Summer and Cross Country, 2023

-- For years, on July 4th, the current team and quite a few Alums raced the traditional Marlton Fourth of July 5K (now called the Marlton Mayor's Cup 5K, to distinguish our mayor's contribution from that of the Founding Fathers), and generally dominated the race. Over the past 12 years or so, Cherokee's athletes won at least 10 of the races, taking 1st and 2nd in the bargain! Last year, Alums and TCNJ graduates, Mike Zurzolo '17, now coaching at Highland High School, and Mike Iannotta '17, now in grad school at Drexel, took 1st and 2nd for "The Chiefs!" Missing at Marlton last year, were course record-holder, Alum Jack Shea '17, now in grad school at St. Joseph's University, and Alum Ethan Wechsler '19 of Syracuse University, who chose to race the Haddon Heights FireCracker 5K because they award real cash at the finish line!

-- On July 4th, 2023, Alum Jack Shea '17 returned to the Haddon Heights FireCracker 5K to defend his course-record time of last year, 14:53 (4:48 pace) and, while he slowed to 15:44 (5:05 pace), he finished in 1st place again! He was the only one of our Alums in the race! Details at: Firecracker 5K.

-- On July 4th. 2023, Cherokee's Alums again dominated the Marlton Mayor's Cup 5K, taking the first four places, with Mike Zurzolo '17, now coaching at Highland High School, finishing in 1st! Last year, Mike clocked 16:34 (5:21 pace) and this year, he dropped his time to 15:47 (5:06 pace)! Behind Mike were, in 2nd, Ethan Wechsler '19, 15:58 (5:09); in 3rd, Mike Iannotta '17, 16:34 (5:21); in 4th, Brandon Marks '17, 17:35 (5:41); in 10th, Marc Pelerin '02, 18:49 (6:04); in 18th, Evan Paulik '22, 19:49 6:24); in 23rd, Josh Paulik '22, 20:37 (6:39); in 33rd, Brendan Falzone '17, 22:02 (7:07); in 35th Bill Hornung '12, 22:07 (7:08); in 36th, Joe Hough '23, 22:18 (7:12); in 63rd, Chris Zurzolo '19, 24:02 (7:46); and in 148th, Matt Powell '16, 30:26 (9:49). Congratulations to Mike on his repeat! There may have been others but our photographer and/or scribe missed them! Our photographer took quite a few Alum pics: he posted some below and they and the others are available on the District's Google site! Race details at: Marlton 5K.

-- On August 4th, 2023, Alums Jack Shea '17 and Mike Iannotta '17 were at Cherokee's track training with Coach Shaklee . . . threshold and speed work for upcoming longer-distance races. Ah, the good old days! In addition, Alum Tommy Bromley '23 of Iona University, ran a tough practice with the young guys. Our photographer was there to shoot the high school guys so he captured some of Jack's and Mike's fun! Tommy's pictures are all over the high school pages as well as here! Very clever of him! He'll miss that attention at Iona!

-- On August 10th, 2023, post-college Alums Jack Shea '17, Justin Kelly '18 and Mike Zurzolo '17 raced the Asbury Park 5K as members of the Shore AC Team and clocked some impressive times! Jack took 1st place while clocking 14:34.3 (a possible race record!) and collected race glory and $150 cash! Justin followed in 5th, clocking 15.18.3 and collecting $50; and Mike finished in 17th, clocking 15.56 and collecting warm handshakes from his friends and family! Pictures are available at the following meet website but they are covered by copyright markings to insure no one like us steals them: race results.

-- On August 13th, 2023, two ancient Alums, Kevin Cuneo '03 and Kevin Schickling 07 and Mercy Catholic Alum, Tim Callinan opened RunningWorks XC Camp for their second year after taking over from the original Directors, Marcus O'Sullivan, Steve Shaklee and Cricket Batz Shaklee. A few of our Alums also served as Counselors, including Jack Shea '17 and Mike Zurzolo '17.

-- On August 27th, 2023, Alum Mike Iannotta '17, now a graduate student at Drexel University (Shaklee's alma mater! Isn't that cool, following his old coach's footsteps?!) and working with Coach Shaklee, raced the Philly 10K and took 19th overall (1529 men) in 34:34 (5:34 pace)! In addition, Camden Catholic Alum Kevin MacDonnell, who is also working with Coach Shaklee, took 1st overall (1529 men) in the race, clocking 30:41 (4:56 pace)! The official results are available at: Run Sign Up.

-- On August 29th, 2023, Alum Nico Grilli '21 of Monmouth College, learned that Cherokee was going to train at Holmdel Park and set-up a training session for himself! He greeted the Coach, the team and his favorite of them all, the team photographer! Nico had a recent operation to remove a non-malignant bone tumor high on his leg and, judging from his comments and his pace, he is well on his way to recovery! GO NICO!

-- On August 31st, 2023, Alum Jack Shea '17, now in Graduate School at St. Joseph's College, competed in a very challenging Monmouth Mile at CBA's track in Lincroft, NJ. Jack raced the Mile in a very nice 4:08.22, finishing 15th/17th overall. A unique feature showing the 1500m time of 3:52.44 was also provided. Photographer Tom Smith of NJ.MileSplit provided the pictures, and MileSplit provided videos and results at: NJ.MileSplit.

-- On September 1st, 2023, Alum Conor Jacob '23 of Monmouth College, received a rude welcome to college XC when he competed at the four- team (Princeton, Monmouth, Rider and Rutgers) The New Jersey Jam a 5.6K race at Princeton University! Conor finished 58th/61 overall in 19.56 (5:44 pace). It's tough going from high school racing to college but this race wasn't much longer than high school distances, so we'll wait to hear from Conor on the experience! GO CONOR! Details at: Hawks.

-- On September 1st, 2023, Alum Nico Grilli '21 of Monmouth College, recovering from an operation, traveled to Princeton University's New Jersey Jam to provide support for his team! At the same time, while many competitors were not pictured, Nico managed to get himself into two photographs! GO NICO! YOU DA MAN!

-- On September 1st, 2023, Alum Brett Shea '21 of Rowan University, competed in the Stockton Season Opener in Galloway, NJ. Brett finished 52nd/94 overall in 20:42 (5:33 pace). GO BRETT! Details at: TFRRS XC.

-- On September 3rd, 2022, Alum Mike Gavio '19 of Bloomsburg University, competed in the 8K DII/DIII Cross Country Challenge at Kutztown University. Mike finished 3rd on his team, 28th/96 overall, while clocking 28.08.4 (5:39.9 pace). His team finished 5th/10 overall in the meet. Details at: TFRRS XC.

-- On September 3rd, 2022, AlumEthan Wechsler '19 of Syracuse University, traveled to Penn State University in State College for the 5.2 mile Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational where he clocked 25:44.7 (4:57.1 pace) and finished 9th/71 overall! His team finished 1st/6 overall in the meet. Details at: TFRRS.

-- On September 17th, 2023, Alum Mike Iannotta '17, now a graduate student at Drexel University, competed in the Half-Marathon in the Philadelphia Distance Run. Mike finished in 57th/2420 finishers, clocking 1:12.56 (5:34 pace), proving once again that he isn't just another pretty face! Two others who train with Coach Shaklee also raced: Kevin McDonnell of Camden Catholic and St. Joe's, finished in 14th in 1:04.53 (4.57 pace); and Jimmy Daniels of Sterling and St. Joe's, finished in 25th in 1:07.40 (5:09 pace). Details at: Second Wind.

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