As in the past, during "Winter" or "Indoor" Track, Cherokee focuses largely 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.
Last winter, the season began with early snows, sleet and sub-zero temperatures making training very difficult. This year, the weather has been colder than usual but not so bad that athletes can't get outside and train. GO CHEROKEE!
On December 19th, 2014, South Jersey's "lid-lifter" of the season, the Olympic Conference Meet #1, was held at the Bennett Center in Toms River, New Jersey. Generally, this meet was designed for the "experienced but rusty" or the "brand new" and most teams brought only a few athletes to compete/practice. Cherokee was one of those teams.
Cherokee took it slo-o-o-o-o-ly at this meet, entering three relays with a mix of eight runners, two of whom are Freshmen! In the 4 X 200m Relay, Al Panaccio, James Voynow, Dharam Patel and Jack Chen took to the track; in the Sprint Medley Relay, Daulton Hopkins, Anthony Natale and Freshmen Chris Cato and Jarred Chow raced; and in the 4 X 400m Relay, Hopkins, Cato, Panaccio and Natale returned for the final track event of the evening. Not great results but a good shakeout for the experienced guys and a proper welcome to the new guys!
In the Field, Philippe Quipot and Dante Massimino had decent outings as they threw in the high 30's and took 5th and 11th in the Shot Put!
Official results at: NJRunners/MileSplit.
All photographers hate the Bennett Center because it's too dark for great pics. Here are a few to demonstrate that point:
On December 22nd, 2014, the SJTCA sponsored their first meet of the season, the South Jersey Track Coaches Association Open Meet # 1 at the Bennett Center and several of Cherokee's athletes made the long bus-ride to Toms River.
More than anything, these December meets are for "rust removal" among the experienced athletes and "introductions" for the new athletes and this meet was no exception. In the Distance events, for example, freshman Brandon Marks ran his first indoor mile; in the Sprint 4 X 200m Relay there was a combination of experience and novice with Matt Powell, Rob Curley, Kevin Milligan-Tinker and Naledge Brown; and in the Throws, Cherokee had John Hemple and Ryan Schmukler. Probably the most experienced guy at the meet was Tyler Kurzawa who raced the Open 400m Dash for the first time this season!
More details at: NJRunners/MileSplit.
Here are some pictures from the meet showing some of those mentioned and others in action:
On December 30th, 2014, part of the team traveled to the New York City Armory, "the Mecca of Indoor Track and Field in America," for the grandly-named Track Universe High School Invitational. This was an odd meet for the Armory because (1) it was limited to around 20 teams instead of the usually mobbed conditions; and (2) it was so casual that there was no FAT and only the top six in each event were reported! All in all, a great opportunity to run on what is said to be the fastest indoor track in the country without the usual high-stress conditions so often associated with the Armory!
For Cherokee, "experience" was the word of the day. Senior Marc Woodard took 2nd in the 200m Dash and then returned on the Sprint Medley Relay to help Daulton Hopkins, Matt Powell and Tyler Kurzawa take 3rd. In addition, Nick Falk and Mike Zurzolo had noteworthy 1600's while the rest of the team got "experience" on the "fastest indoor track in the country!"
A few details at NY.MileSplit.
Here are a few pictures starting with three file pictures of the site and then some pictures of the team in action.
On January 3rd and January 5th, 2015, selected sprinters returned to the Bennett Center for the South Jersey Track Coaches Association Meets # 3 and # 4 to continue their practicing and improvement. On the 3rd, mostly novices handled the racing/training and we'll look for them later. On the 5th, five experienced athletes mixed it up in the 4 X 200m, the 4 X 400m, and the Sprint Medley Relays: Marc Woodard, Daulton Hopkins, Rob Curley, Matt Powell and Tyler Kurzawa; and the foursome of Anthony Natale, Jarred Chow, Naledge Brown and Al Panaccio handled the 4 X 800m Relay.
Our photographer has pretty much given up on the "dark" Bennett Center but here are NJRunner's official results from the two meets: January 3rd results and January 5th results.
On January 8th, 2015, Cherokee hosted the 6th Annual South Jersey Throwdown # 1, a meet designed for all Shot Putters but especially for Novices. Coach Lynn had his team there and, though no thrower scored among the top three, a good number of PR's were thrown! Seniors Dante Massimino, Jack Chen and Joey Hofacker; Juniors Andrew Kim and Matt Gross; and Sophomores Ryan Schmukler, Bill Weismann, Ryan Bubnoski, George Coulter and Marc Bannerman all threw personal bests in the meet!
Details at: NjRunners/MileSplit.
On January 10th, 2015, the team split with some going to the Olympic Conference Indoor Championships at the Bennet Center in Toms River and the 44th Edwin Lavino Relays at the Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, NJ. At the Conference Champs, several atheltes did well! Nick Falk won the championship 3200m in a well-planned, comfortably-paced race with a quick finish. In the 4 X 800m Relay, Ty Kurzawa, Nick Falk, Justin DeTone and Mike Zurzolo placed 5th; and then Zurzolo came back to get 7th in the 800. Finally, in the 1600m, Jack Shea took 7th! At the Lavino Relays, several athletes had the opportunity to race/train on the school's banked track. All returned safely from that preppy hellhole!
Details at: NJRunners/MileSplit, Conference Indoor Champs and NJRunners/MileSplit, Lavino Relays.
Encouraged by the possibilty of sunlight on the bubble's white ceiling, and maybe some decent pictures, the photographer traveled to the Bennett Center and missed the even-darker Lavino Center. In addition, the meets were 50 miles from one another and the times overlapped. Here are some pics -- such as they are -- from the Conference Championships:
