The Championship Season is "what it's all about!" Months, maybe years of training, and it's all on the line! One misstep, one dropped baton, one unbalanced throw, one poorly-timed jump and it's all over! It begins with the South Jersey Group IV Sectional Championships at Washington Township High School where the top six in each event advance to the State Group IV Championships at Franklin High School, and, from there, the top six advance to the State Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington High School! In addition, at the Cherokee Night Racing #2 the coaches provided an opportunity for specialized sprint athletes to set qualifying times for the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in Greensboro, NC and distance athletes to both sharpen for the upcoming Group Championships and for others to end their seasons on a positive, perhaps PR, note!
GO CHEROKEE!
On May 26th - 27th, 2018, the team's top performers traveled to Washington Township High School for the two-day South Jersey Group IV Sectional Championships. Here they competed to finish in the top six in their event and advance to the State Group IV Championships the following week. . . an incredibly difficult challenge!
GO CHIEFS!
In the Sprints, Coach Lynn reported the team hoped for more but were happy with what they achieved! Perhaps the major highlight was Kevin Milligan's huge accomplishment in the 400m Dash! For the first time, he clocked an official FAT sub-50 in the event: 49.79! He had several sub-50 Hand Timed sub-50's but getting an FAT sub-50 is the real deal! Kevin placed 4th in the event and advanced! Several other Sprinters clocked PR's at Sectionals: Will Delendik dropped a 23:30 in the 200m Dash but finished 11th, and CJ Lee clocked a 52:21 in the 400m Dash but finished 17th!
In the 4 X 100m Relay, EJ Bard, Devin Ibarrondo, Andrew Parker and Will Delendik ran their fastest time of the year -- 43.05 -- placed 2nd and advanced!
Perhaps the most impressive and disappointing Sprint race of the Sectionals was the 4 X 400m Relay of CJ Lee, Tyler Jackson, Rome Young and Kevin Milligan (this time with a HT sub-50!)! The team raced their fastest time of the year even after dropping the baton between the 1st and 2nd runners! That's the good news! The bad news was the team placed a close 7th in the event, one position short of advancing to the Group Championships!
The news from the Jump events was pretty unsettling too. Nkenna Opara has his best Triple Jump of the year - 42' 1" - but finished 9th and failed to advance. Both High Jumpers, Liam DiFerdinando and Andrew Parker easily cleared 5' 8" but stalled after that.
Coach Kramer reported that four of his senior Throwers, Kieran Kelly, Ahmad Miller, Mike Nessler, and Jared Selkow close out their season and their high school careers this weekend. The meet didn't go as they had hoped it would but they all had tremendous seasons and helped lead the team to a Conference title!
At Sectionals, Junior Luch Pizarro had a historic weekend! First, in the Discus, he threw a 10' PR which was the farthest anyone from Cherokee has thrown since 2012! That throw moved him into the finals of the event -- the first Cherokee thrower to make the finals in the Discus since Tom Nessler, the older brother of current senior Mike Nessler, in 2005! Unfortunately he finished 7th in the finals and failed to advance to Groups but, in all fairness to Luch, there was a 12' gap between him and the 6th finisher.
In the Shot Put, Luch had another big day! He failed to throw a PR but he did enough to finish 4th and advance the the Group Championships! That made him the first Cherokee Thrower from to qualify for the outdoor State Group IV meet in the Shot Put since Matt Dalessio, now Track Coach at Ewing High School, in 2003!
As usual, Coach Shaklee began his report by commenting on the weather conditions: probably the hottest day of the year with a stiff wind of Friday but no mention of barometric pressure, humidity, dew point and other critical details usually provided by our own Mr. AccuWeather! He went on to say that the 1600m Run was a tactical affair and Justin Kelly closed well to take 2nd despite his ongoing allergy issues and a severe bloody nose right before the race! Behind him, Shaklee reported, Sophomores Chris Spisak and Ethan Wechsler took the 6th and 7th spots with Chris advancing to Groups and Ethan failing to advance.
Also on Friday, The 4 x 800m Relay team of Ty Jackson, Brandon Marks, Mike Iannotta and Ethan Wechsler advanced to the state meet with their 6th place finish, just .02 behind the 5th place team. Although no one ran a PR, they all had solid races and earned the chance to race again next week.
On Saturday, Ty Jackson ran a negative split race in the 800m Dash to place 10th with a time 3 seconds faster than his split from the night before!
The 3200m Run was the highlight of the meet for Distance squad when Justin Kelly won his first outdoor Sectional title and sophomores, Chris Spisak and Chase Miller placed 3rd and 5th to advance to Groups! Concluding with an final weather report, Shaklee reported that, despite the high temperatures and bright sunshine, all three athletes raced tough and held up well over the last mile!
Official Details at: NJ.MileSplit.
On May 29th, 2018, the team hosted the second of two night racing events, cleverly called Cherokee Night Racing # 2.
