Cherokee Track & Field Pictures, 2016, Page V





Spring Track


Late-Spring is still a time of continuing preparation and a variety of meets to allow team members to demonstrate their growing maturity as track athletes! This section includes comments on and pictures from the Late Spring Season, early May through Mid-May, 2016, starting with the the South Jersey Relays (May 7th at Egg Harbor Township H.S.); the Eastern Regional H.S. Dual Meet (May 9th at Eastern H.S.); the District Cup (May 12th at Seneca H.S.); the Cherokee Track and Field Invitational (May 16th at Cherokee); the first of the championship meets, and the Olympic Conference Championships (May 17th at Washington Township H.S.). GO CHIEFS!






SJTCA Track and Field Carnival: Relays

On May 7, 2016, the team traveled to Egg Harbor Township High School for the SJTCA Track and Field Carnival: Relays, formerly the SJ Relays.

The Throwers did well! In the Shot, Andrew Kim and Dom Wilson both PR'd! In the Javelin, Cherokee throwers medaled in every division: Matt Gross and Steve Huber took 2nd in Varsity, with Steve throwing a PR! Matt Tilden and Dante Casella took 3rd in Junior Varsity; and Nick Villamil and Collin Mahoney took 3rd in the Freshman Division, both with their own PR's!

The Distance squad featured many younger runners! For example, in the Freshman Distance Medley, Mike Moraschi ran an aggressive race to lead-off the event, George Villanueva PR'd in the 800m on the 3rd leg, and then Harsh Amin PR'd on the anchor 1600m, breaking 6:00 for the first time! The guys in the Junior Varsity 4 X 800m -- Chris Zurzolo, Matt Seitz, Jake Hzyz and Pat Mahoney -- all PR'd! The best performance in that group came from Matt Seitz who ran very aggressively and knocked 4 seconds off of his previous best! And finally, as one wag said, in the 4 X 1600m, "nobody got hurt, unless you count egos."

Highlights from the Sprint squad include the 3rd place finish in the 4 X 100M Relay by Rob Curley, Matt Powell, Daulton Hopkins and Terrance Graves as they clocked their fastest time of the season! Three of those guys -- Curley, Graves and Hopkins -- and Kevin Milligan came back to take 2nd in the Super Sprint Medley that also qualified for the New Balance Nationals at the end of the season! And then Milligan returned with Curley, Hopkins and Powell to race the Sprint Medley Relay and finish 3rd in that event! Finally, among the Varsity, Al Panaccio and Ant Natale PR'd in the 400IH!

Two Freshmen relay squads finishd well in their respective races! In the 4 X 200m Relay, Aatish Gupta, Amir Epps, Tyler Ortiz and Will Delendik challenged a strong Egg Harbor team right down to the finish line but lost by less than half a second! Then Ortiz, Gupta and Epps combined with Tra Cabbagestalk to finish 1st in their Freshman Large School 4 X 400m Relay!

Offcial details at: NJ.MileSplit.

Our photographer made a bunch of errors at this meet but here are some survivors!



SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open
SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open
SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open
SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open
SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open
SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open
SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open SJ Open






Eastern Regional High School Dual Meet

On May 9, 2016, the team bussed to Voorhees for the dual meet against Eastern Regional High School.

Since neither Cherokee nor Eastern is likely to win the Division title because of their one-loss status, the distance coaches from both schools chose (separately) to focus on speed rather than endurance. They loaded the shorter races -- the 800, the 4 X 400m, and then and unofficial 4 X 200m -- and put fewer athletes in the longer ones. Scored separately, Eastern's distance squad did better than Cherokee's (16 - 11) but it was an excellent training day for the future!

Eastern swept the 800m with Mike Zurzolo taking 4th in a slight! Nick Falk took 5th; Justin Kelly and Brandon Marks took 6th and 7th with their own PR's! In the 1600m, Mike Iannotta ran a tough race to get 2nd and PR on a windy day! Other PR's in the 1600m were recorded by Jake Hyzy, Pat Mahoney, Harsh Amin and George Villanueva! In the 4 X 400m Relays, eleven PR's were set out of the twenty who ran on our five teams: Cam Wilburn, Brandon Marks, Joey Thompson, Jack Shea, Brendan Falzone, Mike Moraschi, Jake Hyzy, Ben Rosenberg, Pat Mahoney, George Villanueva and Harsh Amin all had personal bests, with Cam and Brendan probably the most impressive as they knocked-off 3 and 2 seconds respectively! In the 3200m, Jon Conn and Matt Smith ran comfortably and took 1 - 2 in the event!

