran a strong anchor to give the Chiefs a 41-second victory over 2nd place Lenape. In the Varsity 4 X 800m, the team of Colin Merrigan, Mike Lowinger, Steve Burkholder and Mike Palmieri ran the 5th fastest time in the state this spring to win by six seconds over Lenape, with Burkholder splitting 1:56.5 on the 3rd leg! And, finally, in the JV 4 X 800m, Cherokee took 1st and 2nd with the team of Barry Fitzgerald, Ty Somers, Ryan Merrigan and Josh Perez setting a new Junior Varsity meet record to win by 22 seconds! Cherokee's second team of Eric Birkhead, Billy Hornung, Ian Foley and Vinny Lowe placed 2nd in the event!
The Sprint guys were also busy in both Varsity and Junior Varsity events. In the Varsity Sprint Medley, the team of Cody McDonald, Alex Walker, Darren McCluskey, and Kyle Muench took 4th place! And in the JV Sprint Medley, Cherokee entered two teams that took both 1st and 2nd: the first, manned by Drew Viscidy, Andrew Webb, Jason Brockman, and Ross Staudt; and the second manned by Brian Schules, Zaire Williams, Joe Cashin, and Eric Ortiz!
Finally, among the Sprinters, Cherokee entered an all-sophomore JV 4 X 400 Relay that won their section: Colin Merrigan, John Barr, Brandon Rapp, and Ross Staudt!
The Jumps and Throws guys made a significant contribution as well! The Varsity High Jump Relay team of Ed Kramer and Brian Regensberg won their event! And in the field, the Varsity Discus Relay team of Brandon McCleese and Dom Roskoski also won their event; and the JV Javelin Relay team of Brett Schules and Frankie Wall took 2nd!
Results at: MileSplit.NJ.
Dual Meet: Cherry Hill High School East
On April 6, 2010, Cherokee hosted Olympic Conference and American Division rival Cherry Hill High School East in the first dual meet of the season. The Chiefs won the event by a lopsided 93 - 47, reflecting significant performances in all areas! Among the Distance group, there were several stand-out performances. Steve Burkholder tallied two "strategic" victories in the 1600m and 800m races, starting each with very slow paces and then finishing very fast! Mike Lowinger, in his first 1600m race, impressed everyone with a tough, smart race and took 3rd in the event! Colin Merrigan made up ten meters in the last 100m of the 800m Run, out-leaning East's Number 1 runner and taking 2nd behind Burk! Josh Perez also ran a very smart, tactical 3200m Run, narrowly beating another of East's Number 1 runners at the finish line, and clocking a big negative split (27 seconds faster on the second 1600m, with a final 400m in 62 seconds)! In addition, Ross Staudt and Lou DiGeambeardino clocked new PR's in the 800m Run! Finally, the 4 X 400m Relay, usually manned by sprinters, was staffed by four distance guys -- Ty Somers, Lou DiGeambeardino, Matt Venanzi and Kyle Muench -- and, to no one's surprise -- well, OK, maybe everyone was surprised -- won the race! All the splits were decent but Kyle's PR by over a second was an additional highlight!
Among the Sprint squad, there were other key performances that helped to put Cherokee in the lead! Early on, Mike Palmieri and Darren McCluskey took 2nd and 3rd in the 400IH; and then Palmieri added a 2nd in the 400m Run, and McCluskey added a 1st in the 110HH and a 2nd in the 200m Dash! Not to be outdone, Jon Scott took 1st in both the 100m and 200m Dashes, and then took 2nd in the Long Jump! As an aside, Cherokee swept the 200m Dash (with Brandon Rapp in 3rd) and the 110HH (with Ed Kramer and Andrew Wenzel in 2nd and 3rd)!
The Jumpers also scored some big points! Ed Kramer won the High Jump and the Long Jump, and took 2nd in 110HH! Again, Jon Scott took 2nd in the Long Jump; Dan Basoff took 3rd in the Triple Jump with a new PR; and Eric Mudge and Austin Bernstein took 2nd and 3rd in the Vault!
The Throwers up on the hill added their share too! Sophomore Brandon McCleese won the Shot and the Discus, and would have won the Javelin as well, had not some fussy official disqualified him for wearing an earring during competition! One report suggested it was a 4-inch dangling earring that could not be overlooked by the official -- even if he wanted to -- but another said that it was a "small, tasteful fashion statement that matched his Cherokee uniform perfectly, and no DQ should have been made." Whatever the truth, the rules stipulate that earrings -- large or small -- are not allowed during competition! After McCleese was DQ'd, Justin Nykiel stepped up and took 1st place in the Jav to save the points for Cherokee! In addition, the Field Chiefs made their biggest contribution in the Discus where Dom Roskoski and Obi Onejeme took 2nd and 3rd behind McCleese for a sweep in the event!
Dual Meet Record: 1 - 0. GO CHEROKEE!
Dual Meet: Lenape High School
On April 8, 2010, if you missed the dual meet against Conference, Division, and District rival, Lenape High School, you missed one of those classics that makes the dual meets worth doing! Throughout the meet, Cherokee exchanged leads with the powerful Lenape team and, with only two events remaining -- the High Jump and the 4 X 400m Relay -- Lenape led in the scoring, 66 - 60! But then, Ed Kramer and Brian Regensburg stepped-up in the High Jump, and Jon Scott, Mike Palmieri, John Barr and Steve Burkholder took over in the 4 x 4! The result: Cherokee took 13 of a possible 14 points to win the meet, 73 - 67! Yikes!
But, remember, Cherokee had 60 points before that time, and many came from outstanding performances by key individuals! Jon Scott, the fastest man in the relay, also won the 100m and 200m Dashes! Steve Burkholder, the anchor in the relay, also won the 1600m and 3200m Runs! And Mike Palmieri, the Number 2 man in the relay, also won the 400IH! That's 25 points right there!
Others contributed big and small points throughout the meet! Justin Nykiel took 1st in the Javelin; and Brandon McCleese threw an outstanding PR in the Shot, taking 2nd! Sprinter/Hurdler Darren McCluskey scored in three events. But Josh Perez outleaned one of Lenape's top distance runners for 2nd place in the 1600m Run and picked-up 3 points; Dan Basoff scored Cherokee's only point in the Triple Jump; and Colin Merrigan and Eric Mudge did the same thing in the 800m Run and the Vault! The result, with these and other small victories, 60 points going into the HJ and Relay . . . and 73 points coming out!
Dual Meet Record: 2 - 0. GO CHEROKEE!
Moorestown Invitational
On April 10, 2010, Cherokee traveled to wind-swept Moorestown for the Moorestown Invitational. Several of Cherokee's top performers remained home to train but the team put together a number of excellent individual and relay performances! In the Open 5K Run -- an unusual opportunity for high school track runners to compete at this distance -- both Greg Malloy, who has been nursing injuries since the Winter season, and Ryan Bobb did well, with Greg placing 6th and Ryan running a sub-17 in the race! Josh Perez did well in a very quick Open 1500m Run, placing 6th in 4:22.19!
Among the Sprinters, the All-Soph teams in the Sprint Medley Relay -- John Barr, Matt Jackson, Drew Viscidy, and Barry Fitzgerald -- and Distance Medley Relay -- Colin Merrigan, Brandon Rapp, Ross Staudt, and Mike Lowinger -- both medaled, placing 5th and 6th in their events! The 4 X 100 Relay team of John Barr, Brandon Rapp, Matt Jackson and Alex Walker placed 6th in their event. And the 4 X 200 Relay team of Jon Scott, Brandon Rapp, Cody McDonald, and John Barr placed 4th.
Finally, the Throwers placed in all three events! In the Javelin, the team of Justin Nykiel and Brandon McCleese took 5th. In the Discus, Brandon joined with Jeff You to take 6th; and in the Shot, Brandon joined with Jeff again to take 5th!
Details at: MileSplit.NJ or Dyestat
Dual Meet: Pennsauken High School
On April 13, 2010, a cool, dark day, with intermittent light rain, Cherokee bussed to Pennsauken High School for the third dual meet of the season. The weather, however, did little to ruin the team's spirit and competitiveness! Among the Distance performers, for example, Josh Perez won both the 1600m and the 3200m Runs, followed closely by Greg Malloy, Kyle Smith, and Ryan Bobb for a 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 sweep of both events! And Steve Burkholder led another 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 sweep of the 800m Run, followed by Colin Merrigan, Mike Lowinger, and Shawn Wilson, and, after running the 200m for training purposes, he came back to record a PR split of 51.8 in the 4 X 400m Relay! Freshman Shawn Wilson also had a nice time in the 4 X 400m Relay, clocking a PR of 54.5!
Several members of the Sprint-Hurdle Squad also had good days against the traditionally-strong Pennsauken sprint team! Apparently, the 400IH group of Mike Palmieri, Darren McCluskey, and Andrew Wenzel have such impressive reputations that Pennsauken chose not to challenge them: Cherokee swept the event taking all nine points! In the 100m and 200m Dashes, however, Pennsauken "showed up" and forced Sprinter Jon Scott to settle for 3rd in the 100m, and 2nd in the 200m. Darren took 3rd in the same 200m Dash but he took 1st in the 110HH; and Ed Kramer took an important 2nd in the hurdles behind Darren! In the 400m Run, Mike Palmieri was also forced to settle for a close 2nd in the event, but he and Jon Scott, John Barr and Steve Burkholder came roaring back to win the 4 X 400m Relay!
The Throwers expected an especially difficult time against another traditionally-strong area for the Pennsauken team. In the past, they routinely took big points off the Cherokee throwers, but this year, the opposite occurred. (More details later on the Throwers' performances!) And, finally, the Jumpers, another strong area for Pennsauken. Ed Kramer's 1st in the High Jump, with Brian Regensburg's 3rd helped balance the difficult time Cherokee had in both the Long Jump and the Triple Jump!
Final score: 88 - 43! Dual Meet Record: 3 - 0! GO CHIEFS!
Crusader Frosh-Novice Meet
On April 16, 2010, many of Cherokee's Freshmen and novice runners traveled to the Crusader Frosh- Novice Meet at Bishop Eustace High School in Pennsauken. There they performed well in several individual and relay events. In the Novice 1600m Run, for example, Bill Hornung ran a ten second PR to win and crush the previous record in the event set by Cherokee's Greg Malloy! Behind him, Matt Venanzi, running his own PR, took 2nd while also beating the previous record! Aiden Lynch, who is healing from a chronic injury, also set a PR in the race, finishing 5th! In the Frosh 1600m Run, Shawn Wilson easily won the event but was held back by the Coach because he was scheduled for another race.
Several of the relays -- in particular the 4 X 800 and the 4 X 400 -- were impressive as well! In the Novice 4 X 800, Barry Fitzgerald, Bill Hornung, Matt Venanzi and Eric Birkhead won the race and dropped the meet record by 17 seconds! (Old record held by Davis, Palmieri, Hartnett and McCarroll since 2007.) Team #2 in the same event, Ross Staudt, Aiden Lynch, Mike Lowinger, and Eric Ortiz followed in 2nd place, also under the old record! In the Freshman 4 X 800m, Brian Ingram, Philip-Robert Cernia, Shawn Wilson and Angus Indicott took 2nd in a nice race. Finishing out the relays, in the Novice 4 X 400m, Drew Viscidy, Jason Brockman, Ross Staudt, and Mike Lowinger took 2nd place in the event.
Results at: MileSplit.NJ.
