The Cherokee boys, ranked 4th in New Jersey, shattered the course record in the RVA Relays under the lights Saturday evening at Pole Green Park in Hanover County, Va.
Senior Liam Tindall, sophomore Benjamin Realley, junior Logan Bromley, senior Enzo Corona and freshman Jack Tindall ran 2,500 meters each in 36:13 – that’s an average of 7:14.6 – and broke the course record shared by Deep Run of Glen Allen, Va., and Cherokee, who both ran 36:59 in 2019.
The top five schools ran under that 5-year-old course record on Saturday.
Each of Cherokee’s runners ran between 7:09 and 7:17.
Liam Tindall led off with a 7:17, followed by Realley in 7:15, Bromley in 7:14, Corona in 7:17 and Jack Tindall in 7:09.
Realley, Bromley and Corona all ran the fastest time for their legs. Liam Tindall was 8th-fastest of all 58 leadoff runners and Jack Tindall’s time was 10th-fastest among all anchors.
According to the MileSplit database, Jack Tindall’s 7:09 is fastest in course history by a freshman. The previous record is listed as 7:28 by Max Etka of Midlothian (Va.) High School in 2015.
Gainesville (Va.) High placed 2nd in 36:45, an average of 6 ½ seconds slower per runner than Cherokee.
Cherokee also won the B&C Relay for runners outside their team’s top-5 with an average time of 38:50 – an average of 7:46 per leg. Good enough to place 27th in the A race.
Sophomore Sean Sooy [7:19], sophomore Gavin Danielewicz [8:05], senior Anthony DiBattista [7:42], sophomore Leo Vyvyan [8:10] and senior Tate Midora [7:31] ran for Cherokee’s B&C team.
Just using its top five freshmen and sophomores from the two races, Cherokee would have gone 7:09, 7:15, 7:19, 8:05, 8:10 for an average of 7:35 and placed 16th in overall team scoring.
The Cherokee girls placed 4th with senior Megan Niglio, junior Maya Kumar, senior Grace Wojciechowski, freshman Erin Healy and junior Madeline Meder running a combined 44:19.
Niglio led off with an 8:27 split, followed by Kumar in 9:01, Wojciechowski in 9:11, Healy in 9:00 and Meder in 8:37.
Cherokee’s 44:19 is 5th-fastest in course history. Overall girls winner Padua of Wilmington, Del., set the course record Saturday at 43:09.
Cherokee’s B&C team finished 7th, with junior Sofia Recinto [9:34], sophomore Genisa John [9:41], senior Emily Butler [9:45], sophomore Gabrielle Urban [10:01] and senior Veronica Ashcraft [10:27].
Padua’s 2nd leg was run by senior Brianna Heffernan, who lives in Woolwich Township, Gloucester County. She ran her 2,500 meters in 8:52, 2nd-fastest among 2nd legs.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 