The Throws guys picked up some important points! In the Javelin, Matt Gross took 2nd with the 2nd farthest throw of his career, and Nick Villamil, Collin Mahoney and Matt Tilde threw PR's! In the Discus, Kieran Kelly took 3rd with his own PR PRs and Mike Nessler, Jared Selkow and Collin Mahoney followed with their own PR's! And, finally, in the Shot, John Hemple Hemple took 2nd, and Adonis Giovetis had a major 2 foot PR! Jared Selkow also set a new PR while Luch Pizarro tied his!

The Sprinters clocked some interesting times at the meet! Freshman Will Delendik won the 100m Dash and tied with Senior Rob Curley for the win in the 200m Dash! Delendik, Curley, Jordan Kittles, Nkenna Opara, CJ Lee, Darren Franks and Daulton Hopkins all clocked PR's in the event, and Delendik, Curley and Hopkins qualified for the up-coming Olympic Conference Championships! In the 200m Dash, CJ Lee, Darren Franks Sam Micken and Kush Amin all set their own PR's; and in the 400m Dash, Amir Epps and Tyler Ortiz clocked their own PR's!

Not to be forgotten, sprinter Naledge Brown stepped up to the 800m Run and broke his PR in that event; and Michael McShane broke his PR in the 110HH!

~~ No report was made on the Lenape Dual Meet because it was rescheduled by nitwits for the day before the SJ Open. Obviously, many competing in the Open would not compete in a dual meet the day before. That said, credit must be given to Vaulter Mark kirby (11' 6") and High Jumper Andrew Parker (5' 10") who were not scheduled to compete in the Open and PR'd at the Lenape meet! Kirby matched that PR at the Eastern Dual Meet. As a group, the jumpers did well at the Easter Dual, scoring 27 of 36 points. Sam Kramer took 1st and Andrew Parker took 3rd in the High Jump! Others to follow.


Here's the only picture we have sent by our photographer in Maryland -- the Lacrosse Mecca of America -- where he cheered his grandson's Lacrosse game and pretended he was a miler! ;< )


Collin






Mystery Solved . . . Sort of

Last April, Coach Shaklee was photographed wearing a plastic covering on his foot and many theories were offered to explain this mysterious shroud, including the mundane "rain was predicted and he forgot his booties," to the outrageous: ". . . he was secretly testing a new shoe for Nike and the U.S. Army. . . . the shoe's power-generating antimatter technology would allow him to (1) run faster and farther than any other man alive, and (2) to detect and destroy incoming missiles." After that picture appeared, the device disappeared and the debate ended . . . until several weeks ago! Twice over the past few weeks, Coach Shaklee was photographed speaking covertly into his wrist (or wristwatch) and the debate erupted once again! Shaklee's explanation: "It's a wristwatch: my mother gave it to me for my birthday." He talks to a wristwatch? "ET . . . where are you?" Whadda u think?

Last year:


Secret shoe

This year:


Tracy Wrist Phone Tracy Wrist Phone





Lenape District Championship

On May 11, 2016, Cherokee traveled to Seneca High School for the 10th Annual Lenape District Championships and for the eight time in ten years, the team came home with The District Cup!

This was the second year when the meet went down to the final events. Last year, Cherokee outscored Lenape 106 - 100.5 and, while the spread was greater this time -- Cherokee 115, Lenape 106, Shawnee 60, and Seneca 9 -- it was still a nail-biter!

Coach McMichael reviewed the numbers and noted that it was a total team effort but big props go to the Distance Squad for carrying the team! The Distance guys stepped-up and took 43 of 58 points (74%) in their events (800, 1600, 3200, 5000, and 4 X 800)! The Sprints/Hurdles/Jumps crew grabbed 56 of 129 points (43%), and the Throws guys racked up 16 out of 39 possible points (41%)!

