The Winter Championship Season begins! It starts with the SJ Sectional Championships and, then, for those who qualify, the NJ State Group IV Championships. After that, those who qualify at Groups move on to the NJ State Meet of Champions, and perhaps the Eastern States Championships! It's a brief run for those who fail to qualify at Sectionals but a long run for those who continue to advance! Let's hope the Chiefs have many qualifiers! GO CHIEFS!
On Friday night, February 3, 2017, the team returned to The Bennett Center in Toms River for the NJSIAA South Jersey Group IV Sectional Championships and Coach McMichael sent the following report on the action:
From the SJTCA Meet #9 on January 21st and the Ocean Breeze Invitational and SJTCA meet #10 on January 28th, the team felt confident because the guys were setting PR's all over the place. Still, no one ever knows how things are going to play out when championship day rolls around. Thankfully, the South Group IV Sectional Championships went very well!
Things started off with the 400m Dash, where two of Cherokee's three guys broke their PR's! Matt Powell lowered his indoor best from 54.67 to 53.84, and Tyler Ortiz lowered his overall best from 56.68 to 55.71! Kevin Milligan was the top finisher for the Chiefs as he ran 52.31 for 10th place!
Next up was a trio of distance runners in the 1600m Run, and again Cherokee saw two guys break their PR's! Chris Spisak continued his incredible freshman season by running 4:42.58, which replaced his previous best of 4:45.39! Fellow Freshman Chase Miller had probably the biggest PR of the day by lowering his best time by over 10 seconds! He demolished his previous best time of 4:58.18 by going all the way down to 4:47.28. Splitting these two young guns was Senior Brendan Falzone who ran the final 1600m of his indoor scholastic career in 4:45.94!
If Chase's PR in the 1600m was one of the individual highlights of the meet, then the 55HH had to be the "group performance of the meet" as all three Cherokee Hurdlers broke their PR! Senior Ryan Belz dropped his best time from 9.51 to 9.28. Junior Becker Elbanna went from 9.25 to 9.15; and sophomore Tray Cabbagestalk just missed breaking the 9-second barrier as he lowered his best from 9.10 to 9.01!
The next event that featured a Cherokee runner was the 800m Run. Cherokee had only one entrant in the race so the pressure was on to keep the "PR train" rolling. Luckily, Senior Cam Wilburn didn't disappoint! Like Tyler Ortiz in the 400m, Cam's time in the 800m was faster than his previous best times indoors (2:07.75) and outdoors (2:07.64)!
Since the season began, Will Delendik's goal was to break 7 seconds in the 55m Dash, and he could not have picked a better day to do it! He stopped the clock in 6.98 seconds and a 15th place finish in the event! He was one of the top non-seniors in the race, so the pressure will be on the next two years for him to come home with a medal and a trip to the State Championship! Fellow Sophomore Tray Cabbagestalk ran 7.08 (24th place) and Junior CJ Lee ran 7.30 (35th place
With all due respect to Chase, the penultimate event on the track brought the biggest highlight of the meet as Nick Falk won the 3200m Run in an exciting race with Joe Grandizio of Kingsway. Nick took the lead after the first lap and held it until Grandizio went out front two laps from the finish line! Nick accepted the challenge and stayed with Grandizio for one lap and then took the lead again and sprinted to the finish line! As many distance men know, it is so-o-o-o easy to accept second place in such a situation but Nick never considered that! As a result, he won both the Sectional title and he set a new PR in the process! His winning time of 9:31.84 eclipsed his previous indoor mark of 9:33.29. GO NICK!
The final event, the 4 X 400m Relay of Junior Kevin Milligan (53.4), Freshman Tyler Jackson (54.5), Sophomore Tyler Ortiz (55.1), and Senior Matt Powell (54.0) ran 3:36.92 for 8th place. Their time was just 0.02 off of the team's season-best time, which is extremely impressive because it was Tyler Jackson's first time running as part of our varsity relay . . . a nice debut!
Cherokee had only four guys in Field event action at Sectionals. Sophomore Andrew Elsey cleared 5' 8" in the high jump, but unfortunately he could not match his PR and season-best jump of 5' 10". He finished in a tie for 8th place. Cherokee had three guys in the Shot Put and they were led by Senior Captain Adonis Giovetis. Like Will Delendik in the 55m Dash, Adonis' goal since the season began was to break the 40' barrier, and (again like Will) he picked a great day to do it! He went 40' 8-1/2" on his final attempt to achieve his goal in the biggest meet of the season! Sophomore Lucciano Pizarro was next for Cherokee in 35' 2" and Junior Kieran Kelly was within inches of his PR in 34' 1-3/4".
