Cherokee is in the heat of the Championship season, having competed in the Olympic Conference, Burlington County, and Sectional Championships. Now, those who advanced at Sectionals will compete in the NJ Group State Championship, and, if they qualify there, will advance to the State Meet of Champions! Before Groups, however, the team will host and compete in the second of a two-part series, Cherokee Night Racing, II. After the Meet of Champions, the team will celebrate their accomplishments throughout the season with their coaches, families and friends at the annual Awards Banquet. GO CHIEFS!
On May May 30, 2017, Cherokee hosted the second of two evening meets, Cherokee Night Racing, II and this one was especially important both as a sharpener for those competing in the up-coming Group States Championships and as a final opportunity for some team members to set new PR's as they end their season . . . they're hoping for what baseball people might call, "a walk-off home run!"
The Distance Team had a good night with seventeen Personal Records and one Season Best!The highlight may have been the seeded heat of the 800m Run where Justin Kelly PR'd by 2 seconds to place 2nd and Ty Jackson dropped a couple of seconds off of his previous best to not only place 4th but also set an new School Freshman Record of 2:00.82! The old record was 2:01.5 set by Will Andes in 2003 when he finished 12th at the South Jersey Group IV Sectionals. Matt Powell, CJ Lee, Bobby Hackney, Naledge Brown, Aatish Gupta and George Villanueva also set new PR's, while Cam Wilburn ran close to his recently established best from Sectionals!
In the second event of the evening, the 1600m Run, Senior Brendan Falzone, finished his career in style! After setting an 800m PR at Sectionals on Saturday, Brendan came back with a 1600m PR in his last high school race! Cherokee's top finisher was Freshman, Chris Spisak, who, despite not having his best day, still managed to run his 3rd fastest time and now has 3 of the 6 fastest times ever run by a Cherokee freshman! Other PR's were set by David Jackson, Mike Iannotta, Jon Conn, Matt Smith, Jake Hyzy, Mike Gavio, Matt Morgan, Matt Campbell, Aathi Anandan and Ben Rosenberg. Matt Morgan's was especially notable as he broke 5 minutes for the first time, while both Jon Conn and Matt Smith broke the 4:50 barrier!
Further details at: NJ.MileSplit.
On June 2 - 3, 2017, Cherokee returned to Egg Harbor Township High School with those who qualified at Sectionals for the NJ Group State Championship. The challenge is enormous at Groups! Only a small percentage of those competing at the four Sectional sites advance and then they have to face the very best in their Group from around the state! Just getting there is a big deal, advancing is beyond remarkable!
On Friday, June 2nd, the 4 X 800m Relay team of Tyler Jackson, Kevin Milligan-Tinker, Justin Kelly and Cam Wilburn ran 8:10 to place 15th with Cherokee's fastest time of the year! With three of the legs returning, things are looking up for next year!
On Saturday, June 3rd, Nick Falk, Jack Shea and Chris Spisak all competed in the 3200m Run. Chris was the first Cherokee Freshman to ever qualify for this event and he ran well to finish 18th, one place better than his seed! Jack, unfortunately, had an off day and did not advance to the Meet of Champions. Nick ran a strong race and even challenged for the win until the last 100m! Still, his 4th place finish is the highest since Shawn Wilson won the event in 2012! It also marked Nick's 3rd sub-9:20 clocking this Spring! Interestingly, he did it with a big negative split which signals his readiness for a faster time at the Meet of Champions! GO NICK! The 3200m race is on video at: NJ.MileSplit 3200m Video.
Cherokee's only Sprinter to qualify as an individual, Sophomore Will Delendik, clocked 11.46 in the 100m Dash, taking 18th/20 overall. It's amazing how those tenths-of-a-second add up! The winner, literally 17 places ahead of him, was less than a second faster! Oh, and more "good" news, he's a Sophomore! Yikes! Will's race is on video at: NJ.MileSplit 100m Video.
In the 4 X 100m Relay, Tra Cabbagestalk, Terrance Graves, EJ Bard and Will Delendik raced well and finished 11th/22 overall. The team had a nearly 0.5 second improvement at Sectionals and they were ready to compete on Saturday. Their time of 43.44 was 1 one-hundredth of a second slower than Sectionals, but they showed that the huge PR from a week ago was not a fluke. They also had to overcome an official removing Will Delendik's tape marking the fly zone just before the final exchange! This unexpected interference from an official caused Will to run the anchor leg from behind rather than taking the baton even with the competition. Video of the race at: NJ.MileSplit 4 X 100 Video.
In the 4 X 400m Relay, CJ Lee, Ty Jackson, Matt Powell and Kevin Milligan-Tinker finished 16th/18 overall in 3:27.44 and was marred by a collision on the first pass of the baton! The pass is critical in the 4 X 100m Relay but not so much in the 4 X 400. Still, Ty's collision, even with his quick recovery at the start of his leg, added several seconds to their overall time! Video of the race at: NJ.MileSplit 4 X 400 Video.
Further meet details at: NJ.MileSplit.
On June 4, 2017, the NJSIAA announced the "wild card" entries for the Meet of Champions and Cherokee's 4 X 100m Relay team -- Tra Cabbagestalk, Terrance Graves, EJ Bard and Will Delendik -- was among them! In determining "wild cards," the top six teams in the event earn automatic bids to the Meet of Champions and then the next six best-performing teams from all Groups earn "wild card" admission! Cherokee's 4 X 100m Relay team was among those who qualified and they will join Nick Falk (3200m Run) at the Meet of Champions! GO CHEROKEE!
On June 10, 2017, Cherokee's qualifiers to the New Jersey State Track and Field Meet of Champions traveled to Northern Burlington Regional High School for the late-afternoon meet but all came home disappointed with their performances!
In the 4 X 100m Relay -- the first Cherokee 4 X 100m Relay team to ever qualify for the Meet of Champions! -- the team of Tra Cabbagestalk, Terrance Graves, EJ Bard and Will Delendik knew thay had a slim chance of medaling as they were among the last "wildcards" to be admitted to the meet. Still, they were encouraged! Speed, they knew, was a major factor but the key in the 4 X 100m Relay is to move the baton with precise hand-offs from one athlete to another and, in that aspect, they were among the best! Unfortunately, that was their downfall . . . one hand-off was executed outside the passing zone and the team was DQ'd! The news is not all bad, however: of the four sprinters, one is in the 9th grade, two are in the 10th grade, and only one is in the 12th grade . . . there is a future!
In the 3200m Run, Senior Nick Falk, the first Cherokee distance qualifier since Shawn Wilson in 2013, entered the race with a string of good races and everyone expected that this race would improve on that string. Unfortunately, while Nick went out well, he faded in the end and failed to medal in the event! It was a disappointing end to a great high school career that included three sub-9:20 races this season and multiple South Jersey honors over his four years!
Full coverage of the meet is available at: NJ.MileSplit. Our photographer was unavailable for this meet and only two pictures of the 4 X 100m Relay could be found online-- it may be the nature of the event or it may be those "onesies" they wore . . . you decide! However, Grandfather Jon Falk, a real photographer, caught the action in the 3200m and here are a few that he sent:
And here are the two of the 4 X 100m Relay:
On June 12, 2017, the team's parents maintained an important tradition when they sponsored the annual Awards Banquet! There, they, the athletes, coaches and families met to enjoy a meal together while celebrating the accomplishments of the team this season and bidding farewell to our graduating seniors. While some would argue that the gag gifts to the coaches -- Coach McMichael's weights and Coach Shaklee's Depends were voted the best! -- the real highlight of the evening was the Coaches' announcement of the Most Valuable Player in the Sprints, Hurdles, Jumps, Distance and Throws!
Each class was presented separately with Coach Lynn introducing the Freshmen; Coach McMichael, the Sophomores; Coach Shaklee, the Juniors; and Coach Thompson, the Seniors. Following that, the Team Captains were introduced: Ryan Belz, Nick Falk, Adonis Giovetis, Terrance Graves, Kevin Milligan, Matt Powell and Jack Shea, all Seniors except for Kevin; and those who were recognized during the season as the Athlete of the Week: Jack Shea, Nkenna Opara; Tray Cabbagestalk, Nick Falk, Chris Spisak and Andrew Elsey!
The coaches then gave special recognition and best wishes to the Graduating Seniors: Mike Algarra; Ryan Belz, Keith Cheek, Tom Deutsch, Nick Falk, Brendan Falzone, Brandon Fisher, Adonis Giovetis, Terrance Graves, Pat Mahoney, Chris Monteleone, Anthony Natale, Matt Powell, Ben Rosenberg, Dan Schwartz, Jack Shea, Anton Specht, Jamie Voynow and Cam Wilburn.
Following that, Head Coach McMichael presented the All-Olympic Conference Awards with 1st Team honors going to Nkenna Opara in the Triple Jump; Will Delendik in the 100m Dash; Adonis Giovetis in the Javelin; and Tray Cabbagestalk, Terrance Graves, EJ Bard and Will Delendik in the 4 X 100m Relay! In passing, he noted that this was the 1st high-level win for the 4 X 100m Relay team since 2010! The 2nd Team awards went to Jack Shea in the 1600m Run; Jon Conn in the 3200m Run; Andrew Elsey in the High Jump; Jared Selkow in the Javelin; and Ty Jackson, Matt Powell, CJ Lee and Kevin Milligan in the 4 X 400m Relay! Finally, the coach gave special recognition to Jack Shea for his 1st place finish at the SJ Sectional Championships in the 3200m Run and his selection by the Burlington County Times to their All-County First Team in the 3200m!
Later, Coach McMichael added some interesting "end of the year" team statistics! Chris Spisak is the #2 Freshman in New Jersey in the 3200m Run and the #7 Freshman in New Jersey in the 1600m Run! Tyler Jackson is the #10 Freshman in New Jersey in the 800m Run! Will Delendik is the 6th fastest Sophomore in New Jersey and #15 in all of South Jersey! The 4 X 800m Relay team of Ty Jackson, Kevin Milligan, Justin Kelly and Cam Wilburn clocked 8:10.48 at Sectionals and finished as the #11 team in South Jersey! The 4 X 100m Relay team of Tra Cabbagestalk, Terrance Graves, EJ Bard and Will Delendik clocked 43.43 at Sectionals and finished as the #12 in South Jersey; and the 4 X 400m Relay team of Tyler Jackson, Matt Powell, CJ Lee and Kevin Milligan with their season-best time of 3:26.49 finished the season as the #17 team in South Jersey. Finally, Jack Shea finished the season as the #3 runner in South Jersey in the 3200m and #4 in the 1600m! He's also #21 in the STATE in the 3200m! Not to be outdone, Nick Falk finished the season as the #2 runner in South Jersey in the 3200m and #6 in the 1600m. He's also #12 in the STATE in the 3200m!
Traditionally, the Coaches' MVP Awards are by far the most important awards of the season because they are given by people who really know the athletes and know the most-deserving of them all! They are selected not simply because they are the fastest runners, the highest or longest jumpers, or the farthest throwers on the team. These factors are important but the coaches also consider their dedication to the team and its values, their leadership, character, self-discipline and self-motivation, sportsmanship, competitiveness, and persistence. Congratulations to the following athletes who were selected to receive the Coaches' MVP Awards: Will Delendik, Sprints; Adonis Giovetis, Throws; Anthony Natale, Hurdles; Nick Falk, Distance; and Nkenna Opara, Jumps!
Near the end of the evening, the Seniors raised the laugh level by presenting a number of gag gifts to their coaches (mentioned previously) and several expressed their appreciation for their parents and the program and coaches at Cherokee.
That said, thanks to the coaches for their dedication and expertise this season; special thanks to Cherokee's Athletic Director, Mr. Scott Agnew, who appreciates the sport and the work it involves much more than most AD's, and to the parents who gave so much to the program and supported their sons in many personal and practical ways, including vocal support at the meets, manning the concession stand and the finish lines at the meets, providing transportation at some unusual hours, and catering the Awards Banquet!
Finally, best wishes to all our athletes! We sincerely thank our graduating seniors for their work, leadership and performances, and we hope to see them soon on our Alum page, competing at the next level! Also, we look forward to seeing our undergraduates return even stronger next year to continue the exceptional history of Cherokee Track and Field! GO CHEROKEE!
Someone suggested we contrast pictures of our graduates with pictures of them as Freshmen but it's too easy to just go back to their early years here on this website. A little less obvious is to look at those who raced in the 2013 Cross Town Classic before joining Cherokee's team.
Our regular photographer was unavailable for the banquet but our "guest photographer" Jon Falk, stepped-in once again, took over the picture-taking at the banquet, and gave us these memories:
