Cherokee Track & Field Pictures, 2019, Page III





The Winter Championship Season!


The Winter Championship Season is upon us! While there are two meets that are not part of the State Championship series -- a SJTCA/Bennett Center meet and the last of the Cherokee Throwdown Meets, the South Jersey GP IV Sectional Championship at the Bennett Center runs first! In the State series, for those who qualify, the NJ State Group IV Championship, and, of course, for those who qualify at Groups, the NJ State Meet of Champions! 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!









The South Jersey GP IV Sectional Championship

"OK, let's go over this again . . . generally, the indoor track is 200m so, if you want to run a 400m race, you have to go around the track TWICE! But, here's where it gets a little confusing . . . if you are running a 4 X 400m Relay, EACH runner has to go around the track TWICE before handing off or finishing the race! Yes, really, TWICE! . . . OK, let's go over the numbers: 1, then 2. Got that? 1, then 2 . . . yes, go around the track TWICE! . . .".

: < )


On February 2, 2019, the team's elite traveled to The Bubble for the South Jersey GP IV Sectional Championship and five advanced to the State Group Championship a few weeks!

Coach Shaklee saw a number of places where his distance runners can improve before the up-coming State Group Championships but, overall, he was pretty enthusastic about the distance team's performance! "Cherokee finished 2nd overall, 5 points behind Egg Harbor Township, and of the 42 points scored by the team, 30 of them came from the distance squad! Ethan Wechsler racked up 18 points by himself with his 3rd place finish in the 1600m and his win in the 3200m! The 1600m was a tactical affair and played into the hands of the (sprint-fast) 800/1600 runners rather than the (distance-specialists) 3200/1600 runners like Ethan. Although Ethan closed well over the last 200, he couldn't manage to outkick the kickers, settling for 3rd (1600m PR), less than a second out of first. Behind Ethan, Nico Grilli and Mike Gavio ran solid races (both PR's) but, coming off a winter of high mileage and no speed work, they were not able to change gears at the end of the race."

He went on to comment on the 800m Run: "The seeded heat of the 800m set up a lot like the 1600m with a slow, tactical pace favoring the 400-type runners and those who have been honing their speed in the winter. Tyler Jackson has been doing high mileage and no speed work but still managed to finish with a strong last lap to secure 2nd place with another sub-2:00 clocking! In the previous heat, Bobby Hackney had a different experience as his race went out very fast and he found himself a second and a half off of his 400m PR halfway through the race! He struggled over the last 300m but never stopped trying!"

Finally, on the 3200m Run, he said, "Doubling in the race, Ethan was determined to make sure the 3200m did not turn into a tactical race, taking the field through the first 400m in 67 seconds! He controlled the race from the front as other runners fell back over the 2nd half of the race and won comfortably. Chase Miller put in a great effort to try to steal 2nd place and almost pulled it off, just getting passed in the last 200m to finish 3rd with an new indoor PR! Dylan Odud ran a steady effort but was unable to improve on the PR he set earlier this week."

Among the Sprinters, Coach Petruzzi was most excited about the 55m Dash where Andrew Elsey missed the Finals by only hundreths of a second while clocking a nice PR of 6.83! Following him, Will Delendik ran well in 6.89, slightly off his PR set this season! In the 400m Dash, Trevor Tubb ran his first at the distance and clocked a decent 56.64 (took a fall and got to taste his breakfast for a second time!); and Kevin Hess set his own PR in 58.24! Tyler Ortiz clocked a decent PR in the 400m too, crossing the line in 54.61. The 4 X 400m Relay was probably one of the most bizarre races Cherokee has experienced in a long time! (Well, if you discount that crazy Freshman 4 X 800m Relay debacle back on January 12th!) The race began well with Tyler Ortiz and Aatish Gupta running what looked like season PR's but then in the confusion of the exchange zone, Cherokee's third leg ran only 200 meters before the anchor man took the baton and raced to the finish! Yikes . . . no points, no chance at the Sectional Championship!

Two in the Field had fine performances and advanced to Groups: Andrew Elsey in the High Jump, and Luch Pizarro in the Shot! Coach Kramer said Andrew had a nice day at the HJ, setting a 6' PR and taking 3rd in the event; and, while Luch had trouble getting his footing on the Indoor circle, he easily fronted 50' 00.50" and took 3rd!

Luch, Andrew, Ethan, Chase and Ty now have a few weeks to prepare for the State Group 4 Championship! GO GUYS!

By the way, the team scored 42 points and took second place, with Egg Harbor Township H.S. finishing 1st with 47 points! GO CHEROKEE!

Official results at: NJ.MileSplit.


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SJTCA Winter Meet # 12

On February 4, 2019, a number of team member traveled to The Bubble for the last "small Meet" of the season, the SJTCA Winter Meet # 12. The meet is something of an odd duck because it's scheduled between two big state meets, Sectionals and Groups, and many athletes who competed at Sectionals or qualified for Groups don't attend this meet. Still, there's lots of competition and many opportunities for less-experienced athletes to compete in a variety of events!

Guys like Zach Palfry got a chance to practice the Pole Vault (finished just below his PR) and clock PR's in the 55HH and 400M! He had to like the 400 where he broke the 60 second barrier! Every event has a "barrier" where young, less-experienced athletes begin to win respect from others . . . sub-60 in the 400, sub-5:00 in the mile, live through it in the 3200, etc. Zach "smashed" that 400 barrier in his first try with a 59.84! What . . . really . . . someone else on the team clocked a 60.06?! Ouch! Let's focus on Zach! GO ZACH!

Some young guys actually got into their first races of the season! Cameron McCauley and Daanyal Kaleem ran both the 55m and 200m Dashes! No records set or barriers broken but, as they say, you have to start somewhere!

Our photographer was unavailable for this meet.

Official results at: NJ.MileSplit.





Cherokee Throw Down # 3

On February 5, 2019, Coach Kramer reported that, "The throwers wrapped up their season with a number of good throws! The highlights, however, came from Darien Massimino who took 3rd place in the JV competition with a throw of 35' 0.5", just under his PR; and Luch Pizarro with two throws over 52'! Luch put two throws in the stands, just to keep the audience alert (?), while throwing a Indoor PR of 52' 3" to win the event! That will, undoubtedly, give him a lot of momentum and confidence going into the State Group 4 Championship next Friday!"

Official results at: NJ.MileSplit.

Yeah, our photographer knows the pictures taken in the cafeteria are pretty bad because of the poor lighting and he suggests that, in the future, you insist that your throws be scheduled in the gym where the lighting is better! After all, it's your house!



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Blast From the Past!

Several days ago, an old friend sent a 1972 Cross Country article from the Atlantic City Press and we'll share part of it (with editorial emphasis and comments) for you! They don't write them like this anymore!


C.H. East Tops Spartans for Running Title


MAYS LANDING -- Cherry Hill East galloped to the South Jersey Conference Cross Country Championship with a decisive 21-38 triumph over Holy Spirit High School Friday afternoon on the neutral Oakcrest-Absegami course!

The Cougars wrapped up three of the first four places and six of the first eight enroute to the conquest, which topped off a spectacular campaign for Coach Don Witzig's steppers.

The individual victory was achieved by smooth-striding Steve Shaklee, who raced over the two and a half miles in 12 minutes and 34 seconds, the five-foot-seven, 159-pound strider finished exactly 2 seconds in front of the Spartan's Bob Naumchik, who hit the tape in 12:36.

Shaklee's triumph was of the more spectacular brand and a bitter pill for Naumchik to swallow, for the latter had led from the starting gun until the last 400 yards. At that point, Shaklee, who had moved from well back in the pack during the first eight of a mile and dogged Bob's footsteps from that point on, turned on a terrific finishing kick and sped past the Blue and Gold runner! But try as he might, Steve couldn't increase the edge and he kept just about three strides in front of the Holy Spirit man the balance of the course. . . .

It was the 16th straight triumph for Cherry Hill East, which thus completed their season campaign at the crest of a 16 - 1 record, the lone loss an opening day meet reverse to Cinnaminson in a non-league clash.


Background: In 1972, SJ Cross Country teams first won the championship for the Northern and Southern Divisions of SJ and then, since the teams "only" raced 15, 16 or 17 dual meets (not counting the Saturday Invitationals!), some genius decided to create a contest between the two divisions! Thus, the meet between C.H. East from the northern part of SJ against Holy Spirit from the southern part. After that, the teams went on to compete in the State Championship series of Sectionals, Groups and MOC. Also, in 1972, Cross Country and Track were covered by local newspapers who treated them as major sports, with almost-daily stories and pictures from dual meets! In this area, the Courier-Post and Burlington County Times dominated the coverage and created intense competitions among local SJ teams and largely ignored the rest of the state. They focused on dual meets and named the "Team of the Year" and the "Runner of the Year" largely based on the results in the dual meets. Today, the power of the newspapers to shape the sports has waned and several former SJ runners and now coaches (like Shaklee) fought to de-emphasize the importance of dual meets on the Cross Country and Track schedules.

