Cherokee Track & Field Pictures, 2008, Page VI





State and National Championships


This page marks the Late Championship Season highlighting the South Jersey Group IV (Sectional) Championships (May 23rd and 24th) and the State Group IV Championships (May 30th and 31st), both at Egg Harbor Township HS; the State Meet of Champions (June 4th) at South Plainfield HS; and the Nike Outdoor Nationals in Greensboro, NC (June 19th and 20th). Also, there is a section on the annual Track Party where team members, parents, friends and coaches enjoy a final meal together and review the accomplishments of the year. GO CHEROKEE! GO CHIEFS!






South Jersey Group IV Championships

On May 23rd, 2008, the team's top performers traveled to Egg Harbor Township for the first of three steps -- the South Jersey Group IV (Sectional) Championships -- to the New Jersey Group States Championships, and then to the NJ State Meet of Champions. The top six performances in all events score and advance to the next level, but, for awhile, it looked like Cherokee was going to be the # 7 team in everything! Kevin Merrigan took 7th in the 100m Dash; Justin Turner took 7th in the High Jump; Will Rapp took 7th in the 200m Dash; and Jon Turner took 7th in a PR performance of 49' 4" in the Shot Put! Yikes!

But others soon stepped up and changed Cherokee's fortunes!

Without a doubt, the "All-Around" performer for the team was Chris Steliga, who became the first Cherokee athlete to score and advance to the Group States in four events: the Long Jump (2nd in 21 - 04.25), the Triple Jump (2nd in a PR of 42 - 09.75), the 400m (4th in 49.88 and 2/10ths of a second from the school record), and then anchored the 4th place 4 X 400m Relay (his split of 48.4 was fastest ever by a Cherokee athlete)! But it remained for a distance runner to take a 1st place position!

Alex Yersak, Cherokee's best in the distance events, ran a well-conceived race that had him going out in a relatively moderate 4:54 and closing in 4:42: he crossed the line in 9:37.16 and won the 3200m race! This was Alex's fifth South Jersey championship: three in Cross Country and one in Winter Track!

Other great scoring performances came from Major Mobley who took 5th in the Triple Jump (PR of 42 - 00.50) and 6th in the Long Jump (20 - 07.50); Kevin Merrigan in the 200m Dash (6th in 22.56), and as the lead-off man in the 4 X 400m Relay; and, of course, the "middle-men" in the 4 X 400m Relay, Niraj Patel and Will Rapp!

Others also performed well but did not advance: Steve Burkholder took 9th in the 1600m (PR 4:28.98), and Ted Schickling followed in 10th (PR 4:30.02); AJ Valentine took 9th in the 800m (equaled PR 1:59.58); and Devin Prate took 8th in the Javelin (PR 156' 05")!

Complete results at: NJ Runners.


Lynell Payne in the Shot Lynell Payne in the Shot Chris Steliga in the LJ Mike Brocco in the 400IH Ed Kramer in the HJ Lynell Payne in the HJ
Justin Turner in the HJ Will Rapp in the 100m Dash Trials Steve Burkholder in the 1600m Ted Schickling in the 1600m Alex Yersak in the 1600m Kevin Merrigan in the finals of the 100m Dash
Chris Steliga in the 400m Major Mobley in he HH Mike Brocco in the HH Justin Nykiel throws the Jav Justin Nykiel throws the Jav Devin Prate throws the Jav
Devin Prate throws the Jav Ted Schickling in the 800m Chris Applegate in the 800m AJ Valentine in the 800m AJ Valentine finishes the 800m Will Rapp in the 200m Dash
Kevin Merrigan in the 200m Dash Niraj Patel in the 200m Dash Marc Saccomanno and Sean Hartnett in the 3200m Marc Saccomanno in the 3200m Alex Yersak in the 3200m Sean Hartnett in the 3200m
Alex Yersak wins the 3200m Merrigan and Rapp in the finals of 200m Dash Chris Steliga in the TJ Kevin Merrigan leads-off in the 4 X 400m Relay Niraj Patel in the 4 X 400m Relay Will Mapp in the 4 X 400m Relay
Chris Steliga in the 4 X 400m Relay Chris Steliga finishes the 4 X 400m Relay Matt Maze after the Vault Seeking solutions!





