Cherokee Track & Field Pictures, 2024, Page IX





The Championship Season Continues To The End . . .


The Championship Season continues and the last of the big meets is upon us: the State Meet of Champions! The top six from each event at Group States advanced to the State Meet of Champions scheduled again at Pennsauken High School on June 12th! After that, the SJTCA's Awards Ceremony that applauds all that was achieved by SJ athletes this season and names the ALL-SJ Invividuals and Teams of the Year. Finally, a few concluding remarks for our team of 2024.

GO CHEROKEE!






NJSIAA New Jersey State Meet of Champions

On June 12th, 2024, a relay team and three individuals, who advanced from the earlier State Group Championships, arrived at near-by Pennsauken High School for the NJSIAA New Jersey State Meet of Champions: our 4 X 100m Relay, of Sophomore Noah Calderon, Senior Brian Magee, Junior Murad Campfield and Senior Ryan Bender; our Javelin thrower, Senior Zach Ott; and two of our absolute best distance runners, Seniors Bobby Poplau and Nick Kuenkel! GO CHIEFS!

Off the track, at the very beginning of the meet, our focus turned to Field events where Senior Zach Ott competed in the Javelin! All season, Zach was our best thrower with a PR of 167' 11" in May and a throw of 165' 08" at Groups to qualify for the MOC! But things did not go well this time. Zack only managed to throw 156' 07" to finish 20th in the event. Still, his actual throws throughout the season and, more important, his dedication and leadership qualifes him as "one of the best of the best" on the team! GO ZACH! GO CHIEFS!


Zach Ott

For the guys on the track, the excitement began fairly late in the meet and, from an observer's point of view in the middle of the field, the race went well! Noah to Campfield, Campfield to Magee, Magee to Bender . . . all smooth, practiced passes! Everyone expected a new PR but the actual time of 43.14 was a tad slower than their qualifying time of 43.02 clocked at Groups! Still, it was an excellent conclusion to their season! GO CHIEFS!


4 X 100

Soon after the 4 X 100, an intimidating group of 800m runners took to the track, and not the least of them was Bobby Poplau, Cherokee's record-holder in 800m! Calm as usual, a little smile before the race, and then the gun sounds! Hands and feet flying over two laps, the best, including Bobby, running close at the front! His routine is to stay close to the front and then, with about 200m to go, to take off and finish fast! This time it was with the best of the best in the state and, despite his effort, he finished 4th in a tight group, 1:53.14, less than a second off his PR! Another exciting race from Cherokee's "prime mover!" Personally, we'll miss him dearly and we look forward to seeing him run at Rutgers! GO BOBBY! GO CHIEFS!

Bobby Poplau

Perhaps saving the best to last, the 3200m Run was on the track and Nick Kuenkel was there in front! Next to him, a couple of barn-burners in the state and, right beside him, the Manalapan kid who lost to Nick by a tad last week at Groups. This is going to be a great race! The gun fires and, as usual the race goes out quickly but not that quick: it is 3200m, after all! The pace increases, the race in front is down to three, including Nick. Though feeling the heat and the pace, Nick sticks close to the front, perhaps planning to respond if the leaders faulter or take off!! They take off and Nick does too, finishing the last quarter in 62! Another outstanding time for him, 9:07.66, a few seconds off his PR! Second place! What a stud, even with those loose glasses! Personally, we'll also miss him dearly and we're looking forward to seeing him at Monmouth next year! GO NICK! GO CHIEFS!


Nick Kuenkel





Coach Shaklee sent his view of the Meet of Champs!

"The Cherokee boys team had seven athletes competing at the State Meet of Champions at Pennsauken High School on Wednesday, June 12th: Zach Ott in the Javelin, Noah Calderon, Murad Campfield, Brian Magee and Ryan Bender in the 4 X 100 Meter Relay, Bobby Poplau in the 800, and Nick Kuenkel in the 3200!

"Making it to the Meet of Champions was a nice accomplishment for Zach and, while he did not have his best day, he still managed a good toss of 156-09 to place twentieth. Zach has had a very good season and he will be missed next year as that consistent, dependable competitor in the javelin!

"The 4 X 100 Meter Relay Team had another strong showing. They have been extremely consistent throughout the championship season, running between 43.02 and 43.37 four times! Despite a couple of less than perfect hand-offs, the team did it again with a 43.14 clocking to place twentieth among the fastest teams in the state! It was a nice way for the two seniors, Brian Magee and Ryan Bender to end their high school careers! Noah Calderon and Murad Campfield return next year, and we'll have to wait to see who steps up to fill the void left by Brian and Ryan!

"Bobby Poplau and Nick Kuenkel have been absolutely great in this their senior seasons! They are both the model of dependability and consistency. Every time they go to the line, you know they will race well; they just never have a bad race! The State Meet of Champions continued that tradition for both of them!

"Bobby finished fourth in the 800 with a negative split time of 1:53.14 (56.83/ 56.31). That was the best finish by a Cherokee athlete in the 800 at the Meet of Champions since 2000, when former school record holder, Dave Sitzer, finished third (coincidently, in the exact same time of 1:53.14!). Bobby now has six of the seven fastest 800 times in school history, all between his school record time of 1:52.57, recorded when he won the SJ Group 4 Sectional Championship, and his time from his third place finish at the Indoor State Meet of Champions - 1:53.45 Seven performances all within .9 seconds of each other! That is consistent excellence!

"Nick Kuenkel also had a negative split race in the 3200 . . . a BIG negative split! He ran great tactically, covering the moves through the race while staying tucked in on the rail. The race went out conservatively and most of the field was still in contention when Nick came through the 1600 in third place at 4:41.87. Things heated up from there and really got going on the last lap! A slight gap formed between the two leading runners (Jimmy Wischusen of Union Catholic and Stephen Kyvelos of Manalapan) and Nick with 250 to go. However, Nick put the hammer down on the last straightaway and managed to catch Kyvelos for second in a time of 9:07.66, closing out the second 1600 in 4:25.79 and the last 400 in 62.61! It was the best 3200 finish ever at the Meet of Champions by a Cherokee runner! Nick leaves Cherokee as the third fastest ever in the 3200 and he owns four of the top seven performances in the event by a Cherokee runner, all between 9:05.87, run last week at the Group 4 State Meet, and 9:09.06, run at the New Balance Indoor Nationals . . . another great example of consistent excellence!

"We wish our seniors all the best as they move on to college! For those returning, take what you have learned from the example set by these seniors and come back next year ready for even greater things!"

Extensive details, including results, videos, additional pictures, discussions, etc at: NJ.MileSplit.

The rest of our photographer's pictures and those of Tom Smith, a professional photographer and a friend of Cherokee who works for MileSplit, are available on our Google site!







SJTCA Awards Ceremony, 2024

On June 20th, 2024, The SJTCA sponsored an "Awards Ceremony" at Cherokee High School for the many levels of awards winners thropughout the season, including State Champions, Meet of Champions Champions, Scholar-Athletes, All-SJ Teams and SJ Performers of the Year, etc. The ceremony showcased the incredible amount of Track and Field talent in South Jersey, including Cherokee's own All-South Jersey winners, Bobby Poplau, Cherokee's record-holder in 800m and Sectional Champion and 3rd at the MOC; Nick Kuenkel, Cherokee's third-fastest 3200m runner in history, Sectional Champion and 3rd at the MOC; and the 4 X 800m Relay Team of Bobby Poplau, Nick Kuenkel, Logan Bromley and Ben Realley . . ..

Coach Shaklee and our photographer attended the ceremony and caught our award-winners on the stage during the All-SJ Team presentation. Unfortunately, the photographer brought only one camera and that refused to play along! (Allen's Camera Shop thought that the 250,000+ clicks on the camera may have been a factor but decided that the two batteries just ended their season at the Meet of Champions, even though they were recharged! Hurumph!) Undaunted, their iPhones went into action!

Coach Shaklee fled the ceremony as soon as his athletes were recognized because he had to catch a plane; and Nick Kuenkel had the choice of attending the ceremony or enjoying the beach and he chose the later!


Coach

All-SJ

Plane

Beach






Conclusion

Though some may feel up to it and go on to national meets, the Meet of Champions generally marks the end of a long season! Hand shakes and hugs, words of appreciation, the return of uniforms and equipment, promises to stay in touch, . . . happiness at what was accomplished, sadness at what was not . . ..it's all part of the process! For some, high school Track will be the most intense and difficult physical challenge they'll ever face, for others it's just Step One!

One thing is certain for all: many of you have made firm friendships through the season, through the years, and you must not let them disappear! So often, we take those things for granted, and, so often, they just fade away. Many go to different colleges, get jobs away from home, or join the Army or some other form of national service . . . new experiences, new friends . . . but don't let your high school and team friends fade away. Get names and numbers in your phone and join the school's Alumni Association, or our unique Track and CC Alumni Association! Don't disappear!

Most of all, don't forget the coach with whom you dealt so closely . . . !

That said, thanks to Coaches Hoffman, Shaklee, Thompson, Viscity and Ludwikowski for their dedication and expertise this season; and special thanks to Coach Shaklee for his help in maintaining this multi-year history of Cross Country and Track and Field; and to Cherokee's Athletic Director, Mr. Scott Agnew, who appreciates the sport and the work it involves much more than most AD's; and, finally, to the parents for the support they gave their son(s), the team and coaches during this long season!

Best wishes to all our athletes! We sincerely thank our graduating seniors for their work, leadership and performances, and we hope to see some of them soon, competing at the next level, and others who just stop back to say "hello." Also, we look forward to seeing our undergraduates return even stronger next year to continue the exceptional history of Cherokee Track and Field!


~~ GO CHIEFS! GO CHEROKEE! ~~



~~ VALETE ET PLAUDITE! ~~







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