We posted this largely because of (1) the writer's language -- the team "galloped;" they were "steppers;" Shaklee was "smooth-striding;" "Shaklee's triumph was of the more spectacular brand and a bitter pill for Naumchik to swallow;" and the use of "Bob" and "Steve" in the middle of his article; (2) his odd race description: who describes a cross country race in eights of a mile?; and (3) his inaccurate and oddly precise description of Shaklee as 5' 7", 159 pounds, when Shaklee hadn't been 5' 7" since maybe 9th grade (this was his senior year) and he was never as heavy as 159 pounds! PS. The writer's byline was not attached to the article.


Steve 1972






NJ State Group 4 Championships

On February 15, 2019, the five who qualified at Sectionals for the NJ State Group 4 Championships -- Luch Pizarro, Andrew Elsey, Ethan Wechsler, Chase Miller and Ty Jackson competed at Toms River, and four of the five advanced to the up-coming Meet of Champions!

In the past, the Group States were "the state championships" for both the Team and the Individual. If you won Groups -- where you competed against teams and individuals in your Group from throughout the state -- you were "the state champion!" Over the years, however, the Meet of Champions evolved to become what most consider to be "the final say!" Champions and the top finishers in the four Groups and the two Non-Public Groups now advance to the Meet of Champions where "the best of the best" have the final say! It's extraordinarily difficult to make it to the Meet of Champions and for Cherokee to have four individuals advance is very special! GO CHEROKEE!

Coach Shaklee reported that "In the 800m, Ty Jackson ran an aggressive race and, although he struggled over the final lap, he held on to 3rd place with a new PR of 1:58.29, slightly faster than his race at Ocean Breeze! Ty was out in 55.7 at the 400 which was way faster than he has been out in any of his previous races this winter! The strength he has built through all of his aerobic work this winter allowed him to do that and still hold it together over the second 400m of the race! He'll be looking for another PR when he takes the line for the Meet of Champions next Saturday!"

Shaklee continued his comments on the 3200m race: "We were hoping that someone would take the pace out but, sadly, no one did. As a result, Ethan Wechsler went to the lead a lot earlier than he wanted to and the pace picked up with a group of six, including Chase Miller, in tow. Leading for that long and knowing the others were sitting on him took a toll on Ethan and the pace lagged a little after the mile and a half point. With 400m to go, Oliver Adler from Cherry Hill East (who showed a devastating kick at Sectionals) took the lead and the pace increased. With 200m to go, Adler took it up another notch and everyone but Ethan fell off. Although Adler ran hard and fast over that last lap, Ethan was just able to catch him at the line. Being a competitive person, Adler instinctively reacted by throwing his arm out to block Ethan. As they crossed the line, Ethan had the smallest of margins over Adler to take the victory! Unfortunately for Adler, the officials disqualified him for his action at the line."

"Chase held his position over the entire race and finished 6th, moving up to 5th with the disqualification. Although the times were nothing extraordinary, the racing was tough and Ethan was able to add to his State Championship in cross country with another in winter track while Chase also had the same finishing position he took in the cross country state meet! With a steadier pace from the start, and no leading required, both Ethan and Chase should be in position to improve their times at the Meet of Champions!"

Coach Kramer reported that Luch Pizarro started badly when he fouled his first two throws, though the Coach questioned the second call to the point where he asked the official for a clarification! As they did last week when Luch started badly, they decided that he would "front it," just to make sure they made it to the Finals! He threw 49' 3.75" and advanced! Going into the Finals, he was sitting in 4th and, after a couple of bad throws, he dropped to 6th, the last place that advanced to the Meet of Champions! On his final throw, he launched a 51' 0.75" putt to place 3rd and advance! That, my boys, is "clutch!" Luch is the first thrower from Cherokee to make it to the MOCs since Matt DeLessio made it in 2003, and that was in Spring Track and not Indoors!

As a team, Cherokee scored 24 points, the second most (after 2012) the team ever scored, and finished second, only 9 points behind Franklin Township High School, the highest finish ever made by the team! GO CHEROKEE!