For Cherokee, the night began with the 800m and, as Coach Shaklee reported, "the results were terrific with our up-coming NJ State 4 X 800 Relay team members each knocking 2-3 seconds off their previous best!" Ty Jackson placed 3rd with his first sub-2:00 FAT clocking, moving him to #21 on the All-Time Cherokee List! Ty is only the 3rd Cherokee sophomore to break 2:00 for the 800m! The other two are Dave Sitzer in 1998 and Will Andes in 2004!
At the same time, Brandon Marks and Ethan Wechsler both came very close to joining the exclusive club of Cherokee athletes who have run sub-10:00 for 3200m, sub-4:30 for 1600m, and sub-2:00 for the 800m! Both have already added their names to the first two lists and both came within a tenth or two of breaking the 2:00 barrier at this meet, finishing in 6th and 7th position! The biggest PR was achieved by Mike Iannotta who dropped 3 seconds from his previous best with a nice time of 2:02.70! George Villanueva also set a new PR!
After having such great races in the 1600m at Holmdel two weeks earlier, it was incredibly challenging to set new PRs, but six of the thirteen Cherokee runners managed to do so: Nico Grilli, Mike Gavio, Brett Shea, Jon Conn, Matt Morgan and Cory Zeitz! Gavio and Shea also happened to get their first sub-4:40 times in the process!
Official details at: NJ.MileSplit.
During the evening, this uninvited guest appeared in Lane 1 and, since there are only two known venomous snakes in our great state, the timber rattlesnake and the northern copperhead, neither common in South Jersey, this guy was probably a Black Rat Snake and he was in more danger than our runners! He was uncermoniously escorted off the track and the races continued!
On June 1st and 2nd, 2018, probably the hottest and most humid June days in recent history, almost a dozen team members who qualified at the SJ Group IV Sectional Championships, traveled to Franklin High School in Somerset, NJ for the NJ State Group IV Championships, and many advanced to the upcoming NJ State Meet of Champions!
The first of the races in which Cherokee was involved was the Open 1600m Championship race! It began as a very slow tactical affair and, with the runners so bunched, it was a given something would happen. Unfortunately, it happened to Justin Kelly who was tripped from behind and stumbled, got going again but in last place. He worked his way back but the incident had taken some out of him and he was only able to finish in 9th, just barely advancing to the MOC as a time qualifier!
Later, the 4 X 800 team of Ty Jackson, Brandon Marks, Ethan Wechsler and Mike Iannotta ran their fastest relay of the season but were well off of the individual times they recorded the previous Tuesday at the Cherokee Night Meet. Their time of 8:11.11 left them back in the pack and they failed to advance!
On Saturday, the heat and humidity played a significant role in the 3200m! After a lightning break that negated the warm-up the guys had just completed, they came back out to warm-up again and were greeted by even warmer, more humid, and sunny conditions. Justin Kelly and Chase Miller both struggled but never gave up and ran tough, with Justin again qualifying on time for the MOC! Sophomore, Chris Spisak, overcame the conditions, and most of the field, as he finished 5th with a new PR and easily advanced to the MOC! Hopefully, the conditions next Saturday will be more conducive to distance running!
In the Sprint area, Senior Kevin Milligan, Cherokee's fastest 400m runner in recent years, failed to advance after a close race.
In other major running news, the 4 X 100m Relay team of EJ Bard, Devin Ibarrondo, Andrew Parker and Will Delendik clocked their fastest time of the year (43.01) to place 4th and advance to the Meet of Champions! For the record, EJ and Will were part of the 4 X 100m Relay team that qualified last year (43.44) for the MOC!
All of that said, perhaps the best team performance of the day came from Shot Putter Luch Pizarro who, in the unseeded flight, threw 52' 10", a PR of 2' 9"! He won the flight and advanced to the Finals. There, while he failed to surpass his earlier throw, he tied two others with the 4th best throw of the day and took 6th place based on tie-breakers! Under the new qualifying rules, Luch took the 6th wild card, advanced into the Meet of Champions, and continued his incredible Junior season! Going back into the records, Luch's put was the farthest of any Cherokee athlete since Matt Delessio in 2003!
Official details, pictures and track videos at: NJ.MileSplit.
On June 9th, 2018, Cherokee's qualifiers for the NJ State Meet of Champions traveled to Northern Burlington Regional High School for an afternoon of great competition!
Two qualifiers were Distance guys: Justin Kelly in the 1600m Run and Chris Spisak in the 3200m Run. In the 1600m, Justin rebounded from an off-day at the Group IV State Championships to run a personal record in the race where he finished 11th! Justin's time of 4:17.38 puts him #4 on the All-Time Cherokee List behind Shawn Wilson ('13), Marc Pelerin ('02) and Steve Burkholder ('10)! Reuben Frank of Coamcast Sports and sports writer for the SJTCA webblog (and the man of a thousand exclamation points!) commented on Justin's race here!!!!!!!
In the 3200m, Chris ran yet another solid race -- he didn't have a bad one all year! -- to place 12th in the race as a Sophomore. He was the top finisher from South Jersey and he ended the year with three 3200's under 9:30, the most ever by any Cherokee sophomore!