In sum, Cherokee had at least one guy break his PR in 7 of the 8 individual events at the Sectional Championships! Nick Falk's win in the 3200m was a shining moment and his 10 points led to us finishing in the team race in a tie for 8th place with sister school, Lenape. Nick will be the #2 seed in the up-coming State Group IV Championships! GO NICK!
Details, as well as additional still pictures and videos of all the races, can be found at: NJ.MileSplit.
On Friday night, February 3, 2017, the tote board at the Bennett Center in Toms River -- the site of this year's SJ Group IV Sectional Championships -- reported that Cherokee Senior Nick Falk clocked a world championship time in the 3200m Run! WOW! YOU GO, NICK!
On February 7, 2017, the team split with one group traveling to the Bennett Center for the last of the Indoor meets there, and another staying at home for the Cherokee Throw Down # 3. Coach McMichael sent the following results from the SJTCA Meet # 12:
At The Bubble, the action started with the 200 Dash. It was the first time running this race for freshman Mohamed Fofanah and he led the way for the Chiefs with his 26.04 (37th). Senior Jamie Voynow was next in a PR of 26.44 (39th). This eclipsed his previous best times indoors (28.35) or outdoors (28.40)! Junior Darren Franks chopped over a full second off his PR (28.65) by running 27.54 (46th)!
In the 800m Dash, Freshman Ethan Wechsler finished in 9th place with a time of 2:17.88, and junior Naledge Brown was 20th in 2:23.43.
Following that, senior classmates Ryan Belz and Michael McShane made the most of their final opportunity to run the 55m High Hurdles. Ryan clocked 9.24 and Michael clocked 9.48! Ryan's previous best was 9.51 and Michael's was 10.00, so these are huge improvements in their own right. They are even more impressive as you look at the improvement they made through the season: Ryan's best time in the 55m HH last year was 11.05 and Michael's was 10.89. These are huge improvements given that the race is only 55m meters! Way to wrap up your indoor seasons, gentlemen!
In the 55m Dash Cherokee entered three sprinters and all three set new PR's! Mohamed Fofanah again led the way for the Chiefs as he dropped his best time from 7.27 to 7.25. Senior Jamie Voynow ran 7.47 to replace his previous best of 7.49; and Sophomore Josh Penn lowered his best from 7.79 to 7.63!
In the second distance event of the evening, Sophomore David Jackson and Junior Jonathan Conn toed the line in the 1600m Run. David made a huge leap by dropping his PR from 5:12.87 down to 4:56.63! He finished in 6th place! Jon was just a few spots back in 10th place while clocking 5:06.55.
The last event on the track was the 400m Dash. Junior Joe Sands beat his previous best time (58.99) by over a second and a half when he ran 57.39! Ryan Belz was a little sore after hitting a hurdle in his 55m HH but he still managed to go sub-60 in the event.
Finally, in the field, Junior Kenny Sprankle matched his indoor PR in the Pole Vault by clearing 8' 6"!
Our photographer was busy at the Cherokee Throw Down Meet # 3 and was unavailable for this meet. Further details at: Nj.MileSplit.
On February 7, 2017, the same evening as the above-mentioned SJTCA Meet # 12, Cherokee's throwers welcomed over 200 throwers to the Cherokee Throw Down # 3, the last in the series! Again, Coach McMichael sent some details on the event:
Cherokee did well at the meet with four of nine throwers finishing their season with PR's! Sophomore Luch Pizarro made several significant changes to his technique over the course of the season so it was nice to see him exceed the PR (37' 1-1/2") he set back on December 20th by throwing 37' 3". Junior Giovanni Riggi extended his best by exactly one foot from 30' 3-3/4" to 31' 4-3/4"! Freshman Phil Quipot improved on his best throw of 22' 11-3/4" with a best of 24' 4". And, finally, it was great to see Senior Avi Patel wrap-up his throwing career with a PR! He raised his best effort from 21' 8-1/2" by almost two feet when he threw 23' 6-1/4"!
Further details at: NJ.MileSplit.
On February 17, 2017, Cherokee's lone qualifier for the NJ State Group IV Championships, Senior Nick Falk, returned to The Bubble to compete in the 3200m Race! The race tactics went pretty much as expected with Alex Roth of Princeton taking and holding the lead throughout. The early pace was strong but not unusually fast. Others, including Nick, followed closely. By the mile mark, only four runners were close to Roth, with Nick in 2nd place, but the pace began to wear on Nick and, by race end, he had fallen to 4th place. Not his best race but it was a learning experience: he advanced as the fifth qualifier to the upcoming Meet of Champions and he is absolutely ready to run faster! GO NICK!