The staff knew that, in order to win, Cherokee needed a lot of distance points but things did not begin well. Matt Smith was sick and that threatened scoring in the 5K! Then, the 4 X 800m Relay team was DQ'd because of a passing zone infraction. After that, however, the distance guys took over! The 1600m . . . sweep by Nick Falk, Mike Zurzolo and Brandon Marks (who doubled back from the 4 X 800m after only about 25 minutes rest! Next came the 5K, where Cherokee took 1st and 3rd! Jon Conn led the whole way and held of a Lenape challenge at the end! Joe Falk overcame a severe abdominal cramp, which hit him around the 2 mile point and forced him to slow to a jog, and came back to pass the 2nd Lenape runner to secure 3rd place! In the 800, Mike Zurzolo, Nick Falk and Brendan Falzone were seeded 3rd, 4th and 8th but ran strong races to get 2nd, 3rd and 5th! All three were doubling back from previous races (Mike and Nick from the 1600 and Brendan from the 4 X 800m). Mike not only got 2nd, but set a new PR with a big negative split race! The final distance event of the night was the 3200m. Going in, Cherokee knew the meet was close and needed to score as many points as possible to help secure the win. As expected, Jack Shea and Justin Kelly controlled the race up front, running away from the other competitors and finishing within a 1/10 of a second of each other with Jack getting the win. Cam Wilburn, who came in seeded 5th, ran a very tough race to beat both the 3-4 seeds and give Cherokee a 1-2-3 sweep that sealed the team victory!

The Sprint guys may have scored a lower percentage of points but that wasn't for a lack of trying! In the 100m Dash, Rob Curley, Daulton Hopkins and Will Delendik ran their fastest FAT time ever!; and Rob and Daulton came back and did the same in the 200m Dash! Also, in the 200m, Terrance Graves clocked his fastest FAT time! In the 400m Dash, Terrance came back and ran his fastest FAT time; Kevin Milligan hit his second fastest FAT time ever; and Amir Epps had a nice FAT PR! In the 110HH, Dave Osterhout and Becker Elbanna set FAT PR's; and Ant Natale had had two FAT PR's: in the 110HH and the 400IH! Also, in the 400IH, Al Panaccio ran the 2nd fastest time of his life, and it was his second fastest FAT time ever by hundreds of a second! Finally, the relays: in the 4 X 100m Relay, the team ran an eye-blink slower than their PR time set last Saturday (currently the 6th fastest time in Group IV South which bodes well for Sectionals); and in the 4 X 400m Relay, they set a final PR, clocking a time 2 full seconds faster than their time at the Penn Relays!

The Throwers had their most impressive performance in the Javelin . . . a sweep by Eli Mitchell, Matt Gross and Steve Huber! Steve had a 3' PR! For the record, it was the first time a District school swept the event! In the Shot, John Hemple picked up 3rd place points!

The Jumpers picked up valuable points at a number of venues. In the Vault, Mark Kirby grabbed 2nd place to insure the team's victory late in the meet, and Colton Schneeweis took 5th with a PR, and Kenny Sprankle had a PR. Kirby also picked up a 3rd in the Triple Jump, and Tyler Ortiz and Neil Amin followed Kirby, taking 4th and 5th! Daulton Hopkins PR'd and picked up important 3rd place points in the Long Jump; and Andrew Parker and Sam Kramer took 3rd and 4th place points in the High Jump!

Details at: NJ.MileSplit.



District Cup District Cup District Cup District Cup District Cup District Cup
District Cup District Cup District Cup District Cup District Cup District Cup
District Cup District Cup District Cup District Cup District Cup District Cup
District Cup District Cup District Cup District Cup District Cup District Cup
District Cup District Cup District Cup District Cup District Cup District Cup
District Cup District Cup District Cup District Cup District Cup District Cup






Cherokee Invitational

On May 16, 2016, Cherokee hosted what appeared to be all of South Jersey at their sixteenth annual Cherokee Track and Field Invitational. The meet was originally designed for Freshmen and Novices not likely to compete in the up-coming Sectional Championships and it continues to be the largest of its kind in New Jersey with almost 2000 throws, jumps and races listed in the results!

Cherokee entered many team members in the event and most did very well! Throwers Tatum Cinelli and Dante Casella placed 3rd and 5th respectively in the Jav with two PR's; and Tommy Deutsch and Kieran Kelly placed 2nd and 3rd in the Discus! In addition, Luch Pizarro and Kieran Kelly put their own PR's in the Shot; and George Coulter PR'd in the Discus, while Nick Villamil did the same in the Javelin!

In the Distance group, in the 1600m Run, George Villanueva dropped over 7 seconds off of his PR while winning his heat! In the 800m Dash, almost everyone set new PRs! Joey Thompson was Cherokee's top finisher in 5th place and is on the verge of breaking 2:10! The biggest improvement came from Mike Iannotta, Joe Falk and Pat Mahoney. Pat dropped 5 seconds from his previous best, while Mike and Joe, locked in a great battle to win their heat (with Joe edging Mike by 3/100ths of a second), knocked off an incredible 13 and 11 seconds respectively! In addition, Distance PR's were set by Mike Algarra, Matt Smith, Jon Conn, Atish Gupta, Jake Hyzy, Mike Moraschi and Ben Rosenberg!

Many of Cheorokee's Sprinters and Jumpers had good days too! In the 100m Dash, Adam "Andrew" Parker took 2nd place overall with a PR, while Sebastian Graterol, CJ Lee, Colton Schneeweis, John Fishbein, Zach Rubeo and Jared Janowsky clocked additional PR's! In the 200m Dash, Lee, Janowsky and Blake Olivieri set new PR's! In the 100HH, Ant Natale took 3rd place with a PR; and Becker Elbanna and Michael McShane followed with their own PR's! In the 400IH, Ant Natale doubled his trip to the awards table by taking 2nd with a PR, and Brandon Fisher followed with his own PR! In the final race of the day, the 4 X 400m Relay, Ryan Belz, Brandon Fisher, Anton Specht and Colton Schneeweis took 3rd place!

Among the Jumpers, Pole Vaulter Kenny Sprankle tied his PR to finish in 6th place; Triple Jumper Neil Amin took 4th place with a best jump over 35'; High Jumper Michael McShane matched his PR but missed medaling by one place; and Long Jumper Christian Connolly set his own PR!

Further details at: NJ.MileSplit.

Pictures were tough on this brutally bright day with a setting sun . . . oh, and fast runners too!



Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite
Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite
Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite
Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite
Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite
Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite Cherokee Invite







Olympic Conference Championships

On May 17, 2016 -- gee, what a surprise, another rainy day! -- the team sailed to Washington Township High School for the Olympic Conference Championships. As a reminder, there are three Divisions of four teams each in the Olympic Conference. The Division titles are determined by dual meet victories -- Cherokee lost the Division this year to Cherry Hill HS East -- and individual Conference Champions are determined at this, the team's first championship meet.

The Throws highlight of the meet came from Matt Gross who finished 2nd overall and earned 1st Team All-Conference honors! He is the first of Cherokee's Javelin throwers to make All-Conference in several decades!

The Distance guys also had some noteable performances! In the 4 X 800m Relay, Mike Zurzolo, Nick Falk, Justin Kelly and Brandon Marks recorded a season-best to take 3rd overall (2nd Team All-Conference), with Falk and Marks doing 2-second PR's in the race! In the 1600m Run, Jack Shea and Brendan Falzone took 3rd (2nd Team All-Conference) and 4th with each setting new PR's. Jack took another big step back to form after missing most of the winter. He set a new PR and dropped under 4:30 for the first time and closing in 64 seconds for the last 400m of te race! Just behind him, Brendan ran his best track race to date, closing in 66 to knock over 4 seconds off of his previous best! And finally, in the 3200m Run, Steve Gravlin ran a very even paced race and came away with a 7 second PR to drop under 10:20 for the first time, fnishing 5th!

The Sprinters' highlights include a 4th place (2nd Team All-Conference) finish in the 4 X 100m Relay by Rob Curley, Matt Powell, Daulton Hopkins and Terrance Graves; and a 5th in the Long Jump by Daulton Hopkins!

Further details at: NJ.MileSplit.



Oly Conference Oly Conference Oly Conference Oly Conference Oly Conference Oly Conference
Oly Conference Oly Conference Oly Conference Oly Conference Oly Conference Oly Conference
Oly Conference Oly Conference Oly Conference Oly Conference Oly Conference Oly Conference
Oly Conference Oly Conference Oly Conference Oly Conference Oly Conference Oly Conference











Return to the index for Cherokee Track & Field Pictures, 2015 - 2016.

Return to the Main Page for Cherokee Track.