On January 8th, 2025, a small group of Cherokee athletes returned to the Rothman Orthopaedic Sports Center for another chance to compete, this time at the SJTCA Winter Meet #10. Though relatively few events were scheduled, there was a very large group of attendees and the meet went on later than usual.
Among the Distance runners, only three were scheduled in the 800m Run and, while not exactly burning up the track, all three set new Indoor PR's! Junior Carlos Brown clocked 2:14.38 and finished 16th/105 overall; Sophomore Matt Muschek clocked 2:17.19 and finished 25th/105 overall; and Jack Finley clocked 2:25.17 and finished 56th/105 overall.
Among the Sprinters, in the 55m Dash, Senior Evan Bryfogle PR'd in 6.83 and finished 10th/126 overall; Junior Mateo Rosario clocked 7.03 and finished 38th/126 overall; and Noah Calderon PR'd in 7.03 and finished in 42nd/126 overall. The 4 X 200 team finished 9th/30 overall while clocking 1:39.88; and the 4 X 400 team finished 12th/24 overall while clocking 3.44.88.
In the Field, High Jumpers Senior Sam Green cleared a "not so hot" 6' and took 2nd/21 overall, while Senior Evan Bryfogle finished 14th/21 and PR'd at 5' 4"! Pole Vaulter Tobin Horwath cleared a PR 12' 6" and finished 3rd/18 overall; and Shot Putters, PR'd tomorrow night at the Cherokee Throwdown # 1 but not tonight! Sophomore Harsh Patel put the Shot 30' 4.50" to finish 41st/60 overall, Senior Jordan Stone cleared 28' 09" and finished 44th/60 overall, and Freshman Evan Carbone cleared 24' 05" and finished 56th/60.
Details including results and photos are at: MileSplit. Our photographer did not photograph our jumpers and throwers because he is recovering from his operation and unable to move much beyond the finish line. He did drink some of the SMART WATER he bought for $5.00 -- yes, $5.00, so he's sipping it! -- last week at Penn and, smartened as he became, left before several events were contested. No Cherokee athletes were hurt because of his exit!
Below are some of the pictures taken at the meet and they and the rest of the pictures are available at our Google site.
On January 9th, 2025, Cherokee's Track Team hosted the 1st of 3 Shot Put Meets at the high school.
There were 22 Freshmen competing and Cherokee's Jaxon Jacobs took 10th while clearing 26' 9.25" and Evan Carbone took 14th while clearing 25' 9.75". These were Indoor PR's for both!
In the Junior Varsity group, Sophomore Harsh Patel put a PR and took 19th/53 overall when he cleared 31' 00.05"; Senior Max Stone took 45th/53 overall while clearing 23' 03"/53 overall; and Freshman Garrett Giberson took 52nd/53 overall when he put the shot 19'06", his first-time PR.
Among the Varsity throwers, Jonathan Harris, a Senior at Delsea, put an excellent 63' 02" to win the competition, and Cherokee athletes tried to match his performance! Sophomore newcomer Jonah Bluestein finished 26th/53 overall with an even PR put of 38', and Freshman Jacob Cranmer finished close to him at 28th/53 overall and a PR put of 37'5.5". Cramer put in only three meets so far and, each time, he improved his performance by two inches. Can't wait for the Spring MOC!
Following those two, Senior Brody Ludman cleared 35' 9.5" and took 32nd/53, and Sophomore Ace Leigh put a PR 35' 9.5" to finish 35th/53 overall. Sophomore Matthew Greski cleared a PR 33' 11" to take 44th/53, and, finally, Senior Jordan Stone cleared 29' 1.75" to take 47th/53 overall.
Our photographer was unable to attend but additional meet details are available at: NJ.MileSplit.
On January 13th, 2025, the team traveled to the Ocean Breeze Track and Field Center on Staten Island, NY for the the SJTCA Winter Meet # 12, and the opportunity to compete at an excellent facility for runners, jumpers and throwers! As usual, Volunteer Coach Shaklee sent a detailed review of his athletes performances.
"Several of the top varsity athletes made their 2025 indoor track debut on Monday, January 13th at the Ocean Breeze Facility on Staten Island, NY. Coming off of a post-XC break, followed by a month of mostly aerobic running, they were not primed for racing and were using this as a rust-buster before the more serious racing begins.
"The 3200 was first and it was definitely a rust-buster! Both Liam Tindall and Anthony DiBattista struggled to find a rhythm and they both came away with performances far from their capabilities. Liam, in particular, was dealing with jet lag and the affects of attitude sickness which he experience while visiting Western State at 7,700 ft altitude in the mountains of Colorado. Having only returned the previous evening, it may have been a poor decision by the coach to even have him race.
"The 1600 went a little better, although another coaching error affected one racer, Ben Weiner. Thinking he would be better off racing with the leaders in the second heat rather than running in the mid-to-back of the seeded heat, the coach changed his seed time. Unfortunately, no one in his heat had any interest in running fast and Ben was forced to do most of the leading. His time of 4:42.31 was an indoor PR but it was clear he would have run faster if pulled through the first 1200 at a better pace. In the seeded heat, Enzo Corona was anxious to prove that, although he had missed some training due to illness and travel, he was still capable of racing well. And that he did! Despite tripping on the railing multiple times (gotta get used to the banks!), Enzo was still able to maintain a solid pace and close well for a new all-time PR! His time of 4:26.19 was good for second place and was six seconds faster than his previous best from last spring!
"The final event was the 800 Meter Run. Dom Pileri was racing in heat 5, and Ben Realley and Logan Bromley were in heat 6, the seeded heat. After missing the entire winter and spring track seasons last year, this was Dom's first track race since May of 2023! So, yes, definitely a rust-buster. To his credit, he handled it well and, although he was disappointed with the time (2:08.15) it was only because he has very high goals for himself. In actuality, running a sizable PR, in his first track race in over a year and a half, was a good start. It clearly shows that there is much more to come if he just stays healthy and trains consistently. In the final heat, Ben and Logan were up against a very strong runner from Chatham High School who ran 1:53.47 last spring and was much more race-sharp than the Cherokee boys who have barely touched any speed work. As expected, the Chatham runner took the pace out quickly with Ben and Logan the only two who went with him. The shock of running that fast without the proper preparation left them both hurting by the end of the 400, Logan more so than Ben, who held on to finish second with a Open 800 PR of 1:59.64! Logan struggled over the last lap and faded but, at least, he got the experience of being out fast, which will help him the next time he races the event!
"Next up is the South Jersey Elite Meet on January 22nd at the Ott Center on the University of Pennsylvania campus!"
In addition to the Distance team, several others on the team competed:
Among the Sprinters, a squad of Sophomores competed in the 55m Dash. Colin Feehan was the first of the Chiefs, finishing in 49th/114 overall at a PR 7.15; Brendan Markovsky was second, finishing in 73rd/114 overall at a PR 7.30; Noah Sime was third, finishing in 84th/114 overall at a PR 7.35; and Sebastian Sabia was the fourth Chief, finishing in 97th/114 overall in a PR 7.54. Isn't it amazing, 48 guys can fit between the sprinter who clocked 7.15 and the guy who clocked 7.54, a hair's breath?!
In the 200m Dash, Sophomore Noah Sime returned to clock a PR 25.15 and finish 58/89 overall and Brendan Markovsky clocked a PR 25.81 and finished 71st/82; while in the 400m Dash, Colin Feehan returned to clock a PR 55.10 and finish 35th/82 overall; Junior Steven Barbagiovanni clocked his own PR 58.10 and finished 60th/82 overall; and Junior Nikolai Gotowchikov clocked his first PR in 59.37 and finished 68th/82 overall.
Among the 55m High Hurdlers, Senior Sam Green cleared the barriers in 9.04 and finished 35th/74 overall, Junior Steven Barbagiovanni swept them in 9.99 and finished 55th/74 overall, Sophomore Christain Danquah covered them in a PR 10.57 and finished 62nd/74 overall, and Sophomore David Nnawuighe did the same in 10.67 and finished 64th/74 overall.
In the Field, Sam Green returned in the High Jump and took 2nd/19 overall in 6'0 because he kept hitting the bar with his butt on the way up, which is a mistake. In the Pole Vault, Senior Tobin Horwath looked great but missed even his PR of 12' 06" and stalled in 4th/18 overall at 12'. And, finally, among the Throwers, Freshman Jacob Cranmer got some great experience at the Shot Put while throwing 33' 01" and finishing 35th/73 overall!
Details are available at NJ.MileSplit.
Our photographer was there but he's still a mess and didn't get all of our athletes. He shot a bunch of early races at the finish line for NJ.MileSplit and us then stumbled over to finally get something of the Pole Vault, High Jump and some passing runners on the back side of the track. He missed a bunch of others. Some of what he shot is posted here while they and the rest are available at our Google site.
On January 20th, 2025, part of the team traveled to the Rothman Orthopaedic Sports Center for the NJSIAA Relay Championships, 2025 and competed in a few events.
In the three Sprint events where they competed, the 4 X 200m Relay of Bryfogle, Cheng, Calderon and Rosario finished 11th/29 overall in 1:36.56; in the Sprint Medley Relay, Colin Feehan, Lance Cheng, Noah Calderon and Carlo Brown, clocked 3:56.32 and finished 12th/29 overall; and, finally, the 4 X 400mm Relay of Matt Muscheck, Lance Cheng, Mateo Rosario and Carlo Brown finished 17th/25 overall in 3:46.87.
In the Field, High Jump specialist, Senior Sam Green finished in 5th/20 overall in a disappointing 6' 0", while Senior Evan Bryfogle finished in 27th/27 overall in 5' 2".
Finally, in the Throws, Sophomore Jonah Bluestein put the Shot 38' 50" and finished 34th/56 overall; and Senior Fransisco Sandova put the shot 37' 2.50" to finish 36th/56 overall.
Further details at: NJ.MileSplit.
Largely because the team was short-handed, and those who competed did so largely for practice, Cherokee scored only 1 point and finished 24th/24 overall in the competition.
Our photographer was unavailable for this meet and, apparently, so was every NJ.MileSplit photographer! Therefore our photographer cannot steal any of their work! Hurumph!
On January 22nd, 2025, the best of the team returned to the Ott Track and Field Center at Penn for SJTCA Meet # 13 AKA. The SJ Elite Meet, and elite it was! Even for the casual photographer, it was a class meet, in a class facility, run by a class team of officials, and performed by a class group of athletes! Great to be there!
Volunteer Winter-Distance Coach Shaklee had a bit to say about his guys throughout the evening:
"The distance squad had eight athletes competing in the SJ Elite Meet at the new Ott Center at the University of Pennsylvania on Wednesday, January 22nd. First up was the 3200 Meter with both Ben Weiner and Sean Sooy competing. Ben got out well and was in good position through the first six laps but tightened up through the middle laps and faded to tenth place. Sean stayed tucked in toward the back of the field t hroughout the race and finished in thirteenth.
"Next, Enzo Corona and Tate Midora took to the track for the 800 Meter event. Enzo was coming off of a PR run in the 1600 at the previous South Jersey meet. Tate was running his first race of the season. Enzo was in the hunt through the first two laps but fell off on lap three and ended up with a fifth place finish. Tate ran well considering he had not been able to do anything in practice other than easy running for the past four weeks! He finished sixth in his heat and ninth overall.
"The final race for the distance guys was the 1600 Meter, which featured four Cherokee runners - Jack Tindall, Ben Realley, Logan Bromley and Liam Tindall. After a slow first 800, everyone was still in contention when the pace began to pick up. With two laps to go, Jack (in his first race since returning from injury) made a big move into the lead. However, with not enough training behind him, he was unable to sustain the push and was passed by three to finish in fourth. Still, a good start and a sign of good things to come later in the year with more training. Ben and Logan finished next in fifth and sixth while Liam finished tenth a few tics back.
"While it was not the result we had hoped for, it is important to note that the boys are in the middle of some heavy training and are not race sharp."
[Our photographer watched a different evening! He glances at the times but, for him, it's the faces and the shape of the body: do they look like young pups going along with the pack or do they look like wild dogs going FOR THE KILL?! OK, that's a bit "over the top" but it's boring shooting the guys satisfied with running with the pack (for a PR?) instead of those who fight for the lead and race to slaughter the others in the front! That makes great pictures . . . and no one actually dies!]
Details at: NJ.MileSplit.
The report on others like Noah Calderon who jumped well in both the LJ and TJ, and looked great in his LJ pictures; Sam Green who took 3rd in the HJ and also looked great in his HJ pictures, and Tobin Horwath who vaulted well and looked as great in his Comstock picture series. and others, will be reported on soon!
Our photographer is overwhelmed by the exercises he is supposed to do to heal the injuries caused by his knee repleacement, and by his website responsibilities, including his numerous picture-responsibilities! In this case, he shot his own pictures, edited them (the "new" OTT Center is picture-dark and pictures require a lot of editing), and copied MileSplit photographer's Ryan Comstock's work, as well as Seawon Park's (remember him from RunningWorks Camp?) and they're now available on our Google site. Hope you find something of yourself!