Cherokee Track & Field Pictures, 2022, Page I







Winter Preparation!


[The Introduction below is designed for newcomers and was copied from previous years as an introduction to Indoor Track and Field. There seemed to be little reason to "recreate the wheel!"]

Back in the Dark Ages, when Winter or Indoor Track was first envisioned by coaches here in South Jersey, the programs were designed for really tough athletes! Many of the local meets were so-called "Polar Bear Meets," held outdoors when coaches thought having young people running around wearing shorts and singlets in freezing temperatures was good for their physical and personal development! In addition, other meets were held indoors although those facilities were badly designed for racing! They fashioned flat "tracks" of irregular lengths in cafeterias and basketball courts or they set-up shaky banked wooden tracks in civic centers, gymnasiums or "armories" generally untouched since World War II! At several places back in the 70's and 80's, the sprint track ended through garage doors into a parking lot! Yes, sprinters did 40 or 50 yard dashes and finished out in the parking lot where, on snowy or icy days, coaches caught them before they fell! At the now-famous NYC Armory, before it was renovated, homeless people lived in the stairways and often urinated "close to home!" And everyone who ever participated in Indoor Track back in the 70's and 80's will remember the pungent odor of "Atomic Balm" (a greasy chemical muscle warmer) until the day they die! Today, the indoor facilities are much improved: the Toms River "Bubble" is tight but fairly comfortable, and the Ocean Breeze facility on Staten Island is absolutely magnificent! If only someone could work on those long bus rides! (For more details, ask Coach Shaklee and Marlton Rec Coach Shea what it was like "to be manly-men when they were just boys!")

Those early programs were designed as preparation for the Spring Season (and as a way to sidestep NJSIAA rules about coaching athletes out of season). Coaches concentrated on foundation and strength training for distance athletes, and skills training and conditioning for the sprinters, jumpers and throwers. That continues today, although the team participates in a number of meets both outdoor and at indoor facilities (including the Throws Meets at Cherokee High School) for both experience and a change of pace.


Now, with the 2022 Indoor Season upon us, there are still some disruptions by the Coronavirus. The State is somewhat ambivalent about Winter meets in general but they are permitted with certain "protocols." Some brief Outdoor meets are being quickly scheduled on warmer days, and Indoor meets at places like "The Bubble" in Toms River and the Ocean Breeze T & F Facility on Staten Island, NY, are also being scheduled but the number of teams/athletes are supposed to be limited.

One thing is certain, if you want to be competitive in the Spring, when routine outdoor events are already scheduled, you must work through the Winter! GO CHEROKEE!






~~ Haddonfield Outdoor Scrimmage ~~

On December 10, 2021, some members of the team took the short bus ride to nearby Haddonfield to compete in a kind of "dustbuster" for Sprinters and Throwers and some sharpening for Distance runners: the Haddonfield Outdoor Scrimmage.

Head Coach Matt Hoffman, particularly responsible for the Throwers, brought several Shot Putters to the meet and reported: "The boy's weight team had a nice showing with two new throwers and one returner! Cherokee took first place off of Senior Adam Lopez's 37 ft 3-inch throw! Haddonfield took home 2nd and 3rd but our new guys got a great introduction to the event!"

Indoor Volunteer Coach Shaklee, who deals with the Distance Squad, kept at least half of his group home to train while the rest participated in the meet. He sent these casual remarks on their performances.

"The meet went well! The guys have been doing a good job of keeping up with the training schedule and recording what they do in Strava, so there were no great surprises! There were a lot of PR's in the results because it was the first time many ran the event as a Cherokee athlete but, for most, it was a decent start . . . and now they have a number next to their names when they race the event again!

"Only Danny Hassall, Luke Reistle and Ethan Weisenberg had previous PR's to improve on. Danny did a great job, PR'ing by about 5 seconds in both the 800 and the 400! Ethan knocked about 6 seconds off his 800 PR and a couple seconds off his 400 PR! And Luke, although he did not PR in the 800, was only about a half-second off of his best from last spring! He then went on to drop a couple of seconds in the 400!"

No official results were sent to NJ.MileSplit but our photographer sent pictures to NJ.MileSplit.

Here are a few pictures from the meet but, for the record, our photographer is bummed-out because of light problems at the stadium! Meet started at 3:30 PM in a tree-lined stadium when the sun was already unseen on the horizon. No sun by 4:30 PM . . . thank you winter! Then he probably overdid the Photoshopping in many places to "save" his efforts. Ho-hum .... By the way, if you see Haddonfield guys among our Sprint pictures, that's because no Cherokee Sprinters wore any clothing that indicated they were Chiefs! Geeze, guys . . ..

These and other pictures from the meet are available on the District's Google site.


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~~ Olympic Conference Meet # 1 ~~

On December 17, 2021, a part of the team traveled to The Bubble in Toms River for the Olympic Conference Meet # 1, the first Relay meet of the season. Most were Sprinter/Hurdler/Jumpers with one group of "long-sprinters" in the 4 X 800!

