Yersak wins, Cherokee takes 3rd in Ocean State Invite
By Kevin Cranston
Runningco.com Writer
Cherokee High School senior Alex Yersak completed Goddard Park’s 3.1-mile course in 16:09 to win the individual title on Saturday at the inaugural New Balance Ocean State Cross Country Invitational in Warwick, Rhode Island as the Chiefs took third out of 16 teams in the Championship Race with 177 points.
According to coach Steve Shaklee, Yersak took the lead at the 2-mile mark. He won the race by three seconds over Chris Brown of Chelmsford (Mass.).
Saturday was the first invitational race of the season for Yersak and the rest of Cherokee’s varsity lineup.
“Yersak looked comfortable throughout,” Shaklee said. “It was a three-second win, but there was no real drama at the end. He was never really threatened.
“He didn’t get out very well, but he was able to move up pretty quickly. About 1,000 meters in he was part of the lead pack and stayed there until he pulled away heading into the last mile. It was a good way for him to start the season.”
As a team, the Chiefs finished behind New Hampshire’s Merrimack (117), ranked No. 6 in the Northeast by Dyestat.com, and Rhode Island’s East Greenwich (130). Cherokee, ranked No. 1 in Runningco.com’s Top 20, had a team average of 16:55.4 on a course that Shaklee described as having only a couple of hills, but a lot of turns and some sandy sections.
What killed Cherokee on Saturday was the 53-second gap between Yersak and the team’s No. 2 man, sophomore Steve Burkholder. Burkholder took 38th in 17:02 and was followed by senior Chris Applegate (40th, 17:03), senior Kevin Schickling (43rd, 17:05) and junior Marc Saccomanno (55th, 17:18).
“Our two through five guys got out slow and never really got into the race,” Shaklee said. “We told them before the race that they needed to get out because the course narrowed quickly, but it didn’t happen.
“I think we could have won the race. We just didn’t get good races out of some guys. Based off of recent workouts, Applegate and Schickling should be about 25-30 seconds behind Yersak and not where they were today. So I know they can run better.
“What’s good for us is that we didn’t run that well and still finished third in the Championship Race.”
