When: Saturday, Sept. 15
Where: Cherokee High School
Course Length: 3,200 meters
By Kevin Cranston
Runningco.com Writer
Senior Race (Noon)
This race was supposed to feature West Windsor Plainsboro-South’s Brian Leung, Cherokee’s Alex Yersak and Camden Catholic’s Kevin McDonnell. But come Saturday, it appears that McDonnell will be the only one on the line out of the three.
According to meet director Chris Callinan, who spoke to WWP-S’s coach this week, Leung, the Cherokee Challenge junior race winner in 2006 who ended the year finishing seventh at the Meet of Champions, is not running.
As for Yersak, an SJTCA All-South Jersey selection last season, Cherokee coach Steve Shaklee said Wednesday that he will not be racing, either (in fact, Shaklee will be holding out his top eight runners from the meet).
So with Leung and Yersak out, McDonnell, who went 9:26 in the 3,200 last spring, should be all over this race. He’s had a killer summer of training and should be able to hold off any challengers.
Some of those challengers will include Cherry Hill West’s Andrew Sturner, Haddon Heights Mickey Borsellino, Haddonfield’s Dan Carreon, Holy Cross’ Mike Sheehan, Ocean City’s Ryan Birchmeier, Pennsville’s Mark Kearney, Seneca’s Jake Latini and Shawnee’s J.P. Bonner.
Junior Race (11:20 a.m.)
The one to beat in this race is Ocean City’s Brett Johnson, who won the Cherokee Challenge sophomore race last year. Johnson enters this race with both strong cross country and track times, having gone 16:13 at Holmdel last fall and 4:22 for 1,600 meters and 9:51 in the 3,200 last spring. And based off his seven-second win on Tuesday in the Red Raiders’ meet against Mainland, Vineland and Atlantic City, it looks like the stress fracture that ended his track season isn’t giving him any problems.
Since returning from the stress fracture did limit some of his summer training, Johnson might not be ready to hammer out a fast 5K right now. But over 3,200 meters, he should be just fine.
Johnson’s stiffest competition should come from Northern Burlington’s Michael Bowden, who was second to Johnson in the sophomore race in 2006. Bowden is a tough runner who won’t be afraid to go out with Johnson.
Two others who could steal the win in this race are Haddon Heights’ Josh Black and Moorestown’s Ben Friedman.
Sophomore Race (10:40 a.m.)
The three that stand out in this race are Haddonfield’s Boo Vitez and Colin Baker and Shawnee’s David Forward. All three of these guys are super talented and know how to race, so the finish could be tight.
Both Vitez, who won the Cherokee Challenge freshmen race in 2006, and Forward had a lot of success last fall and this season should be more of the same.
Baker is the only one out of the three that many have not seen on a cross country course. His freshman season was extremely limited (ran Eastern States JV race and South Jersey Group 2 sectionals) due to injury. But after a strong track season (4:26 in the 1,600) and a nice summer of training, there’s no reason to think Baker won’t be a factor in this race.
Others who should be at the front of this race include Paul VI’s Mike Rankin Jr., Haddonfield’s Ray Schlitt and Kingsway’s Rob Eddis.
Freshmen Race (10 a.m.)
A freshman race at the first major meet of the season is impossible to predict, so I’m not even going to try. But the following are runners to look out for in this race: Kingsway’s Tivo Rivera, who ran 4:40 in the 1,600 last spring, Triton’s Robert Rawls, Lenape’s Zach Ubaldini, the Cherokee Challenge middle school winner in 2006, Haddonfield’s Ben Potts and Lenape’s Hayes Rainer.
