Cherokee girls blaze a U.S. #1 3,200-meter relay in Virginia!!!!!

The Cherokee girls added the 3,200-meter relay to their array of U.S. No. 1 performances Saturday morning in Virginia.

The team of senior Nikki Clifford, junior Kelsey Niglio, sophomore Kerry O’Day and freshman Megan Niglio, who all ran on Cherokee’s Meet of Champions-winning XC team this past fall, ran 9:23.85 to win the 4-by-8 at the Liberty Premier Invitational in Lynchburg.

That performance bumped Cicero North of Syracuse out of the top spot nationally on the MileSplit U.S. performance list. Cicero North ran 9:24.71 at the George Constantino Memorial P.M. Session last month ta Onondaga Community College in Syracuse.

Kelsey Niglio led off with a 2:17.79 split, O’Day ran 2:25.93 and Megan Niglio 2:23.72 to set up Clifford’s 2:16.29 anchor.

Cherokee’s time is No. 11 in South Jersey history indoors and No. 7 in Burlington County history and shattered the indoor school record of 9:37.11 Cherokee ran at Eastern’s at the Armory in 2012 with the team of Jess Wright, Alexa Chiarelli, Sarah Robbie and Megan Lacy.

Cherokee won by about 150 meters over Marvin Ridge High of Waxhaw, N.C., who ran 9:53.83 for second place.

The Cherokee girls also rank No. 1 nationally so far this indoor season in the sprint medley (4:18.22) and distance medley (12:30.94), with Clifford and Kelsey Niglio running on all three teams.

The only faster time in school history came outdoors this past spring on Cherokee’s own track. The team of Clifford, Kelsey Niglio, Meghan Carroll and Erin Jackson ran 9:20.24 in the same race the Haddonfield girls ran a U.S. No. 1 9:04.72 at the Cherokee Relays.

Here’s a look at all the South Jersey indoor sub-9:30 performances:

9:04.66 … Lenape, 2013
9:09.71 … Lenape, 2012
9:11.94 … Lenape, 2008
9:12.91 … Haddonfield, 2021
9:19.01 … Lenape, 2011
9:19.35 … Wilson, 2002
9:21.38 … Buena, 1999
9:22.18 … Haddonfield, 2020
9:22.30 … Lenape, 2010
9:23.71 … Lenape, 2009
9:23.85 … Cherokee, 2022
9:24.68 … Seneca, 2017
9:26.65 … Kingsway, 2020
9:26.67 … Lenape, 2007
9:27.22 … Lenape, 2014
9:28.7 ….. Willingboro, 2003
9:28.90 … Haddonfield, 2019