Dual Meet: Cherokee vs Cherry Hill East
Cherokee suffered the proverbial "rude awakening" on April 5th when it experienced a close defeat at the hands of CH East: 73 - 67. Cherokee split the points in the jumps and in the field; took 34 out of 36 possible points in the longer events (400m through 3200m); won the 4 x 400m Relay; but lost almost all of the points in the sprints/hurdles. Highlights from the meet included Kevin Pingon's 8' PR in the Jav (2nd place - 147' 8 1/2"); Andrew Miler's PR in the shot (37'); Aaron DeCaires' 1.6 second PR in the HH (17.1); Kyle Magulick's 2nd in the TJ (36' 4") and 3rd in the LJ (17' 1"); Will Andes' victory in the 400m (52.6) and 51.8 split on the winning 4 X 400m (3.33.9); Freshman Chris Steliga's PR and 4th place in the 400m (54.7); Colin Cunningham's victory in the 1600m (4:55.0); and Freshman Alex Yersak's victory in the 3200m (10:25.0); and beginner Matt Wright's victory in the HJ (5' 2")!
Haddonfield Last Chance Meet
On April 7, 2005, after this lousy Spring, a "last chance meet" to qualify for the Penn Relays seemed like a great idea! And it paid off "big time" when Cherokee's 4 X 800 team won the event, and easily qualified for the Relays, at the Haddonfield Last Chance Meet!
The team clocked a very nice 8:08.8, the fastest time run by a Cherokee team in 5 years, and more than 15 seconds below the minimum Penn Relays qualifying time! To accomplish this, Mike Candy stayed with the lead pack, posting a 2:01.8; and Will Andes left them behind, running 1:57.4. On the third leg, Tom Yersak, the team's top 3200m runner, dropped down for this race and ran 2:02.7; and James Maneval anchored the team home in 1:58.8! All Cherokee needs now are sunny, calm days at Franklin Field in Philadelphia on April 29th and 30th!
Reuben Frank, Sports Reporter for the Burlington County Times recounted the race in his article "Cherokee gets it together in time for Penn" in the Burlington County Times on Friday, March 8, 2005.
Burlington County Hall of Fame Meet
On Saturday, April 9, 2005, almost the entire team participated in what became a pretty successful relay meet. Varsity and multiple JV races and field events were available and Cherokee entered them all! While there were many highlights, PR's and the like, some of the more interesting results include the Varsity Distance Medley victory by Tom Yersak, James Maneval, Mike Candy and Matt Dolan in 10:51.2, with Dolan running a PR of 4:38.4 in the mile. And Colin Cunninghan, Joe Foley, Steve Nelson and Alex Yersak 1st place finish in the JV Distance Medley. Also, Mike Medvec anchored another JV Distance Med team to 3rd place with a PR of 5:03!
In the Varsity 4 X 800, Tom Yersak, Sean McLaughlin, Matt Dolan and Will Andes took 1st in 8:30.3; and the JV 4 X 800, Steve Nelson, Steve McCarroll, Mike Medvec and Chris Maneval took 1st in 9:19.9. In the Varsity Sprint Medley, Sam Shapiro, Matt Raychert, Will Andes and James Maneval took 2nd; while the JV Sprint Medley team of Aaron DeCaires, John Carfagno, Steve Lang and Alex Yersak took 1st!
In the field, Tom Nessler and Tom Adjerian took 1st in the Discus Relay "by a lot;" and then they did the same thing in the Shot Put Relay!
Complete results at: BC Hall of Fame Results.
For a brief change of pace, there are more pics from the meet than usual but they are a little smaller. Click on the thumbnail for slightly larger versions.
Dual Meet: Cherokee vs. Eastern Regional
Cherokee High School was graced by the presence of one of the "greats" in college Cross Country and Track and Field. Serving as an official, longtime Villanova coach Jack Pyrah called the places at the finish line! Coach Pyrah began coaching a club in 1942 and then, in 1966, took over as Assistant Coach under legendary James "Jumbo" Elliott (replacing another legend, Jim Tuppeny who took over at the University of Pennsylvania) and served in various capacities from 1966 until his retirement in 1991. As Head Cross Country coach, his teams won four IC4A Championships and four NCAA National Championships, and as Assistant or Head Coach of Track and Field, his teams won 54 Championship of America races at the Penn Relays! Coach Pyrah still attends the meets at Villanova and the Jack Pyrah Invitational was named in his honor. Thanks for helping out at Cherokee, Coach!
Even Jack Pyrah's presence couldn't save Cherokee from another defeat in a dual meet, this time against Eastern Regional High School, and this time, the score was a very disappointing 97 - 43! There were, however, some excellent performances, including Matt Dolan's double win in the 1600m (4:41.1) and the 3200m (10:48.0). Rich Nelson won the 800m in 2:05.9; and Colin Cunningham took 3rd with a PR of 2:08.5. Lastly, among Distance men, Mike Medvec clocked a PR of 59.8 to join the "Sub-60 Club" in the 400m, and Mike Candy clocked his own PR of 24.5 in the 200m! In the sprints, Sam Shapiro produced two PR's, an 11.5 in the 100m and 24.3 in the 200m. Steve Iwanczuk also PR'd, running 11.6 in the 100m. In the jumps, Kyle Magulick's 18' 1 1/4" in the LJ and his 36' 5 1/2" in the TJ were both PR's; and it was good to see Steve Watson coming back from an injury with a LJ of 17' 10 1/4", and a TJ of 37' 9". In the Vault, Freshman Sean Shendook had a PR of 8' 6". And, in the Field, newcomer Matt Wright improved his PR by throwing the Javelin 116' 5".
Bridgeton Relays
On April 16, 2005, Cherokee took a contingent of Varsity performers to the Bridgeton Relays and, while affected by a cool and very windy day, they still managed some impressive performances. In the Distance Medley, for example, Mike Candy, James Maneval, Tom Yersak and Will Andes took 1st place in 11:10.8; while another band of distance runners -- Rich Nelson, Colin Cunningham, Matt Dolan and Paul McFadden -- took 3rd in the 4 X 800 Relay, running 8:42.2. The Shuttle Hurdles team of Aaron DeCaires, Mike Schiafone, Kyle Magulick and Steve Lang took 6th in 1:14.8; and the Sprint Medley team of Sam Shapiro, Chris Steliga, Matt Raychert and Rich Nelson posted a 3:49.6 and took 5th. Finally, the same foursome that won the Distance Medley -- Maneval, Candy, Yersak and Andes -- took 4th in the 4 X 400 Relay, finishing in 3:39.1.
Dual Meet: Cherokee vs Lenape
On April 19, 2005, Cherokee faced cross-District rival Lenape High School in a dual meet and -- this is really getting annoying -- lost again! Several of our athletes had good days, however. In the Sprints, Sam Shapire took 2nd in both the 100m (11.5) and the 200m (23.9); Matt Raychert took 2nd and PR'd in the 400m (53.7); Mike Schiafone also took 2nd and PR'd in the 400IH (62.5); and Aaron DeCaires took 3rd and PR'd -- under 17 for the first time -- in the 110HH (16.9). In the Distance events, Rich Nelson took 1st and PR'd in the 800m (2:02.9); while in the Jumps, Steve Watson took 2nd in both the LJ (18.6) and TJ (38' 7 1/2). In the Field events, several athletes had a good day: Kevin Pingon PR'd and took 2nd in the Javelin (148' 11"); Tom Nessler took 1st in the Discus (138' 4"); and Charlie Spencer took 1st in the Shot (41' 9").
