As in years past, during "Winter" or "Indoor" Track, Cherokee focuses on preparing for the Spring season. Coaches concentrate 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.
Olympic Conference Relay Meet
On December 17, 2010, Cherokee opened the indoor season by traveling to the Bennett Center in Toms River, NJ for the first in a series of Olympic Conference Meets, this one the Olympic Conference Relay Meet. Highlights included performances in the 4 X 800m by Ross Staudt and Drew Viscidy; and a nice throw in the Shot by first-time putter, Barry Fitzgerald! Complete results at: NJRunners/MileSplit.
South Jersey Track Coaches Open Meet
On December 20, 2010, Cherokee returned to the Bennett Center for the South Jersey Track Coaches Open Meet. Highlights include a 1st place victory by Darren McCluskey in the 55m High Hurdles! In addition, distance half-miler Ross Staudt stepped up to the 1000m Run and took 6th. Creating something of a pattern, Brian Regensberg tied for 6th in the High Jump; and a no-name group took 6th in the 4 X 200m Relay! Complete results at: NJRunners/MileSplit.
'Twas The Night Before Christmas . . .
'Twas two nights before Christmas, when all through the school,
Not a creature was stirring, except for three fools . . .
Yes, it was cold, dark, and quiet as Jeff Thompson, Marc Pelerin, and Kevin Cuneo left their tiny sleighs and, we guess, their reindeer and moved like fairy dust towards the building. It was cold outside but . . . their eyes, how they twinkled! Their dimples how merry! Their cheeks were like roses . . . their noses like cherries!
They slipped easily through the crack security at Cherokee High School and entered Coach Shaklee's office . . ., and it was "only" five hours later that they reversed their course having left a wonderous gift . . .. Then in a twinkling, and with all their might, they sprang to their sleighs, . . . and were heard to exclaim, ere they drove out of sight, Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!" (Apologies to Clement Clarke Moore.)
A video of their gift to Coach Shaklee is available at: Mom, Dad, Santa was here!
South Jersey Relay Meet and Track Universe Invitational
On January 5, 2011, the team split into two parts, one going to the SJ Relay Meet at the Bennett Center in Toms River, while a second group went to the Track Universe Invitational at the New York City Armory. At Toms River, the group did well against 19 other teams, with a 3rd in the DMR, a 1st in the 4 X 800, and a 2nd in the SMR! Individual highlights included a strong 400m leg in the Distance Medley Relay by John Barr; an outstanding second leg in the 4 X 800m Relay by Ty Somers; and an excellent come-back performance by Ross Staudt in the Sprint Medley Relay as he doubled in the 800m! Details at NJRunners.
At the Armory, Coaches Andes and Cuneo, on their own for the first time, guided a select group of Cherokee athletes at the Track Universe Invitational The major highlight of the evening was Brian Regensburg's results in the jumps: 1st in the Long Jump, and 2nd in both the High Jump and the Triple Jump! Details at: NY Coaches.
Pictures from the Bennett Center are usually marginal at best because the place is so dark but, this time, it was especially so because six lights above the finish line area were broken! What's with that?! Here are some of the "better" ones . . . such as they are.
South Jersey Large-Schools Meet
On January 10, 2011, the team returned to the Bennett Center in Toms River for the South Jersey Large-Schools Meet and several runners performed well! Greg Malloy took 1st place in the 3200m Run with a strong last mile (19 seconds faster than his first mile), recording a nice early-season time of 9:53; and Darren McCluskey easily won the 55m High Hurdles with the 4th fastest time in the state to date! Mike Lowinger ran his best 800m race of the winter, staying on his feet and dodging a fallen runner -- who was that guy? -- to drop over four seconds from his last race; and Brian Regensberg ran a strong debut in the 400m Dash! Finally, the 4 X 400m Relay team of Darren McCluskey, John Barr, Brandon Rapp and Ty Somers set a seasonal PR! Complete results at: NJRunners.
The "Safe at Home Plate" Award went to Shawn Wilson! GO SHAWN!
NJSIAA Winter Track Group IV Relays
On January 14, 2011, the team returned to the Bennett Center for the NJSIAA Winter Track Group IV Relays. Highlights included a number of PR's! Barry Fitzgerald demonstrated his versatility by throwing a two foot PR in the Shot and running a PR in the 4 X 200m Relay! In the Distance Medley Relay, the team of Shawn Wilson, John Barr, Mike Lowinger and Greg Malloy set a team PR, as Wilson, Barr and Malloy set their own personal PR's! Darren McCluskey set an Indoor PR in the 400m; Brandon Rapp set a PR in the 400m and the 200m; and Drew Viscidy set his own PR in the 400m!
Details at: NJRunners.
Olympic Conference Championship and the Lavino Invitational
On January 22, 2011, the team split-up again with one part traveling to the Olympic Conference Championships at the Bennett Center in Toms River, while a second part went to the Lavino Relays at The Lawrenceville School near Princeton. Highlights from the Conference meet include a victory in the 1600m Run (and a new PR) by Greg Malloy. Also, both Darren McCluskey and Barry Fitzgerald ran PR's and made the finals in their events, Darren in the 55m Dash and Barry in the 55m High Hurdles! And finally, Darren McCluskey waited until the absolute last possible second to decide not to compete in the 55m High Hurdles and to save himself for the state championships . . .. At Lavino, the results are late in coming but both Ty Somers and Drew Viscidy did well in several races. Ty ran his fastest 800m this winter on the second leg of the 4 X 800m Relay, and then he came back to PR in the 400m leg of the Sprint Medley Relay! Drew tied his best time from last spring on the lead-off leg of the 4 X 800m Relay, and then he ran the same time as the anchor of the Sprint Medley Relay!
Complete results from the Conference Championships are at: NJRunners; and the complete results from the Lavino Relays are at: NJRunners.
Here are some pictures from Lavino:
Lawrenceville Quad Invitational
On January 29, 2011, the team went back to The Lawrenceville School for the Lawrenceville Quad Invitational, a relatively informal meet that included Lawrenceville, Archbishop Ryan, Robbinsville and Cherokee High Schools. Several Cherokee athletes had very nice performances! Darren McCluskey stayed around this time and took 1st in the 55m High Hurdles and then came back to take 5th in the 200m Dash! John Barr and Brandon Rapp both ran well in the long sprints, with Barr taking 3rd in the 400m Dash in a PR time and 4th in the 200m Dash; and Rapp running his fastest 400m Dash of the indoor season for 4th and coming back to place 2nd in the 200m Dash! Drew Viscidy surprised even himself when he ran in the low 40s for 3rd in his first ever 1600m Run, and then he came back to finish a strong 6th in the 200m Dash! Brian Regensberg had a busy and productive day, finishing 3rd in both the High Jump and the Triple Jump, 4th in the Long Jump, and 7th in the 200m Dash! Among the Distance Runners -- that now includes you, Viscidy! -- Ty Somers took 1st in the 800m Run and moved to #13 on the All-Time Cherokee List with his first sub-2:00 clocking and a PR by over four seconds! Also, Bill Hornung placed 2nd in the 3200m Run!
Details at: NJRunners.
