Cherokee girls shatter South Jersey 4xmile record, place 2nd at at New Balance Nationals!!!!!!

Left to right: Megan Niglio, Kerry O’Day, Kelsey Niglio and Nicole Clifford, with coach Mark Jarvis in the middle.

The Cherokee girls shattered the South Jersey record in the 4-mile relay Thursday night at New Balance Nationals.

Junior Kelsey Niglio, sophomore Kerry O’Day, freshman Megan Niglio and senior Nicole Clifford ran 20:42.80, breaking the South Jersey record of 20:48.7 set by Haddonfield’s Mary Mulholland, Erin O’Donnell, Holly Cosnett and Erin Donohue at the 2000 Ike Willis Open at Rowan University in Glassboro

Cherokee’s time is No. 6 in state history.

Pioneer High of Ann Arbor, Mich., won the race at Franklin Field in 20:08.62, and Cherokee was 2nd.

Kelsey Niglio led off in 5:08.6, and O’Day split 5:10.2. Megan Niglio, at this point running alone, split 5:17.6, and Clifford anchored in 5:06.1. All the splits are for a full mile.

Haddonfield had two teams earn All-America honors in the same race – that’s eight All-America milers for the Bulldogs. Sophomore Audrey Naticchia, sophomore Riley Slootsky, sophomore Sarah Fetter and junior Elizabeth DiMichele placed 4th in 21:10.42, and sophomore Ava Thomas, junior Sabrina Miller, junior Helene Usher and senior Jess Goode took 6th in 21:37.83. Those times are No. 4 and No. 9 in South Jersey history.

Cherokee broke its school record of 21:24.1 set in 2000 by Lauren Jones, Erin Chiarulli, Melissa Razo and Michelle Bilick in the same race in Glassboro that Haddonfield ran 20:48.7.

All-Time State List
19:50.87 … Roxbury, 2006
20:22.61 … Randolph, 2010
20:27.2h … Ridgewood, 1983
20:37.26 … North Hunterdon, 2017
20:41.78 … Ridgewood, 2019
20:42.80 … Cherokee, 2022
20:44.18 … Red Bank, 2002
20:44.98 … Randolph, 2007
20:44.50 … Randolph, 2013
20:46.9h … North Hunterdon, 1984
20:48.38 … Randolph, 2017
20:48.70 … Haddonfield, 2000
20:50.76 … Roxbury, 2008
20:50.80 … Southern Regional, 2002
20:52.62 … Columbia, 1998
20:53.99 … Montclair, 2015
20:55.47 … Red Bank, 2003
20:55.99 … Pope John XXIII, 2017
20:56.80 … Red Bank Catholic, 2015
20:58.46 … Freehold Twp., 2013

All-Time South Jersey list
20:42.80 … Cherokee, 2022
20:48.7h … Haddonfield, 2000
21:07.81y … Shawnee, 2014
21:24.1h … Cherokee, 2000
21:24.30y … Bishop Eustace, 2010
21:32.24 … Woodrow Wilson, 2001
21:35.0h … Lenape, 2012
21:36.25 … Haddonfield, 2007
21:43.9h … Woodrow Wilson, 2000
21:44.25 … Kingsway, 2019
21:44.7h … Cherry Hill East, 2006