New Jersey State Group IV Championships

On May 30th, 31st and, because of a weather delay, June 1st, 2008, the team's top performers who qualified at the South Jersey Sectional Championships, returned to Egg Harbor High School for the New Jersey State Group IV Championships. Finishing 9th overall, they still made some serious marks in the Cherokee record books!

Once again, the top performance came from Chris Steliga who placed 2nd in the Long Jump, and then anchored the school-record-setting 4 X 400m Relay! Fleet-footed sprinter Kevin Merrigan set another new school record in the 200m Dash, finishing 7th in 22.15, breaking the old record of 22.37 set in 2001 by Sean Mayers. And distance star, Alex Yersak set a new PR while taking 4th in the 3200m Run! All three athletes qualified for the upcoming State Meet of Champions!

The highlight of the meet came in the wildly competitive 4 X 400m Relay where the team of Kevin Merrigan, Niraj Patel, Will Rapp, and Chris Steliga came in as the 7th seed and finished in 3rd place! Their time of 3:20.1 set a new school record, breaking the old mark of 3:20.41 set in 2003 by Jason Chao, Leo Klawiter, Joe Shalabo and Alex Whirledge! The team will be seeded 5th in the State Meet of Champions!

GO CHEROKEE!

Complete results at: NJ Runners


Chris Steliga in the open 400 Major Mobley in the LJ Major Mobley in the LJ Alex yersak in the 3200m Alex Yersak in the 3200m Alex Yersak finishes the 3200m
Kevin Merrigan in the 200m Dash trials Kevin Merrigan leads-off in 4 X 400m Merrigan to Niraj Patel in 4 X 400m Niraj Patel in 4 X 400m Patel to Will Rapp in 4 X 400m Niraj Patel awaits traffic in 4 X 400m
Rapp to Chris Steliga in 4 X 400m Relay Chris Steliga in 4 X 400m Relay Rapp holds up fence after 4 X 400m Relay Steliga after 4 X 400m Relay





New Jersey State Meet of Champions

On June 5th, 2008, the team's top qualifiers from the New Jersey State Group Championships traveled to South Plainfield High School for the New Jersey State Meet of Champions and capped off a great season with some outstanding performances!

Distance ace, Alex Yersak, took 14th in one of the most competitive 3200m races in NJ history. His time of 9:24.84 -- a huge PR by over 10 seconds -- made him the 3rd fastest two miler in school history! Marc Pelerin holds the top slot with a 9:01.89 in 2002 (also the Burlington County record), and Keith Krieger has the second place with a 9:17.19 in 2003! Still, Alex's time gave him "sibling bragging rights" as it surpassed that of his older brother Tom Yersak, who clocked 9:29.89 in 2004!

Kevin Merrigan finished 14th in his race as well, running the 200m Dash in his 2nd fastest time ever (22.29), only a tenth of a second off of his own school record set last week at the NJ State Group IV Championships!

Chris Steliga, Cherokee's top individual finisher, came through with a big jump on his final attempt (22' 3.50") to move from 8th to 4th in the Long Jump competition!

And once again, the 4 X 400m Relay provided the highlight of the meet with Kevin Merrigan, Niraj Patel, Will Rapp and Chris Steliga all running outstanding legs to bring the team home in 4th place with yet another school record of 3:18.62! WOW! See ya at Nationals!

Complete results at: NJ Runners.

Here are a few pictures from the meet taken by Pat Montferrat of NJRunners.com before darkness fell.


Alex Yersak in 3200m at MOC Alex Yersak in 3200m at MOC





Cherokee Track & Field Awards Dinner

On June 8, 2008, following a long-standing tradition, Cherokee's Track and Field team held its annual post-season dinner at the school. There the team, coaches, families and friends enjoyed a meal together, applauded the accomplishments of the team this season, and bid farewell to the graduating seniors. Highlights included the Coach's announcement of the Most Valuable Player in the sprints, hurdles, jumps, distance and throws events, and a special Multi-Event award.

Surpassing last year's super team, this year's team was probably the strongest "dual meet team" in Cherokee history because of its strength in every area. The team had an undefeated dual meet season and became the American Division Champions! In addition, the team won the Burlington County Meet for the first time in school history and became the Burlington County Champions; and they won the Lenape District Championship and became the Lenape District Champions for the second year in a row!