Full meet coverage at: NJ.MileSplit. Video of Ethan and Chase in the 3200m at: NJ.MileSplit; and a video of Ty in the 800m at: NJ.MileSplit. No videos of the HJ or SP are available.


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These pictures are by Tom Smith of NJ.MileSplit

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NJ State Meet of Champions

On February 23, 2019, the four who qualified at Groups -- Luch Pizarro, Ethan Wechsler, Chase Miller and Ty Jackson returned to Toms River for the NJ State Meet of Champions!

Coach Shaklee began the review of the meet:

"The State Meet of Champions is a tough meet. If anything goes wrong . . . a slip . . . a slight illness . . . it can make for a bad experience. That is what happened to two of our three runners yesterday.

In the 800, Ty Jackson slipped at the start (see attached photo by Tom Smith of MileSplit!) and was a distant last coming around the first turn. Ty never recovered from that and ended up 10th in the seeded heat and 17th overall. Although, the Meet of Champions did not go well for Ty, he had a tremendous indoor season which saw him under 2:00 three times. His training has been fantastic and he will be ready for a great outdoor campaign!

Chase Miller ran in the first heat of the 3200m although he wasn't at 100% (slight illness) . . . not a good thing in a meet of this level! He hung in there through the first mile but was clearly in distress and faded over the 2nd half of the race. Like Tyler, the season ended on a down note but Chase had a strong indoor campaign which saw him run 11 seconds faster at the 3200 than he did last winter! Like Tyler, he will also be ready for a strong outdoor campaign!

Ethan Wechsler ended on a positive note with a new PR and a 6th place finish! Ethan's time of 9:21.02 moved him to 7th on the All-Time Cherokee List, behind Marc Pelerin '02, Sean Wilson '13, Nick Falk '17, Justin Kelly '18, Keith Krieger '03 and Jack Shea '17! His time was also the 2nd fastest Cherokee time ever run indoors, trailing only Marc Pelerin's converted 9:11.86 from the Eastern States Meet 2 mile in 2002! Ethan capped off a great indoor season which saw him WIN the Olympic Conference Meet, the SJ Group 4 Sectional Championships and the Group 4 State Championship Meet in the 3200m before finishing 6th in the State Meet of Champions! Ethan also ran a converted 4:18.70 for the 1600m this winter which puts him at 6th on the Cherokee All-Time List, behind Shawn Wilson '13, Marc Pelerin '02, Steve Burkholder '10, Justin Kelly '18 and Josh Joseph '01! We are anxious to see what Ethan will accomplish this spring!"

Luch Pizarro looked good in warm-ups at the Shot Put circle, clearing 50' on his first throw but in the actual competition he was only able to clear 49'! That throw left him 13th in the competition and failing to advance to the Finals. Even so, Luch had a very nice Indoor season, twice cleared 52' and setting an Indoor PR! We're looking forward to a break-out Spring campaign!

Details at: NJ.MileSplit. Reuben Frank, the SJTCA blogger, wrote an article about the three top SJ runners in the 3200m, including Ethan, and gave it Five Exclamation Points! Oh, baby, the big time! See it way down on Page 3, February 23rd of his blog or copied on our website at: Reuben Frank on MOC 3200m.

Here are some start and finish-line pictures from Tom Smith of MileSplit:



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Here are some from our regular photographer stationed near the 100m mark and the Shot Put!



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South Jersey Track Coaches Association Winter Awards Banquet

On March 7, 2019, the South Jersey Track Coaches Association held their annual Winter Awards Banquet at "Auletto Caterers overlooking the serene Almonesson Lake!" (That's the way it was described and we're sticking to it!)

The evening was anything but serene as the Association recognized all the top male and female Track athletes in South Jersey, highlighting Team Captains, Relay and Individual State Champions, Scholar-Athletes, All-South Jersey teams and individuals, and the Coach of the Year!

Among those award winners was Cherokee's Ethan Wechsler, the Group 4 State Champion in the 3200m Run! For the record, Ethan was Cherokee's first-ever Indoor 3200m State Champion and only the fourth distance runner to win a State Championship in school history, joining Jeff Storch (the 1600m in 1998); Dave Sitzer (the 1600m in 2000); and Will Andes (the 800m in 2006)! GO ETHAN!

The entire written program is available at: SJTCA.

"Team Wechsler" with Ethan's certificate recognizing his achievement!


Wechslers









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