Cherokee Track & Field, 2014, Page IV





The State Championship Season


The State Championship Season: late-May through mid-June, 2014, when Cherokee's top athletes compete at the State Sectional Championships (May 24th - 25th, Egg Harbor Township High School) to qualify and move on to the State Group Championships (May 30th - May 31st, Egg Harbor Township High School) and the State Meet of Champions (June 4th, Jost Field, South Plainfield). Before that, however, there are the Olympic Conference Championships (May 13th, Washington Township High School) and the Burlington County Open Championships (May 17th, Maple Shade High School). Finally, there are comments from the Team Banquet (June 3rd, Cherokee High School); the New Balance Outdoor Nationals (June 14th, North Carolina A & T University); and Cherokee's Graduation! GO CHEROKEE!







Olympic Conference Championships

On May 13, 2014, several of Cherokee's Varsity traveled to Washington Township High School for the Olympic Conference Championships. On the Track, Sean Tracy won his heat and finished 6th overall in the 400m Dash, and then he returned with Marc Woodard, Ronnie Oxendine and Mike White to place 5th in the 4 X 400m Relay! Nick Maccareiella took 4th in the 3200m Run, and Kaleb Burch and Nick Falk PR'd on the first two legs of the 4 X 800m Relay! Finally, Marc Woodard, Ronnie Oxendine, Sean Tracy and Mike White placed 5th in the 4 X 100m Relay!

In the Field, Chase Hoger placed 3rd in the Shot Put.

Details at: MileSplit/NJRunners


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Burlington County Open Championships

On May 17, 2014, Cherokee returned to Maple Shade for the Burlington County Open Championships. On the track, Shawn Tracey made the loudest statement as he took 3rd in the 200m Dash, 5th in the 100m Dash, and then joined Marc Woodard, Ronnie Oxendine and Mike White on the 4 X 100m Relay that placed 5th with their fastest time of the year! In addition, Marc Woodard came back and took 5th in the Trials and 6th in the Finals of the 110m High Hurdles. In the 3200m Run, Justin DeTone took 4th; and in the Field, Chase Hoger took 5th in the Shot Put.

Details at: NJRunners/MileSplit.


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Haddonfield Distance Night

On May 20, 2014, most of Cherokee's long-distance runners traveled to near-by Haddonfield for their annual Haddonfield Distance Night, a final "sharpening" opportunity for those going to Sectionals and a PR opportunity for those who are not.

Matt Powell got things started off well as he placed 3rd in the Freshman 800m Run in just his first attempt at the event; and behind him, Mike Algarra ran his fastest 800 of the year to place 8th. In the Freshman 1600m Run, Jack Shea ran a strong race to place 7th with a new PR; and other strong races and PR's were recorded by Joey Thompson, Luke Ambrose, Brendan Falzone, Cameron Wilburn, Mike McShane and Patrick Mahoney!

In the Varsity 800m, Cristian Ognibene won the first section with teammates Al Panaccio and David Osterhout close behind in 3rd and 4th! In the Seeded Varsity section, Kaleb Burch ran a strong race to take 5th in the event with a new PR!

Justin DeTone and Nick Falk highlighted the Varsity 1600m event for Cherokee with two outstanding races. Justin set a new PR by 5 seconds to finish 4th in a strong field while Nick finished right behind him in 5th, breaking the Freshman school record formerly held by 2013 graduate, Shawn Wilson. Nick Maccariella, Mike Zurzolo, Steve Gravlin, Noah Gil, Lenny Wen and Rob O'Leary also ran strong races and season best times!

Details at: NJRunners/MileSplit.






NJSIAA South Jersey Group IV (Sectional) Championships

On May 23 - 24, 2014, Cherokee's finest traveled to Egg Harbor Township High School for the NJSIAA South Jersey Group IV (Sectional) Championships. The team's top performance was recorded by the 4 X 100m Relay team of Marc Woodard, Ronnie Oxendine, Shawn Tracey and Mike White who qualified for the NJSIAA Group IV Championships with their 5th place finish! Tracey and Woodard also finished 7th and 8th in the 100 Meter Dash, just missing the qualifying standard for Groups! Among the distance performers, Kaleb Burch ran well in both the 1600m and 3200m races, setting new PR's in both! Other top performances for Cherokee included: Justin DeTone and Jack Shea in the 1600m, with Shea winning his heat with a strong final kick; Nick Maccariella and Nick Falk in the 3200m; Brent Labascio in the Intermediate and High Hurdles; Chase Hoger in the Shot Put; Matt Gross in the Javelin; and Jordan Augenbaugh in the Pole Vault.

Details at: NJRunners/MileSplit.



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"The Voice"

OK, so it wasn't the greatest track season for Cherokee's distance squad but how many other teams can brag about meeting a celebrity in their school after a run?! Christina Grimmie, a finalist on TV's "The Voice" had the misfortune -- it was after their run and those boys didn't smell like Prom night! -- of meeting the squad in a corridor! It was 15 to 1 . . . and she's tiny . . . what could she do?!



Team with The Voice





Time-Trial

On May 29, 2014, after an opportunity was washed-out on Tuesday, several of Cherokee's distance squad insisted on a final chance to set a PR in the 1600m and Coach Shaklee made it happen! After the team hosted the Crosstown Classic, an intra-district Middle School cross country race next door, they reported to the Cherokee track for their final event of the season!

It's always difficult to work up the same excitement and motivation for a time trial that an athlete feels in a race. Given that, the results were quite good. In the first heat, everyone followed the rabbit and went out too slow to achieve the desired goal of setting a PR. The leaders were only out in 2:20 but ran well over the 2nd half. Kaleb Burch recorded his 2nd fastest time ever, closing in 2:12 to run 4:32.2 with Nick Falk close behind in 4:34.8 and Justin DeTone in 3rd at 4:38.4. Heat two was paced by Nick Falk in an attempt to set guys up for fast times. It worked as both Pat Mahoney and Rob O'Leary both PR'd, with Rob dipping under 6:00 for the first time in 5:58.5. The 3rd heat had several Freshmen with PR's in the 5:05 to 5:09 range making an attempt at the 5:00 barrier. Unfortunately, they came up just a bit short but still managed some impressive performances led by Brendan Falzone's 6-second PR in 5:02.5. Joey Thompson and Luke Ambrose both knocked 3 seconds off of their previous bests finishing in 5:02.9 and 5:03.3, respectively, while Cam Wilburn came very close to his personal best, stopping the clock at 5:10.6.



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Team Banquet

On June 3, 2014, 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 Coaches' announcement of the Most Valuable Player in the sprints, hurdles, jumps, distance and throws events, and a special Multi-Event award.

Each class was presented separately with Coach Shaklee introducing the Freshmen; Coach McMichael, the Sophomores; Coach Thompson, the Juniors; and Coach Harvey, the Seniors. All-Olympic Conference Awards went to Shawn Tracey who won 1st team in the 400m Dash, and then along with Marc Woodard, Ronnie Oxendine, and Mike White won 2nd Team honors in the 4 X 100m Relay! In addition, Kaleb Burch, Nick Falk, Mike Zurzolo and Ty Kurzawa won 2nd Team honors in the 4 X 800m Relay!

Finally, the six Most Valuable Player Award-winners were identified:

Kaleb Burch, Distance

Jason Kramer, Jumps

Shawn Tracey, Sprints

Chase Hoger, Throws

Marc Woodard, Hurdles

Jordan Aughenbaugh, Multi-Event Award


Congratulations to everyone, and thanks for all your efforts this season!


A special "guest photographer" -- actually a real photographer -- Jon Falk, took over the picture-taking at the banquet and here are some of his shots!



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New Balance Outdoor Nationals

On June 14, 2014, Cherokee's Freshman distance star, Nick Falk, traveled to the New Balance Outdoor Nationals at North Carolina A & T University in Greensboro. According to his publicist, Nick did everything right as he prepared for the Freshman 3200m but things turned out badly and he faded in the last mile of the race. Still, it was an important opportunity and experience that will pay-off well in future races at "Nats!" Details at: MileSplit/USA.

Here are some pictures of the race from two photographers -- Jeff Sides and Jeff George -- at the MileSplit network:


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Graduation Recognition

On June 21, 2014, the Burlington County Times recognized Kaleb Burch as Cherokee's Salutatorian at graduation. He gave the Welcoming Address where he reminded the graduates that "Our potential is limited only by our perception. We are free to dream big, and we can realize these dreams if we chase them with purpose and determination." Kaleb, who captained and was named MVP of both the Cross Country and Track teams knows what he was talking about! He's the one who, in the last half-mile of the Cross Country Sectional Meet, ran into a hidden pole and fell . . . and then got up and finished in the top-10 of the race! And he's the one who joined an elite group of Cherokee runners by cracking the very-difficult sub-4:30 mark in the 1600m Run! Yes, his academic performance was significant enough to be named Salutatorian, and that's impressive, but we'll remember him more for the "purpose and determination" he showed in every practice and on cross country courses and tracks throughout New Jersey! GO KALEB!

The following picture was provided by Paige Ozaroski of the Burlington County Times:


Kaleb Burch








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