More unusual winter weather! In December, it was unusually cold with temperatures as much as 10 degrees below normal but, in January, that seemed to reverse with relatively comfortable temperatures throughout the period! Just so we didn't start thinking about having outdoor meets in January again, many of those days were drenched by rain! Phew! Now nearing the end of January, long-term reports call for colder days but we'll wait and see!
As in the past, the coaches continue to concentrate on foundation and strength training for distance athletes, and skills training and conditioning for the sprinters, jumpers and throwers. However, unlike past years, there are many meets available -- some low-key, some more important -- where the team continues to train and compete for both experience and a change of pace. GO CHIEFS!
On January 24th, 2023, Cherokee hosted the second of several Winter Throws Meets, the Cherokee Throw Down # 2, in a cafeteria and gymnasium! Again, with three Olympic-style circles, the event went quickly enough for the participants to each get four throws in competition and, then, to get home in time to watch Laverne and Shirley reruns on TV . . . Wait, that should be . . . in time to do their homework properly. GO CHEROKEE THROWERS!
Like Cherokee's Throw Down # 1, no one improved wildly but several threw close to or at their actual PR's in the meet! All of these individuals and their performances are posted on MileSplit.
Our photographer worked the meet, trying to shoot everyone under difficult conditions, and here are a select few of the Cherokee pictures! They and others are available on the District's Google site!
On January 27th, 2023, the team returned to the Bubble in Toms River, NJ for the Olympic Conference Meet # 2, basically a training/experience meet that was over-crowded by Boy and Girl athletes from both the Olympic and Tri-County Conferences.
Glancing at the results sheet provided by NJ.MileSplit, Cherokee entered a number of events. For example, among the Sprinters, Senior Wesley Davenport clocked a PR and took 5th in the 55m Dash Finals, and Senior Jeremy Linden set a small PR and finished 76th in the 55m Dash Prelims. Juniors Bankole Arole and Vincent Ha were unable to reach their previous PR's in the 55m but Arole came back in the 400m Dash and set a PR in that event! In the 55m High Hurdles, Linden also set a PR on the cusp of 8 seconds with a 9.00!
Only one Putter managed a PR at the meet! Junior Shane Sloan cleared his PR by a little more than a foot, while Juniors Zach Ott and Brody Wolfort managed decent throws but not PR's. Cherokee's prospective record-setter in the High Jump, Junior Sam Greene, is glued at 5' 4" (his height at the last four meets) and clearly has another foot in his future!
Volunteer Distance Coach Shaklee reported the following:
"The distance squad had a pretty good evening at the Bubble during Friday's Olympic Conference/Tri-County Conference Meet!
"There were four heats of the 1600 and Matteo Evola and Anthony DiBatista were both in Heat 3. Matteo struggled a little over the final 400 but otherwise had a decent run while Anthony finished well to record a new personal record for the event! Andrew Free was in the seeded (4th) heat and he, once again, raced well to improve on his time from Ocean Breeze last week! Andrew finished 6th in the Olympic Conference and came within a second of his outdoor PR!
"In the 800m, Sophomore, Enzo Corona, and Freshman, Logan Bromley raced very successfully! They both set new personal bests and both ran smartly and aggressively throughout the race!
"There were two heats of the 3200 and Ben Weiner found himself as the top seed in the 1st Heat! He ran a very tough race and finished with a nice kick to win the heat and improve his PR by 12 seconds! Liam Tindall and Patrick Ditmars were both in the seeded heat and both ran very well! Liam ran a very focused, tough race to improve his previous best by a half a minute to finish 4th! Patrick was given instructions to not lead until at least the last half mile. With the pace being fairly slow, he kept looking to the coach for a sign that it was okay to take the lead. The coach, however, stuck to the plan and only allowed Patrick to go to the lead with less than 4 laps remaining. At that, Patrick flew away from the field, winning by 13 seconds! While it wasn't a PR, it was a well-run race and showed that Patrick can run considerably faster!"
Our photographer was unavailable for the meet and, for a day or so, it appeared that NJ.MileSplit's photographer and videographer were also unavailable. However, we just saw Mae Kellert's pictures on NJ.MileSplit so we'll post them ASAP! That said, a friend sent several small pictures from outside the Bubble (the Middle School side) where a crowd formed to celebrate Cherokee's improved performances! GO CHIEFS!
