Wins Cherokee Challenge senior race in 9:45
Ocean City’s Johnson, Haddonfield’s Vitez and Triton’s Rawls also with victories

By Kevin Cranston
Runningco.com Writer

EVESHAM – The stage was set for Camden Catholic High School’s Kevin McDonnell and Holy Cross’ Mike Sheehan.
It was the senior race – the last of the day – at Saturday’s Cherokee Challenge. Fans stationed themselves all around Cherokee’s course. And in a meet that featured several great performances already, nobody wanted to leave without seeing one more quality race.
The two standouts didn’t disappoint.
Throwing everything they had at each other, McDonnell and Sheehan ran stride-for-stride with each other at times, threw in surges and traded the lead.
And in what was arguably the most exciting race of the day, McDonnell took control with 1,200 meters to go in the 3,200-meter race and held off Sheehan over the final 800 to earn a hard-fought victory in a meet record of 9:45. Sheehan followed in 9:50.
The rest of the top five consisted of Haddon Heights’ Mickey Borsellino (10:06), Ocean City’s Ryan Birchmeier (10:09) and Washington Township’s Alex Clemson (10:10).
McDonnell’s time broke the old record of 9:55 set by Kingsway’s Ozzie Huerta in the 2005 senior race. (The course used Saturday was the same course used in 2005, but not in 2006. Last year’s course was altered due to the weather and was actually slightly less than 3,200 meters.)
I’m pumped to get the record,” McDonnell said. “I wanted to go under 9:40, but it just didn’t happy today.”
Right from gun, McDonnell and Sheehan grabbed the top-two spots. After the first 800 meters, McDonnell ran in first as Sheehan sat right on his shoulder.
“I knew his presence was going to be there the whole race,” McDonnell said of Sheehan. “He went right to the front right with me, so I knew it was going to be a battle.”
After going through the mile together in 4:40, Sheehan opened up a small lead on a hill just after the mile mark. McDonnell quickly caught up, took the lead back and began to get away from Sheehan.
“I kept telling myself I needed to lose him,” McDonnell said.
McDonnell did open up about a five-second advantage, but with 800 to go, Sheehan had closed to within two seconds. But that would be the closest he would get as McDonnell was just too strong over the final stages of the race and ended up winning by five seconds.
“I felt like I was going to get him, but then he pulled away after the final hill,” Sheehan said.
“(McDonnell) had it today. But we’ll race again this year.”
Said McDonnell about the end of the race: “The hard pace caught up to me at the end. I just kept telling myself that I needed to keep moving.”
Junior Race

            Ocean City’s Brett Johnson took the junior race out quick. He threw in surges. But no matter what Johnson did during the first mile, he couldn’t shake Haddon Heights’ Josh Black.
It wasn’t until the two crested a hill just past the mile mark that Johnson threw in a small surge to open up a few strides.
Those few strides gradually turned into a lead of a few seconds for Johnson and ended with him taking the race in 9:53 – the third-fastest time of the day – as Black was second in 10:00. Rounding out the top five were Triton’s Tom Starner (10:07), Lacey Township’s Tom Pierson (10:10) and Moorestown’s Ben Friedman (10:10).
“It was a tough race,” said Johnson, who won the Cherokee sophomore race in 2006 in 10:07. “(Black) was pushing me the whole time. I have to give major props to him for running a great race.”
Johnson said after the race that he was looking to run a little faster, but since the team is still doing a lot of miles, he didn’t feel that sharp. Nonetheless, Johnson still looked strong opening up the gap on Black during the second mile and closing the race out.
“To start the year off winning is awesome,” Johnson said. “It always feels good that get that first championship win. I really wanted to come in and defend my title.”           

Sophomore Race

            Haddonfield’s Boo Vitez had a pretty good indication of what he was capable of doing at the Cherokee Challenge after his workout on Tuesday.
Along with teammate Colin Baker, Vitez ran a 4:52 mile, took two minutes of rest, and then ran another 4:52 mile. It was after this workout that Vitez felt he was prepared to run fast.
And on Saturday, he did run fast.
After running stride-for-stride with Baker for much of race, Vitez pulled away from his teammate at the beginning of the second mile and went on to win the sophomore race in 9:56, four seconds faster than second-place finisher David Forward of Shawnee. Vitez’s 9:56 was the fourth-best time of the day.
Baker took third in 10:05 and was followed by Paul VI’s Mike Rankin Jr. (10:11) and Lacey Township’s Philip Wood (10:12).
Saturday’s win is the second in a row for Vitez at the Cherokee Challenge. He won the freshman race last year in 10:17.
“We went out for the first 800 in sub-2:20, which is quick, but I felt good,” Vitez said. “It was me and Colin together for the entire first mile, so we were just working off each other.”
During the first half of the second mile, Vitez was able to open up a pretty sizable lead over Baker and Forward. And when it came down to the last 400 meters, Forward began to close the gap slightly, but wasn’t able to make a real push for the win.
“I know Forward and Colin can close, but I was confident I had opened up a big enough gap and still had enough left if they did come up on me.”  

Freshman Race

Triton’s Robert Rawls had an impressive high school debut as he took the freshman race by 23 seconds, finishing in a time of 10:09. Behind him were Lacey Township’s Anthony Colasurdo (10:32), Lenape’s Zach Ubaldini (10:43) and Hayes Rainier (10:46) and Hopewell Valley’s Charlie Yu (10:47).
“This is awesome,” Rawls said a couple minutes after crossing the line. “I’ve been doing some hard workouts leading up to this race, so I felt I was ready.”
Rawls went out controlled in the beginning of the race before grabbing the lead at the 1,200-meter mark.
“I tried to stay calm at the start; I didn’t want to go out too fast,” Rawls said. “Then after that first mile, I just started throwing surges in and no one went with me.”
And with those surges, Rawls gapped the field quickly with his smooth stride and the race was all his.
“I’ve been working my butt off for this season,” Rawls said. “This is a treat to come out and show what I can do.”