Cherokee Track & Field Pictures, 2021, Page II







~~ Another Practice on a Sunny Day ~~

On February 24, 2021, Cherokee was scheduled for an outdoor Dual Meet against Winslow Township but the event was canceled, probably because of snow still blanketing much of their facility. That was not the case at Cherokee so practice was scheduled as usual.

Two groups -- the sprinter/hurdler and distance squads -- took advantage of the fantastic snow-melting weather . . . sunny, around 60 degrees and no wind! . . . and could be found on the track! Interestingly, the distance coach used the opportunity to set-up his own "time trials" in the 800m and 4 X 400m with some impressive results!

Our photographer caught some of the action by both groups!


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800 start

800 start

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~~ Really?! Another Practice on a Sunny Day ~~

On February 26, 2021, Cherokee Track had a "different" day for many of the athletes as they were split between those going to the scheduled indoor meet at The Bennett Center tomorrow and those training through . . .. The sprinter/hurdlers worked on various skills including starts and hurdle reps; while half the distance squad did pre-race drills and the other half did a 1600m Time-Trial.

All of this was, once again, performed under sunny skies, temperatures in the low 50's, and no wind . . . conditions guaranteed to bring the team photographer out of his cave!


Go Chiefs sign

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~~ Tri-Meet: Timber Creek Vs Highland Vs Cherokee ~~

On February 26, 2021, Cherokee took advantage of a new opportunity at "The Bubble" in Toms River: a Tri-Meet featuring Timber Creek, Highland and Cherokee High Schools! The pandemic required a limit on the number of teams and a limit on the number of athletes allowed. Still, Cherokee showed well against these two traditional powerhouses in South Jersey!

After the meet, Coach Shaklee reported on his five distance athletes, saying "they were quite good!"

"We had five guys running the 1600 and doubling back in the 800 about 50 minutes later! Junior Aiden Dickinson got things started nicely for the team in the first heat of the 1600 as he led most of the race and held that to the line for the win! It's pretty incredible to note that Aiden beat his previous 1600 PR by 25 seconds! His time was good enough for 8th place overall! Behind Aiden, Freshman Andrew Free also ran a nice race to place 5th in heat 1 and 12th overall!

"The seeded heat of the 1600 started slowly, with a casual first lap. Senior Brett Shea didn't like that so he went to the lead and began stringing out the field. By the finish, he had built a comfortable lead and he won by 7 seconds with an new PR! From the way he ran, it is clear he is ready to go faster. (Note how Shak drops in these "little hints?!) Behind him, Freshman Nick Kuenkel was starting his high school track career off in style. Nick ran with Highland's top man and edged him at the line for 2nd place and about a 9 second PR (off of his converted 1500 from 2 years ago)! Sophomore Tommy Bromley also set a new PR in 6th place!

"A short time later, all five runners came back in the 800. In heat 1, Aiden Dickinson placed 3rd and Andrew Free 5th, both with times not too far off of their PR's set this past Wednesday when they were running it fresh, not on a double! In heat 2, Brett Shea, once again, showed that he is in the best shape of his life as he easily won the race, finishing almost 7 seconds in front of the 2nd place finisher and just missing his PR! Nick Kuenkel finished 4th to complete an excellent double for a freshman, and Tommy Bromley was 6th in his heat and 7th overall!"

Coach Shaklee ended his remarks by noting that the team will run against Lenape at The Bubble this Wednesday!

No comments on the sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers and throwers are available but a quick look at the results suggests some positive performances on their first time out this season! Chima Opara, Antonio Campbell and Jaden Hewlett looked good in the 55m Dash as they took 2nd, 5th and 6th respectively, and Opara and Campbell set PR's! Opara then returned in the 200m Dash and took 2nd again, with Thomas Bland right behind him in 3rd! Both set PR's here too! In the 400m, Lucas Hatch took 2nd with a PR performance, and Joshua Pawlik closed in 5th place!

In the 55m Hurdles, the field was really limited and Cherokee, led by Angelo Kyrtatas, Christopher and Benjamin Brandreth, and Wilson Leung, ended-up sweeping 2nd through 5th place. Both Ben and Wilson set PR's. Finally, in the last race of the day, the 4 X 400m Relay, Christopher Brandreth, Hatch, Campbell and Bland returned to win the event!

In the Throws, Chike Omeronye threw a PR and took 2nd in the Shot Put; and in the Jumps, Christopher Brandreth and Zach Palfy took 2nd and 3rd in the Triple Jump, with Brandreth setting a new PR!

Results at: NJ. MileSplit.

Our photographer was unavailable for this meet.





~~ Dual Meet: Cherokee Vs Lenape ~~

On March 3, 2021, Cherokee took advantage of another opportunity at "The Bubble" in Toms River: a Dual Meet between Cherokee and Lenape High Schools! Again, the pandemic required a limit on the number of athletes allowed but quite a few got a chance to compete and many performed well!

Following the meet, Coach Shaklee commented on his distance runners: "The second bubble meet of the year went well for the Cherokee distance team! Of the ten athletes in the 800m, six new PR's were established by Aiden Dickinson, Andrew Free, Matteo Evola, Bobby Poplau, Julian Hatch and Luke Reistle, and three others equaled or ran close to their PR's -- Brett Shea, Tommy Bromley, Nick Kuenkel -- as they finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the race!

"Brett came back a short time later to place 2nd in the Open 400m and set an Open PR! His time was a mere .2 behind the first place finisher!

"In the All-Distance 4 x 400m Relay, four of the eight runners on the two teams established new PR's: Jameson Crozier, Matteo Evola, Aiden Dickinson and Nick Kuenkel!

"The distance team now has a nice, uninterrupted training block with a full twelve days before the next scheduled competition."

No comments on the sprinters, hurdlers and throwers are available but a quick look at the results suggests the guys are improvimg well at this point in the season! In the 55m Dash, Senior Chima Opara took 1st place with a new PR, and Juniors Jayden Hewlett and Chet Gantt followed in 3rd and 4th while setting their own PR's!

In the 200m Dash, Chima Opara and Junior Antonio Campbell took 1st and 2nd, setting PR's; and Juniors Wilson Leung and Kevin Hess followed in 4th and 5th with their own PR's! Later, in the Open 400m Dash, Antonio Campbell, Brett Shea, Senior Thomas Bland and Kevin Hess swept the first four places and all set new PR's in the event! Finally, in the 55m Hurdles, a Lenape hurdler won but Cherokee took the following four places: Junior Angelo Kyrtatas missed 1st by a hair, and behind him came Christopher Brandreth, Benjamin Brandreth and Wilson Leung.

In the Shot Put, Cherokee throwers finished 2nd, 3rd and 5th! Senior Chika Omeronye threw a PR to take 2nd; Junior Adam Lopez missed his PR but took 3rd, and Freshman Anthony Maszlanka took 5th and established his first PR!

Results at: NJ.MileSplit.

Our photographer was unavailable for this meet but Paige Jackson, a member of the girl's team, took some pictures of the 800m race and found out how hard it is to get decent action pictures in that photographically-dark hole! Thanks Paige! Here are a few. The additions on the second picture were applied by an observant coach, not ours! ; < )


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~~ Dual Meet: Cherokee Vs Eastern ~~

On March 12, 2021, Cherokee took advantage of another opportunity to get outside and compete: a Dual Meet between Cherokee and Eastern High Schools! The schedule was somewhat modified but there was no limit on the number of athletes allowed . . . and many performed well!

Soon after the meet, Coach Shaklee commented on the performances of his Distance group: "The Cherokee boys distance team turned in some nice efforts in a dual meet against Eastern High School on Friday at Eastern! The conditions were not bad - sunny and mid-60s, but a substantial headwind on the backstretch and into the far turn made fast times difficult.

"Despite the wind, seven of the eight Cherokee runners in the 1600m established new Personal Records! Four Cherokee runners - Tommy Bromley, Nick Kuenkel, Patrick Ditmars and Aiden Dickinson - stayed together in the lead pack for three laps, maintaining a steady pace. With a lap to go, Patrick took the lead and worked hard through the first turn and down the backstretch into the wind with Tommy and Nick giving chase. Around the far turn, the three runners were right together. Coming off the turn, Tommy surged and pulled away down the homestretch to take the win with a 10 second PR! Although just off his PR, Nick still raced well, surging in the final strides to nip Patrick for 2nd! Patrick beat his previous best time by a couple of seconds in 3rd place and Aiden knocked 7 seconds off of his previous best to take the 4th spot! Other PR's were set by Andrew Free in 6th place, Matteo Evola in 7th, Jameson Crozier in 8th and Danny Hassall in 11th!

"The runners doubled back 30 minutes later in the Open 400 where Matteo Evola showed a nice turn of speed with a 2 second PR to win his heat! Andrew Free and Danny Hassall also established new 400 PR's.

"Next up, some Cherokee athletes will be racing in the Cherokee Winter Distance Invitational on Saturday, March 20th, and the entire team will run one last Winter meet on Thursday, March 25th at Cinnaminson."

Funniest line overheard at meet: "Ditmars actually believes the biblical story about Sampson and his strength coming from his long hair . . . we just have to keep girls named Delilah away from him!"

No comments on the sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers and throwers are available yet. Generally, MileSplit does not report on meets where "hand times" are used but they have posted some unofficial results at: NJ.MileSplit. Our photographer was at the meet . . . however, the Throwers got ripped because the throws area was "on the other side of the planet," too far for our photographer to cover both! : < (


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