Details, including Mae's pictures and Robert's videos of the races, at NJ.MileSplit.
Here are some of NJ.MileSplit's Mae Kellert's pictures; still a little rough because they're low resolution (a requirement of the site). Say "thanks" to Mae if you see her! These and the rest of the pictures are available on the District's Google site!
On January 30th, 2023, the team returned to the Bubble in Toms River, NJ for the South Jersey Track Coaches Association Winter Meet # 11, another training/experience meet for Boys and Girl athletes from the region.
Among the Sprinters, Hurdlers and Jumpers, Senior Wesley Davenport had a nice night with a PR! In the 55m Dash, he clocked 6.77 in the Prelims, qualifying for the Finals, and then he crossed the line in 6.72 and took 4th place! (This is after his 200m performance on January 16th when he PR'd in 23.37 and took 5th!). Christian Sproesser and Jeremy Linden raced both the 55m Dash and the 55m HH and both were just off their PR's.
In the 400m Dash, Sophomore Liam McCloskey raced for the first time this year and dropped his PR in the event by 10 seconds! Junior Nimai Kuman ran his first 400m and just missed a sub-60 PR in the event; and Sophomore Daniel Raider also raced his first 400m and set his foundation for improvement at 64.63.
Finally, Sophomore Sam Greene maintained a firm grasp on his 5' 4" leap in the High Jump, 2" below his PR of this season!
Coach Shaklee has a pretty significant report on the Distance races coming soon!
There are no pictures or videos available from this meet. Result at: NJ.MileSplit.
On February 2nd, 2023, the team -- mostly distance guys -- had an nice-weather opportunity to do some work on the track and our photographer took advamtage of the same! High 40s, which isn't so odd during this unusually warm winter in South Jersey, light breeze AND, very unusual, sunshine! Our photorapher favors sun at his back and runners looking ahead, with relaxed hands and shoulders, chest out with no slouching, driving knees and a quiet footfall. He also likes empty stands in the backround and, incredibly, that's what he got! No one showed to watch the guys and girls in action! Apology needed: except for one, the Sprinters are missing here because they were in a shaded corner of the track and our photographer stayed with the Sunshine Boys!
Here are some pictures from the track and these and others will be posted soon on the District's Google site!
On February 6th, 2023, the team returned to the Ocean Breeze Sports Complex for the SJTCA Winter Meet #12 and many of our athletes performed well!
For the uninformed, there are two fantastic indoor Track and Field facilities in this region, the classic "mecca for indoor track," The NY City Armory, in Upper Manhatten, and the new Ocean Breeze Sports Complex on Staten Island. Both have banked tracks and both are described as "lightening quick!" The bus ride to either is fairly long -- not "lightening quick"? -- but it's worth it! GO CHEROKEE!
Skimming over the results sheet, several performances stand out! In the 55m Dash, Wesley Davenport finished 4th/86 overall with a time that was 1/100th of a second off his PR; and in the 200m Dash, he finished 6th/55 overall while setting a new PR! In the 400m Dash, three racers, Matteo Evola, Christian Sproesser and Freshman Carlo Brown set new PR's; and in the 800m Dash, Andrew Free and Carter Rutter clocked new PR's, while Enzo Corona just missed his!
In the longer races, Logan Bromley set a huge PR, and Liam Tindall and Ben Weiner set new Indoor PR's in the 1600m Run; while Anthony DiBatista and Silas Matteson clocked their own PR's in the 3200m Run! OK, Silas clocked a huge PR!
In the Field, Coach Hoffman has the Cherokee Throws Meet # 3 scheduled in two days so he brought only three young men to the Shot Put! Of those, only Francisco Sandoval had a nice PR! Finally, in the High Jump, Sam Greene, who has been stuck at 5' 4" for weeks, cleared 5" 8" for a significant PR! Fortunately, AJ Cooper, who has also stalled at 5' 4", is looking forward to clearing several higher heights next week!
For further details, check out: NJ.MileSplit.
After the trouble he had with the after-dark lighting at Ocean Breeze last time, our photographer swore off another expensive and annoying trip north. Foolishly, he tried again and his results are barely marginal! He did some quick Photoshopping and some of his marginal results are below. They and others are available on the District's Google site! If you have the patience, our photographer will gladly send any originals you would like to work on! Request at RunningWorksPics@aol.com.