The 4 X 100m Relay team of EJ Bard, Devin Ibarrondo, Andrew Parker and Will Delendik had another nice day, keeping their time within hundreds of a second of their times at both Sectionals and Groups! That event can be extremely chancy because many athletes can run 100's in quick time but it's the three passes/exchanges that can make or break a race. In the Championship season, Cherokee's team passed the baton very well and the team advanced accordingly: their best, 43.01, was only the blink of an eye slower than Cherokee's school record of 42.81 set by Kevin Merrigan, Niraj Patel, Chris Steliga and Will Rapp in 2008!
In the Shot Put, Luch Pizarro entered the event seeded well because of a stunning 52' 10" throw at Groups but he was a little off at the Meet of Champs! Luch managed a best-throw of only 48' 5" and it's best to remember the incredible advance he made as a thrower throughout the season! His best, 52' 10" is a BIG DEAL for a high school putter, especially a Junior, and we all look forward to seeing him perform next year! Gary Roskoski's extraordinary school record of 57' 4.25", set in 1999 -- yes, before any of you were born! -- is finally within sight!
Official results: NJ.MileSplit.
On June 12th, 2018, the athletes, coaches, parents and friends met as a team for the last time this season at the annual Track and Field Team Dinner! There they reviewed a number of team and individual accomplishments, recognized the achievements of the Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Freshman Teams, and honored several key individuals on the team! The coaches paid special attention to the graduating seniors, many of whom were four-year members of the team! (You might look back on this website to see how they grew over their time on the team!)
After the group enjoyed a meal provided by the parents, the coaches reviewed the accomplishments of the team and various individuals! Coach Lynn first introduced each Class -- Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors -- and each stood for a group photo. He then introduced the team Captains, the Athletes of the Week, then the Conference 1st and 2nd Team recipients. Finally, each Assistant Coach introduced the event area MVPs.
Coach Kramer introduced Luciano Pizarro (Luch) as the Throws MVP. Coach Thompson introduced Kevin Milligan as the Sprints MVP. Coach Shaklee introduced Justin Kelly as the Distance MVP; and then Coach Lynn returned to introduce Joey Carroll as the Hurdles MVP, and Liam DiFerdinando as the Jumps MVP!
After the awards, several of the Seniors had some words to say -- some serious, some humorous -- to the audience: Kieran Kelly, Jared Selkow and Mike Nessler, from the Throwers group; Naledge Brown, CJ Lee, Kevin Milligan, Nkenna Opara and Kenny Sprankle from the Sprinter/Hurdler/Jumper Group; and Jon Conn, Mike Iannotta, Justin Kelly and Matt Smith from the Distance Group. Several gag gifts were presented including a bag of balloons to Coach Thompson so that he can throw water balloons at Sprinters next year to help with hydration, and "High Mileage" motor oil and a funnel were given to Coach Shaklee because of his constant cries of "smooth, fast!" at meets and in workouts.
Our photographer was unavailable but here are several pics from the dinner provided by an anonymous photographer. The first shows Track athletes, Justin Kelly, Liam DiFerdinando, Joey Carroll, Ethan Wechsler and Devin Ibarrondo selected as Athlete of the Week throughout the Spring by Cherokee's Athletic Department. Clearly, Kevin Milligan's sub-50 in the 400m and Luch Pizarro's 52' 10" throw in the Shot, came too late in the season for consideration! The second shows all those named to the All-Conference 1st and 2nd Teams. The third shows the Team Captains: Kevin Milligan, Naledge Brown, Nkenna Opara, Mike Iannotta, Justin Kelly, Kieran Kelly, Kenny Sprankle and Matt Smith. And the fourth picture shows those who received the most prestigious award of the evening, the Most Valuable Players: Luch Pizarro, Throws; Kevin Milligan's, Sprints; Justin Kelly, Distance; Liam DiFerdinando, Jumps; and Joey Carroll, Hurdles!
The second group of three pictures shows the Freshmen, Sophomore and Junior classes. (The Senior class pictures were "really bad" and anyone who has a decent picture of our Seniors is asked to pass it along to one of the coaches for publication!)
In conclusion, thanks to the coaches for their dedication and expertise; thanks to Cherokee's Athletic Director, Mr. Scott Agnew, who works hard for our sport; and special thanks to the parents who gave so much to the program and supported their sons in many personal and practical ways, including vocal support at the meets, manning the concession stand and the finish lines at the meets, providing transportation at some unusual hours, and catering the Awards Dinner!
Finally, best wishes to all our athletes! We sincerely thank our graduating seniors for their work, leadership and performances, and we hope to see them soon on our Alum page, competing at the next level! Also, we look forward to seeing our undergraduates return even stronger next year to continue the exceptional history of Cherokee Track and Field!
GO CHEROKEE!
On June 13th, 2018, the South Jersey Track Coaches Association held their annual awards banquet banquet at Auletto Catering in Almonesson. After the dinner, the Association recognized coaches, captains and a number of others including the Athlete of the Year and the All-South Jersey Team. In the final group, Cherokee's top Distance runner, Justin Kelly, was selected for his excellence in the 3200m Run! GO JUSTIN!
Our photographer was unavailable but Coach Shaklee took his place while arguing that any fool can do it!
