Shore Coaches Invitation VICTORY
Congrats to Coach Jarvis and his Lady Chiefs on their Shore Coaches Victory
On Saturday, October 5th, the girls traveled to Holmdel Park to compete in the Shore Coaches Invitational, a meet often compared to pre-Nationals in college.
It’s a chance for every team to race on the state championship course and see how they measure up against the best in New Jersey. A total of 132 teams competed across Varsity Races A through F. For us, it was our first 5k race of the season on what is arguably the hardest course in the state. As the saying goes, "Bold move, Cotton!" The weather was a crisp 72 degrees with sunny skies and a light breeze—overall, not too bad.
The freshman race kicked off at 11:55, running a two-mile course that skips the infamous bowl section of the second mile. Chloe Burdette led our team, finishing 54th with a time of 16:38. She was followed by Kyla Petragnani, who ran 17:02 to place 66th. Joelle Barcenas crossed the line in 18:31, finishing 114th, and Karien Mansour ran 22:29 for 160th place.
Our next race was the Varsity A race at 1:25, which turned out to be one of the day’s most thrilling. In a stacked field, we lined up against Freehold Township (ranked 7th in the state), Cherry Hill East (10th), Westfield (17th), and ourselves, ranked 19th. Every runner mattered in this one. After four runners, we were tied with Freehold Township, and it came down to our fifth runners. In the end, we pulled off an 80-86 upset victory.
Megan Niglio and Maddie Meder led the charge, finishing 4th and 5th. Megan ran a 19:31, and Maddie, in her first-ever race at Holmdel, clocked 19:38, making her the 12th fastest Cherokee girl to ever run at Holmdel. Freshman Erin Healy, despite a nasty fall just before exiting the woods near the finish, crossed the line in 20:56 to place 18th. Her time is the second fastest for a Cherokee freshman, behind only Megan Niglio’s 19:58. As a side note, Megan ran 21:28 at Shore Coaches her freshman year and ended the season with 19:58 at the Meet of Champions.
Junior Maya Kumar was our 4th runner, finishing in 21:08 for 26th place, a full minute faster than her previous best at Holmdel. Senior Grace Wojciechowski followed closely, running 21:10 for 27th. In their Holmdel debuts, senior Brooke Hibbs clocked 22:45 for 70th, and Emily Butler ran 22:57 for 75th. This marks only the second time in school history that the girls have won the Varsity A race. In the merged results, the team placed 5th overall out of all teams that competed. The team average of 20:28.40 is the second fastest we’ve ever run at Shore Coaches and ranks as the 9th fastest for any team at Holmdel.
The final race of the day for us was the JV A race at 3:05. Genisa John and Sofia Recinto took charge early, with Genisa finishing first in 22:11 and Sofia close behind in 22:28 for second place. Gabby Urban was our third finisher, running 24:02 for 15th. Grace Gorsline crossed in 25:23 to take 42nd, and Alexa Butler rounded out our top five, placing 76th with a time of 26:47. Sonal Patel ran 27:20 for 85th, Selen Arkan finished 91st in 28:07, and Sydney Morrison, despite a bad ankle sprain early in the race, completed the course in 30:05 for 110th. The JV team placed 4th out of the 12 teams in their race.
All in all, this meet gave us a clear view of where we stand at this point in the season. Next up for the girls is the South Jersey Open, where most of the team will compete, minus Varsity. After that, we head into the championship part of the season, with the County Meet, the Conference Meet, and then Sectionals on the horizon.
Fundraising Goals
It is the mission of 4xAlumni to support the current crop of track and field and cross country athletes.
We are focusing on 5 major areas that we feel, with the support of the coaches, are important for this generation of student-athletes:
Offset or completely cover the cost of post-season events not sponsored by the school. This includes National Meets (cross country, indoor and outdoor track) and invitationals (Oregon, etc).
Award scholarships for deserving seniors.
Provide State Champions and School Record holders with gifts.
Support families with athletes who would like to attend a cross country camp but cannot afford it.
Provide funding for athletes needing physiotherapy who cannot afford it.
We currently only have the availability to collect funds via Venmo, but we are actively seeking ways to collect via credit card, Zelle, PayPal, and other forms to accommodate the ecosystem in 2024.
During the months of September, October and November, we will be collecting funds that will directly contribute to funding for cross country post-season meets. Please consider donating to help fund our scholarship money.
Venmo: @ Cherokee4xalumni
About 4xAlumni
We are a non-profit organization with volunteer board members that seek to help provide funds that go directly to the current team. Our mission is:
to provide funding for travel and lodging to championship meets not covered by the school.
to provide scholarships to graduating seniors.
to provide recognition and awards to State Champion winners and new School Record holders.
to provide funding for current athletes who need assistance attending cross country camp.
to provide funding for current athletes who need assistance seeking treatment from injuries related to track/cross country.
Our Board
President: Jeff Storch ‘99
Vice President: Michelle (Bilicki) Wolosky ‘00
Secretary and Treasurer: Caitlin (O’Malley) Bertheaud ‘05
Social Media & Communication: Lisa Burkholder ‘06
Marketing & Fundraising: Marc Pelerin ‘02
Event Coordinator: Tim Haggerty ‘96
Team Liaison: Dave Sitzer ‘00
Voting Members: Joe Halin ‘00 & Sunny Patel ‘96
Venmo: @ Cherokee4xalumni