On January 23rd, 2025, Cherokee's Track Team hosted the 2nd of three Shot Put Meets at the high school.
There were 16 Freshmen competing and Cherokee's Jacob Cranmer took 1st while clearing 35' 08.25"; Jaxon Jacobus took 5th as he cleared 31' 07.75"; and Evan Carbone took 10th with a throw of 27' 09.75"! Jacob was off his PR by a couple of feet and still won, while Jaxon and Evan put new PR's!
In the Junior Varsity group, Sophomore Matt Greski put the Shot 33' 02.50" and took 19th/42 overall, a few inches below a recent PR!
Among the Varsity throwers, Sophomore Jonah Bluestein cleared 40' 04.50", a 2-foot PR, to take 16th/43 overall; Senior Fransisco Sandoval cleared 37' 01.75" to take 27th/43 overall; and Sophomore Ace Leigh followed with a 33' 07.00" put to take 37th/43 overall!
Our photographer had a knee replaced and is unable to move among the three circles active at the meet. However, further details are available at: NJ.MileSplit.
On early January 25th, a small group of young distance runners and less-experienced sprinters traveled to The Bubble in Toms River to compete!
Volunteer Winter Distance Coach Shaklee sent the following report on his guys:
"On Saturday, January 25th, several of the distance/mid-distance runners traveled to Toms River to run at The Bubble. In the first event, the 3200 Meter, Gavin Danielewicz, Leo Vyvyan and Dylan Weiner represented Cherokee. In the second of three heats, Dylan did a nice job in his first race of the winter, running nine seconds faster than his seed time! In the seeded heat, Gavin and Leo tucked in with the chase pack and clicked off consistent laps for much of the race. Over the last three laps, Gavin was able to pick it up and moved into seventh place with a new 3200 PR! Leo maintained his pace and finish with a new indoor PR in tenth!
"Carlo Brown, Liam Deimler and Jack Finley were entered in the 800 Meter with Jack going first in heat two of five. He ran a steady race and kicked well to set a new PR! Liam was next in heat three. He ran well through three laps and although he struggled a bit over the last lap, he still managed a new indoor PR and a good start to the track season! Carlo was in heat four and found himself in constant traffic, making racing more challenging as a lot of effort was spent manuevering through the field. Still, he managed a new indoor PR!
'The next race does not come for another week when we travel to Ocean Breeze for another SJTCA Meet!"
Others who competed included mostly inexperienced Sprinters who set early PR standards for themselves. In the 55m Dash, two of our four young guys had bad experiences at the start. Both slipped -- maybe no spikes, maybe a slick or worn starting surface, maybe just unbalanced -- but both continued their races to the finish! Sophomore Jack Coburn was the quickest of the four, finishing in 103rd/120 overall while clocking 7.78. Close behind was Freshman Brendan Vogt who finished in 104th/120 overall and clocked 7.85. Following them, came Sophomore Connor Staff who finished 111th/120 in 8.10; and Sophomore Patrick Sears, with the fine Irish name [ ; < ) ], who finished 119th/120 overall in 8.74.
Finally, in the 400m Dash, two Juniors competed, Luke Ehly, who finished 45th/78 overall in 58.66; and Nikolai Gotowchikov, who finished 66th/78 overall in 1:03.51.
Details at: NJ.MileSplit.
Here are some of the pictures taken at the meet. These and others are available on our Google site. (Sorry Gavin, I owe you!)
On January 31st, a rainy evening when even we appreciated the flat and dirty Rothman Orthopaedic Sports Center, the team competed in the Olympic/Tri-County Conference Championships and they stood up well!
As usual, Coach Shaklee reported on his athletes who competed:
"Several members of the distance squad competed in the Olympic/Tri-County Conference Championships at the Bennett Center on January 31st.
"Senior Tate Midora moved down to the 400m to prepare for his upcoming leg on the DMR at Penn this Wednesday. It was a successful transition for Tate, as he ran a quick 53.58 to take 3rd in the Olympic Conference and 7th overall!
"The 1600m was next with senior, Anthony DiBattista and freshman, Trayce Slumsky. Anthony was coming off of illness and was not up to his usual standard. Trayce was running the first track race of his high school career! The coach guessed a seed time and went with 5:14. Trayce proved him prophetic, racing well to finish in 5:14.24.
"The 800m featured Ben Realley, Enzo Corona and Logan Bromley. In a crowded field on a flat track, the start was chaotic and physical. Once things settled in, it seemed there was no rhythm to the race with people moving forward and falling back throughout the heat. At the end, Ben came in 2nd overall and first in the Olympic Conference. Enzo finished well to move into 4th overall and 2nd in the OC. Logan, who got caught up more in the physical start, struggled to find his rhythm and finished 9th overall and 5th in the OC.
"Ben Weiner and Sean Sooy were in the 3200m and both improved over their races from last week's SJ Elite Meet. Despite running on the slower track at the bubble, they both knocked time off with Ben finishing in 9:56.21 for 3rd overall and 2nd in the OC. Sean was not far back in 9:59.81 for 5th overall and 4th in the OC.
"The final event of the night was the 4 X 400m Relay with Tate Midora, Logan Bromley, Enzo Corona and Ben Realley running in heat 2 of 3. Tate, doubling back from the first race of the night, felt the effects of too much time in-between events and was unable to match his earlier performance but still gave the baton to Logan in 2nd place. Logan ran a great second leg, a PR of 53.7, to hand off to Enzo with a sizable lead. Enzo ran close to his PR with a 54.9 split to give Ben a comfortable lead. Despite having no competition, Ben still managed a 53.7 anchor as the team won their heat by 2 seconds, recording a time of 3:38.49. That held up for 3rd overall and won the Olympic Conference division!
"Next, some athletes will compete at Ocean Breeze on Monday, February 3rd while others will run at the Ott Center at Penn on Wednesday, February 5th."
In addition to the Distance Squad, there were a number of Sprinters at the meet!
In the 55m Dash, Senior, Evan Bryfogle clocked a PR 6.72 in the Prelims and advanced to the Finals where he clocked 6.78 and finished 5th!
Other Sprinters in the 55m Dash included, Freshman Eric Zheng who clocked 7.17, a scootch off his PR, and took 25th/55 overall; and Sophomore Noah Sime who crossed the line in a PR 7.31 and finished 31st/55 overall.
In the 400m Dash, Senior Tate Midora, moved from Distance to Sprints when he raced the 400m in a quick PR 53.58 and finished 3rd/52 overall; and Junior Luke Ehly finished in 18th/52 overall in his own PR of 58.57.
In the Field, Senior Sam Green was the only representative of the High Jumpers to compete and he had a disappointing night, clearing only 6' 0" and finishing 3rd in the Conference.
Further details at: NJ.MileSplit.com.
Our photographer and Tom Smith, NJ.MileSplit's professional photographer and a good friend of Cherokee, were at the meet and some of their pictures appear here, and they and the rest are on our Google site.
On February 3rd, 2025, part of the team returned to the Ocean Breeze Track and Field Center for the SJTCA'a WInter Meet # 17.
Cherokee's top Sprinter, Senior Evan Bryfogle, started the action in the 55m Dash, taking 8th/119 overall while clocking 6.76, just a tad off his PR of 6,72. Following him in 21st/119 overall was Junior Mateo Rosario who crossed the line in a PR 6.86; and then Sophomore Lance Cheng who finished in 34th/119 overall while clocking a PR 6.96!
The same guys raced the 200m Dash, finishing in the same order. Evan Bryfogle took 18th/89 overall in a PR 23.58; Mateo Rosario took 43rd/ 89 overall in a PR of 24.27; and Lance Cheng took 55th/89 overall in a PR 24.70.
Volunteer Distance Coach Shaklee was unable to attend the meet and he sent several of his athletes just for the opportunity to race on an excellent banked track. As a result, almost all raced PR's! In the 800m Dash (it is a dash, you know), Freshman Evan Amato finished in 41st/73 overall in his PR of 2:20.06.Sophomore Jack Finley crossed the line in 43rd/73 overall and stopped the clock in his PR of 2:20.89; and Senior Sam Wright finished in 66th/73 overall in 2:40.15.
In the 1600m, Sophomore Sean Sooy finished in 7th/75 overall and ran an indoor PR of 4:41.15 . . . but that was about 5 seconds off his outdoor PR of last Spring! His physical strength and growth and his training suggest it just wasn't Sean's night. GO SEAN! Senior Liam Deimler finished behind Sean in 36th/75 overall while clocking a PR of 5:08.46; and Freshman Dylan Weiner followed Liam in 49th/75 overall with a PR time of 5:18.25.
In the last distance run, the 3200m, Sophomore Gavin Danielewicz clocked 10:43.74, about 7 seconds off what he did a month ago at THE BUBBLE, in 19th/33 overall! The young guys have to focus more if they're to play a role in this Fall's Cross Country season! GO GAVIN!
Our photographer was unavailable again and no MileSplit guys showed up! Hurumph!
Details available at: NJ.MileSplit.
On February 5th, 2025, select members of the team traveled far west -- well, as far west as we're ever going to go -- across the mighty Delaware River to the University of Pennsylvania and its Ott Track and Field Center. The LaSalle Relay Meet was for boys only and Cherokee sent squads to compete in the Distance Medley Relay, the 4 X 800m Relay and the 4 X 200m Relay. LaSalle is a tough Track and Cross Country school and it was no surprise that the meet was "kick ass" from the brginning!
Volunteer Distance Coach Shaklee gave us a picture of the Distance action in his post-meet summary!
"The distance squad ran both the Distance Medley Relay and the 4 X 800 Meter Relay at the La Salle Relay Meet at UPenn.
"The DMR was first and the field was loaded! Ben Realley ran a solid lead-off 1200 and handed off in 7th place in 3:09.79 Tate Midora split an indoor PR of 52.27 on the 400 leg! Enzo Corona ran 2:01.91 on the 800 leg and was in 10th when he gave the baton to Jack Tindall. With the 9th team 30 meters ahead and the 11th and 12th teams well back, Jack ran the entire way alone making it more of a time trial than a race. He split 4:30.90 to bring us home in 10th in the seeded heat.
"Tate and Ben doubled back in the 4 X 800 and were joined by Logan Bromley and Dom Pileri. Tate led off but was severely depleted from his first race. He struggled over the last lap and a half and then collapsed at the hand-off to Logan. Logan split an indoor PR of 1:59.84 to move us up through the field. On the third leg, Dom Pileri ran aggressively, attempting to move us up in the standings. That aggressive start caught up with him over the last part of his race but he still managed a PR split of 2:06.96. Ben was also feeling the effects of his first race but managed to hang on to bring us home in 6th place in our heat and 7th overall.
"Next up is another SJTCA Meet at Ocean Breeze on Monday with Sectionals that following Friday."
According to Sprint Coach Misuraco, his guys did pretty well!
"The "A" 4 x 200m was Sam Green (Sr), Noah Calderon (Jr), Mateo Rosario (Jr) and Evan Bryfogle (Sr). Sam is typically a high jumper but led off the relay for the first time in his high school career and split 23.8. Evan is a first-time track athlete and split a 23.05 in his first opportunity to anchor the relay. Noah and Mateo are junior leaders who also ran 23.6 and 23.8, respectively. According to Milesplit, their time of 2:34.46 was the fastest indoor 4 x 200m Cherokee has run since 2012!
"The "B" 4x200m was Eric Zheng (Frosh - 24.9), Noah Sime (Soph - 25.1), Shreehan Balasundar (Frosh - 25.3) and Colin Feehan (Soph - 24.3); an all underclassmen relay who split a season best JV time of 1:40.01!"
Before our athletes were alive, the coach at CH East awarded several unique awards, such as, the "Safe At Home Plate Award" to the athlete who made the biggest dive during a meet, but recovered quickly, and we may see that again soon! That, or maybe using more dramatic phrases to describe situations, such as, "Tate Mindora wiped the floor . . . ". Stay tuned! GO TATE!
Details at: PA.MileSplit.
Our photographer was there and posted some pictures here, and they and the rest are posted on our Google site.