Details from all the Group Championships at: NJ.MileSplit.
On February 18, 2017, while Nick Falk was recovering from his Group States' race indoors at the Bennett Center, Coach Thompson continued his cross country efforts outdoors at the XTERRA Georgia "Thrill in the Hills" Half Marathon Trail Run at Fort Yargo State Park, Winder, Georgia. The coach took 6th overall and 1st in his age group! YOU GO COACH! Official results available at: Dirty Spokes.
One related website described the race and park: "The wooded hills and trails of northern Georgia's Fort Yargo State Park welcome the annual running of the 'Thrill in the Hills Trail Race', for either 13.1 or 26.2 miles of gently sloping yet challenging terrain that promises to leave runners breathless thanks to both the scenery and the race itself." Just curious but, who notices the breath-taking scenery when racing a half-marathon? . . . Have to ask Coach Thompson!
A few race pictures taken by a commercial photographer during the race can be found at: Wingfoot Photos. Enter Coach Thompson's bib number, 836, for access.
Our team photgrapher missed the event but here are two related pictures gleaned from the Internet:
On February 25, 2017, Cherokee's lone qualifier, Nick Falk, returned to the Bennett Center for New Jersey's final indoor meet of the season, the Meet of Champions. Nick was one of six qualifiers in the 3200m Run from the Group IV Championships, and he joined the 3200m qualifiers from the three other Group Championships and two Non-Public Championships: a possible total of 36 top 3200m runners from the entire state!
Nick competed in the second of three heats and there were no tactical surprises in the early part of the race: Nick and several other leaders crossed the mile mark in the low 4:40's. From there, the field began to spread out over the last mile. Nick responded but, with 800m remaining, two runners pulled away and a third caught him at the finish line. Nick finished 4th in the race, 12th out of 36 in the event. For the "coulda, woulda, shoulda" crowd, had Nick been able to drop only three seconds off his time, he would have finished 8th and made it to the awards podium!
For the record, Nick's time was the fastest South Jersey 3200m time at the Meet of Champions! In addition, his top three 3200m times this winter were the three fastest times run by a South Jersey runner! GO NICK!
Complete details at: NJ.MileSplit
On February 28, 2017, Nick Falk traveled to The Armory Track and Field Center, the "mecca" for indoor track on the East Coast, for the 83rd Eastern States Championships where he competed in the 2 Mile Run. Seeded 5th going into the event, Nick ran a very focused, strong race to earn a runner-up finish! Overall, he had pretty even splits throughout the race and pulled away from several competitors over the last 800 meters! His time of 9:30.26 converts to 9:26.95 for 3200 meters and makes Nick the 4th fastest indoor 3200m runner in Cherokee history behind Marc Pelerin, Keith Krieger and Joe Halin! GO NICK!
Check out the team's track records at: Cherokee Track Team Records.
Further details on Easterns at: NY.MileSplit.
On March 8, 2017, Nick Falk returned to his "old stomping ground," Auletto Ballroom, to receive recognition from the South Jersey Track Coaches Association for his All-South Jersey performance during the indoor season!
In the presentation, Nick was lauded for his consistency throughout the season in the 3200m Run! He raced the 3200m four times this winter and all were between 9:31 and 9:39! In addition, his times were the three fastest 3200m times of the winter by a South Jersey athlete! Finally, Nick also ran the full 2 mile at the Eastern States Championship, placing 2nd in 9:30.26, which converts to 9:26.95 for 3200 meters!
For Nick, the goal in the indoor season was to train for the Spring season, creating a foundation on which to build throughout the Spring. At the same time, to keep it interesting, he chose to run a number of indoor races. He started the season by winning the 3200m Invitational at the January 12th SJTCA meet in 9:33.29. He followed that up by winning the SJ Group IV Championship (Sectionals) with a season best time of 9:31.84; and then he placed 5th in the State Group IV Championship at 9:38.99! After that, he was South Jersey's top finisher in the Meet of Champions with a 12th place finish in 9:32.87!
Most might have backed off by then but Nick wanted one more chance to close out the season with an outstanding performance, so he went to Easterns! At the storied Armory Track and Field Center in New York City, Nick finished off the season with an impressive 2nd place performance at the Eastern States Championship!
All in all, a very nice "training season," well-deserving of recognition on the All-South Jersey Team! GO NICK!
The following banquet/awards pictures were provided by Jon Falk, professional photographer and, of course, Nick's grandfather. Included are pictures of the team's Captains who were also honored at the banquet: Matt Powell, Terrance Graves and Adonis Giovetis!