Freshman Sophomores Juniors Seniors MVP group

While accomplishing this, several new school records were established:


200 Meter Dash: Kevin Merrigan lowered the record he set last year to 22.15!

Long Jump: Chris Steliga improved the record set by Scott Abdul-Salam in 1985 to 22' 8.50"!

4 X 100 Meter Relay: Kevin Merrigan, Niraj Patel, Will Rapp, Chris Steliga (42.81)

4 X 200 Meter Relay: Kevin Merrigan, Niraj Patel, Will Rapp, Chris Steliga (1:30.34)

4 X 400 Meter Relay: Kevin Merrigan, Niraj Patel, Will Rapp, Chris Steliga (3:18.62)

Triple Jump Relay: Major Mobley, Chris Steliga


Among the individual honors are:



Olympic Conference: First Team

Chris Steliga: Long Jump, Triple Jump, 4 X 400m Relay

Alex Yersak: 1600m Run

Kevin Merrigan: 4 X 400m Relay

Niraj Patel: 4 X 400m Relay

Will Rapp: 4 X 400m Relay


Olympic Conference: Second Team

Major Mobley: 110 High Hurdles, Triple Jump

Kevin Merrigan: 100m Dash

Will Rapp: 200m Dash

Marc Saccomanno: 3200m Run

Justin Turner: High Jump


County Champions

Chris Steliga: Long Jump

Kevin Merrigan, Niraj Patel, Will Rapp, Chris Steliga: 4 X 400m Relay


South Jersey Group IV Champion

Alex Yersak: 3200m Run


State Group IV Qualifiers

Chris Steliga: Long Jump, Triple Jump, 400m Run

Major Mobley: Long Jump and Triple Jump

Alex Yersak: 3200m Run

Kevin Merrigan: 200m Dash

Merrigan, Patel, Rapp, Steliga: 4 X 400m Relay


State Meet of Champions Qualifiers

Chris Steliga: Long Jump

Kevin Merrigan: 200m Dash

Alex Yersak: 3200m Run

Merrigan, Patel, Rapp, Steliga: 4 X 400m Relay


All-Burlington County Team

Chris Steliga: 1st Team, Long Jump

Merrigan, Patel, Rapp, Steliga: 1st Team, 4 X 400m Relay

Alex Yersak: 2nd Team, 3200m Run

Jon Turner: 2nd Team, Shot Put


South Jersey All-Group IV Team

Chris Steliga, 1st Team, Long Jump

Alex Yersak, 1st Team, 3200m Run

Kevin Merrigan, 2nd Team, 200m Dash


All-South Jersey Team

Alex yersak, 2nd Team, 3200m Run


Cherokee Track & Field Most Valuable Player

Alex Yersak, Distance

Justin Turner, Jumps

Kevin Merrigan, Sprints

Jon Turner, Throws

Major Mobley, Hurdles

Chris Steliga, Multi-event Award






Nike Outdoor Nationals

On June 19 through the 21st, 2008, while the rest of Cherokee's athletes were resting after a very successful season, four of Cherokee's best were competing in the Nike Outdoor Nationals at North Carolina A & T in Greensboro. There, they produced the most remarkable relay triple in school history!

Competing as members of the Cherokee Track Club and sponsored by their parents -- see obscure NJSIAA rules for competition after the Meet of Champions -- Kevin Merrigan, Niraj Patel, Will Rapp and Chris Steliga entered three separate relay events, and then finished in the top 10 in the nation, and set new school records, in all three!

On Thursday, June 19th, the four finished 7th in the 800m Relay with a time of 1:28.40, a full 2 seconds off the school record in the event! Reuben Frank, Burlington County's sports historian, reported that the time is the third-best in county history with Willingboro holding first (1:27.75 in 2007) and second (1:30.4 in 1979) places! The team missed All-American status in this race by only half a second!

Later that day, the same group of athletes finished 9th in the 400m Relay in 42.49 and missed the 8-team final in the event by a mere .05 of a second! And the following day, they took 7th in the 800m Sprint Medley, the so-called Super Sprint Medley (100 - 100 - 200 - 400), in 1:33.29!

Great job, Guys! And a great gift from the seniors as they leave program!

For complete results: Nat'l Scholastic.









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