In the 4 X 200m Relay, Cherokee's Jaden Hewlett, Allie Hughes, Angelo Kyrtatas and Steve Trombetta finished in 5th/15 overall in 1:44.99. In the 4 X 55m Shuttle Hurdles, Cherokee's Angelo Kyrtatas, Wilson Leung, Jeremy Linden and Liam McCloskey crossed the line in 38.37 and took 3rd/5 overall; and in the 4 X 800m Relay, a relatively experienced team (they all ran Cross Country to improve their endurance) of Lucas Hatch, Josh Pawlik, Evan Pawlik and Kevin Hess finished 5th/10 overall in 9:14.76.

In the High Jump, Cherokee's Steve Trambetta and Jayden Hewitt finished 7th and 8th/12 overall with both clearing 5'.00"; and in the Pole Vault, Evan Aronow finished 5th/10 overall when he cleared 8'.00", an Indoor PR!

Finally, in the Shot Put, Adam Lopez put the Shot 38' 11.50" and took 5th/31 overall, and Shane Sloan put the Shot 35' 08.25" and took 10th/31 overall! Both are PR's!

No Coaches' reports yet but the official results are at: NJ.MileSplit.

No MileSplit video or pictures are available. That said, our photographer will not be available for meets at The Bubble this season.




~~ SJTCA Winter Meet # 1 ~~

On December 20, 2021, a part of the team returned to The Bubble for the SJTCA Winter Meet # 1, a regular track event limited to the first 35 teams that entered.

The Sprint squad was represented in the 55m Dash by Angelo Kyrtatas, 61st/117 overall in 7.6, just off his PR from last year; and newcomer Jeremy Linden, 98th/117 overall in 7.85. In the 400m Dash, Kevin Hess, finished 25th/100 overall in 57.13; Josh Pawlik, took 34th/100 overall in 57.69; Steve Trombetta crossed the line in 45th/100 overall in 58.36; and Evan Pawlik, took 69th/100 overall in 60.57. In the 55m High Hurdles Angelo Kyrtatas, finished 7th/48 overall in a nice PR of 8.38! Finally, in the 4 X 200m Relay, Kevin Hess, Josh Pawlik, Evan Pawlik and Lucas Hatch finished 20/30 overall in 144.87!

Members of the Distance Squad raced the 4 X 800m and the Distance Medley Relays! In the 4 X 8, Freshmen Zach Ciabattoni, Enzo Corona, Liam Tindall and Ben Weiner clocked 9:29.29 and finished 10th/25 teams! In the DM, Upperclassmen Thomas Bromley, Bradley Popler, Joe Natoli and Lucas Hatch clocked 11:24.07 and finished 3rd/18 teams!

Two members of the Field Team competed. In the High Jump, Steve Trombetta took 9th/20 overall at 5' 04", a new event for him and a PR; and in the Pole Vault, Evan Aronow cleared 8' and took 13th/20 overall, matching an Indoor PR for him!

No reports from the coaches but the official results are at: NJ.MileSplit.

No pictures or videos are available for this meet.




~~ SJTCA Winter Meet # 3 ~~

On December 29, 2021, another busload of Cherokee Track and Field athletes traveled to The Bubble in Toms River for the SJTCA Winter Meet # 3 and one came home with a First Place medal while several others clocked or threw PR's!

In the 3200m Run, Tommy Bromley took 1st/12 overall in 10:13.95 (5:09 pace), and Andrew "Smoke" Free took 6th/12 overall in 10:48 (5:26 pace)! The times are Indoor PR's for both, and an all-time PR for Tommy! Coach Shaklee was pleased to see Tommy "run well and win easily" but was generally disappointed by his other distance team members who competed during the meet.

In the Shot Put, Adam Lopez threw another significant PR of 39' 04" and took 6th/36 overall; while Shane Sloan and Jay Duque, relative newcomers with only two throws in their histories, finished 31st (27' 08.5") and 32nd ( a 23' 09.5" PR) respectively. Also in the Field, High Jumper Steve Trombetta finished 9th/17 overall at 5' 2", and newcomer Allie Hughes NH.

The Sprinters focused on three relays: the Shuttle Hurdles, 4 X 200, and the 4 X 400! In the 4 X 55m Shuttle Hurdle Relay, a small event with only 4 teams, Cherokee's Wilson Leung, Jeremy Linden, Liam McCloskey and Angelo Kyrtatas took 2nd in 37.19. In the 4 X 200m Relay, Cherokee's Bankole Arole, Jack Couture, Carter Rutter and Allie Hughes, a team with two experienced runners and two newcomers) finished 15th/19 overall in 1:45.02; and in the 4 X 400m Relay, Cherokee's most experienced sprinters, Kevin Hess, Josh Pawlik, Evan Pawlik and Lucas Hatch finished the 4 X 400m Relay in a respectable, early-Indoor 1:45.02!

The Distance Squad -- mostly young guys getting experience on an Indoor track, had two relays to keep them busy: the 4 X 8 and the DM. In the 4 X 800m Relay, Cherokee's Ben Weiner, Ethan Weisenberg, Silas Matteson and Tyler Newton finished 10th/12 overall in 10:44.70; and in the Distance Medley Relay, Cherokee's Liam Tindall, Ethan Weisenberg, Liam McCloskey and Danny Hassall finished in 6th/12 overall in 12:32.58. Both were unexpectedly leisurely performances! ; < )

No reports on splits and whatnot from the coaches but the official results are at: NJ.MileSplit

No pictures or videos are available for this meet. Both our aged photographer and NJ.MileSplit are reluctant to enter the overcrowded and poorly supervised (in terms of COVID) Bubble. : < (




~~ SJTCA Winter Meet # 5 ~~

On January 5, 2022, members of the team returned to The Bubble for a chance to race on the flat-track 200m layout! This time the meet was "limited" to Groups 1, 4 and NPB. No coaches' comments available but one overheard remark praised Freshman Liam Tindall for a "nice 800!" Instead, we have to look at the official MileSplit results to shape our "Winter, 2000 History" and, perhaps add some perspective!

Looking at the Sprinters, they competed in four relays: Shuttle Hurdles, 4 X 200, 4 X 400, and the Sprint Med. In the 4 X 55m Shuttle Hurdle Relay, Wilson Leung, Christain Sproesser, Jeremy Linden and Angelo Kyrtatas took 6th/8 overall in 36.22, and, with one new hurdler, improved their time by almost a second! In the 4 X 200m Relay, Liam McCloskey, Josh Pawlik, Evan Pawlik and Wilson Leung finished 16th/21 overall in 1:44.39. In the best Sprint showing of the evening, the 4 X 400m Relay, Lucas Hatch, Josh Pawlik, Evan Pawlik, and Kevin Hess took 2nd/16 overall in 3:46.12. Finally, in the 1600m Sprint Relay, Steve Trombetta, Angelo Kyrtatas, Jeremy Linden and Andrew "Smoke" Free finished 13th/25 overall in 4:11.20.

The Distance Squad entered two relays: the 4 X 800 and the Distance Med. In the 4 X 800m Relay, Liam Tindall, Luke Reistle, Zach Ciabattoni and Danny Hassall finished 4th/14 overall in 9:37.03; and in the Distance Medley Relay, Robert Poplau, Kevin Hess, Lucas Hatch and Bradley Popler took 5th/13 overall in 11:40.64, leaving plenty of room for improvement in the future!

In the Field, Cherokee entered athletes in the HJ, Vault and Shot. In the High Jump, Chris Martin and Steve Trombetta tied in 13th/23 overall at 5' 2", a PR for Chris. In the Pole Vault, Evan Aronow took 6th/13 overall clearing 8' 00", and matching his Indoor PR. Finally, in the Shot Put, the guys had a rough day with Shane Sloan putting only 28' 1.50", well below his PR this season, and Adam Lopez failed to make a legal throw.

No pictures available but meet details at: NJ.MileSplit

Stay safe!




~~ NJSIAA State Relay Championships, Group 4 ~~

On January 15, 2022, the team returned to The Bubble for the NJSIAA State Relay Championships, Group 4 and several teams and individuals did well!

Volunteer Coach Shaklee sent the following results, highlighting the two distance teams that took home medals!

"On the Track, the Distance Medley Relay team of Bradley Popler, Evan Pawlik, Lucas Hatch and Patrick Ditmars placed 5th/29 overall in 11:01.87; and then Bradley Popler came back to lead-off the 4 X 800m Relay with Josh Pawlik, Bobby Poplau and Andrew Free and take 6th/27 overall in 8:37.46. PR's were set by Josh and Bobby on their two legs of the 4 X 8!"

No coach reports but the results, pictures and the video provided by MileSplit give us a nice view of the Sprint Medley Relay! The team, led-off by Lucas Hatch, followed by Evan Pawlik, Kevin Hess and anchored by Patrick Ditmars finished in 12th/34 overall in 3:55.83.

Again, no coach reports but, in the Field, there were 2 PR's among the four competitors. In the High Jump, Chris Martin cleared 5' 4" for the first time and took 16th/28 overall. Unfortunately, Steve Trombetta had a disappointing day, clearing only 5" 0" and taking 26th/28 overall. In the Shot Put, the team's best putter, Anthony Lopez was well off his PR, putting only 34' 1.25" and taking 42nd/70 overall; while Anthony Maszlenka managed a PR of 27' 5.50", taking 65th/70 overall.

There are some pictures from the meet provided by Mae Kellert of NJ.MileSplit, which our photographer edited and posted here. (One wag suggested that Mrs. Ditmars is the photographer as her son was featured in 9 of the 21 pictures available! Hmmmmm.) Videos and results are at: NJ.MileSplit.

The pictures below and others are available to the District's Google address.


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