[The Introduction below is designed for newcomers and was copied from last year's introduction to Indoor Track and Field. There seemed to be little reason to "recreate the wheel!"]
Back in the Dark Ages, when Winter or Indoor Track was first envisioned by coaches here in South Jersey, the programs were designed for really tough athletes! Many of the local meets were so-called "Polar Bear Meets," held outdoors when coaches thought having young people running around wearing shorts and singlets in freezing temperatures was good for their physical and personal development! In addition, other meets were held indoors although these facilities were badly designed for racing! They fashioned flat "tracks" of irregular lengths in cafeterias and basketball courts or they set-up shaky banked wooden tracks in civic centers, gymnasiums or "armories" generally untouched since World War II! At several places back in the 70's and 80's, the sprint track ended through garage doors into a parking lot! Yes, sprinters did 40 or 50 yard dashes and finished out in the parking lot where, on snowy or icy days, coaches caught them before they fell! At now-famous NYC Armory, before it was renovated, homeless people lived in the stairways and often urinated "close to home." And everyone who ever participated in Indoor Track back in the 70s and 80s will remember the pungent odor of "Atomic Balm" until the day they die! Today, the indoor facilities are much improved: the Toms River "Bubble" is tight but fairly comfortable, and the Ocean Breeze facility on Staten Island is absolutely magnificent! If only someone could work on those long bus rides! (For more details, ask Coach Shaklee and Marlton Rec Coach Shea what it was like "to be manly-men when they were just boys!")
Those early programs were designed as preparation for the Spring Season (and as a way to sidestep NJSIAA rules about coaching athletes out of season). Coaches concentrated on foundation and strength training for distance athletes, and skills training and conditioning for the sprinters, jumpers and throwers. That continues today, although the team participates in a number of meets at decent indoor facilities (including the Throws Meets at Cherokee High School) for both experience and a change of pace. GO CHIEFS!
On January 8th, 2020, Cherokee's "lid-lifter" of the season, the SJTCA Winter Meet # 6 will be contested at "The Bubble" in Toms River.
Upperclassmen will marvel at the newly-paved parking lot and the new lighting at The Bubble. They will, however, be disappointed when they see the same old port-a-pots in the dark and the same old track! Small steps, boyos, small steps.
UPDATE: Perhaps in response to our lament regarding the "same old port-a-pots" at The Bubble, a friend sent this picture showing a recent update! He suggested adding TP to the team kit!
While the team continues to work on their various assignments -- foundation and strength training for distance athletes, and skills training and conditioning for the sprinters, jumpers and throwers -- a friend sent this iPhone picture as a reminder to our runners that they should race through the finish line, not slow-up as they approach the line and definitely not throw themselves at the tape/line as this unfortunate athlete did!
Tomorrow, January 8, 2020, like a grizzle bear awakening early from winter hibernation, the team "awakens" for their first meet of the winter season! Will they be lethargic and torpid, stumbling around like still-asleep animals or will they be light-footed and ready . . .? Maybe lions ready to feast on weaker animals . . .? Stay tuned!
On January 8, 2020, a part of the team traveled to the Bennett Center for the relays-only SJTCA Winter Meet # 6. On the surface, the posted results look bleak as they show Cherokee with a "DNF" and a "DQ" but at least one can be explained as a "gross official error!"
Coach Shaklee, who volunteers his services in the Winter season, reported the following on his athletes who competed in the distance relays.
"This was a rust-buster for the distance guys who ran. We have been doing strictly aerobic conditioning with no speed other than striders so the pace of the races felt pretty uncomfortable for them. Overall, however, it was a very respectable start to the season!
"Unfortunately, due to an official error (putting the 2nd leg runners on the track a lap early) the Distance Medley team of Joe Natoli, Kevin Hess, Aiden Dickinson and Bradley Popler, like all the other teams in the heat, was assigned a DNF for running a lap short! (Thank you, officials . . . pretty tough to pay attention for 6 whole laps!) Had they run the entire distance, they would have finished no worse than 3rd in their heat and 10th overall out of the 21 teams in the two heats! Joe Natoli was running well and just getting ready to start his finishing kick when he saw that they had put Kevin Hess on the track. Kevin ran a strong 400, an indoor PR, before handing off to Aiden Dickinson. Aiden ran a tough 800, going out smoothly but aggressively and destroyed his PR from last winter in the process! Bradley Popler anchored with a decent first 1600 of the year, 24 seconds faster than what he ran last winter and only 6 seconds off of his outdoor PR!
"The 4 X 800 team also ran well, placing 9th in a field of 19 teams! Jameson Crozier tied his outdoor 800 PR on the lead-off! Patick Ditmars (yes, you heard me . . . the phantom Patrick Ditmars!) ran very well in the first high school race of his career after dealing with illness and injury through the cross country season. His time was fast and he raced very smart and tough throughout. Tommy Bromley ran a measured first 400 and on the 3rd leg he picked it up coming home to negative split his 800 with a very fast last 200! Bryan Lafferty ran aggressively on the anchor to bring the team home in 9:17.32 seconds! His split was the fastest of the four runners and only about a half a second off of his outdoor PR from last spring!"
Coach Petruzzi mentioned how little training time his athletes have had so far and spoke well of the athletes he coaches.
"Among the Sprinters, Kevin Hess split a lifetime PR of 56.4 in the 400m leg of the Distance Medley Relay! The Shuttle Hurdles team of Chris Brandreth, Ben Brandreth, Zach Palfy and Angelo Kyrtatas ran well for the first race of the year after just doing some short hurdle drills so far. They ran a 37.98 and, judging from their technique, they'll improve quickly. As for our newcomers, our only Freshman sprinter at the meet, Stephen Trombetta ran his first 200m in the 4 X 200 and split a 27.5; and Matt Marthins, a first year senior, learned the hard way what a 400m feels like while running a 59.3 in the Sprint Medley Relay! It's an inexperienced group but they are working hard, giving it their best, and should improve quickly over the season!"
Official results at: NJ.MileSplit.
On January 9, 2020, the team hosted the Cherokee Throwdown # 1, the first of a series of Shot Put events at the school. The meet was largely a "rust buster" for over 200 athletes including three "Chiefs:" Nathan Chang, Adam Lopez, and newcomer Brendan Biddle.
The official results are available at: NJ.MileSplit.
BTW, the dull lighting in the cafeteria no doubt provides a soothing atmosphere for lunch during hectic school days but it stinks for sports photography! ; < )
On January 11, 2020, the team returned to the Bennett Center for the Olympic (and Tri-County) Conference Meet, largely to set decent seed times for the up-coming State Sectional Championships.
Coach Shaklee wrote about the distance team from his hospital bed:
"The 4 X 800m Relay went well, especially considering it was the first race of the winter and without the benefit of any speed workouts! Brett Shea, Dylan Odud and Mike Gavio all ran good legs and handed off to Lucas Hatch who improved by 8 seconds on his time from three days earlier on the anchor! They finished 5th overall, 2nd in the Olympic Conference!
"Tyler Jackson ran well in the 1600m, finishing 2nd overall and 1st in the Olympic Conference! Danny Boria was a bit under the weather but still ran within three seconds of his PR while Matt Campbell struggled with some knee tendonitis.
"The officials, once again, screwed-up the lap count in the 3200m Run which caused confusion for both Ethan Wechsler and Chase Miller. The distraction of trying to correct the officials each lap took its toll on Ethan who still ran well but came up just a bit short against Olivar Adler from CH East. Chase was even more affected by their error and ran an extra lap!
"Ethan and Chase came right back in the 4 X 400m Relay with Ty Jackson and Danny Boria from the 1600m! They won their heat and finished 5th in the Olympic Conference despite all being distance runners doubling back!
"It was good to get a race in and get back into the feel of things! Next time out, the boys will be better prepared to roll!"
Reuben Frank, of NBC Sports Philadelphia, and writer of the South Jersey Track Coaches Association's blog, From the Backstretch, commented on Ethan's race against Oliver Adler of Cherry Hill East and it is also available on our server at Adler, Wechsler record S.J. # 1 and # 2 times in the 3,200 at the Bennett Center. No exclamation points! Really?! Use these, Roob! . . . !!!!!!
No reports available for the Sprinters and Throwers at the meet.
The official results are available at: NJ.MileSplit
We hear so often that persistence, the "firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition," is the key to success in everything but Dashun Wang in Nature focuses on the importance of failure, "the essential prerequisite to success," and how we might respond to failure in order to achieve success. In a summary provided by Scientific American, Professor Wang's ideas, not directly related to sports, are outlined. Check it out at Scientific America and see if it helps you to better understand the successes and failures in your own lives!