Fourth place at the Meet of Champions is impressive on its own. Placing fourth in the state the way Cherokee did it is remarkable.
The Cherokee boys placed all five scorers in the top 54 but in the top 33 for team scoring purposes and packed their five scorers in 34 seconds Saturday at Holmdel County Park.
Cherokee averaged 16:27 per man, the Chiefs’ fastest race ever at Holmdel and 15 seconds per man faster than a week earlier, when they won their ninth state Group 4 title. Their previous best at Holmdel was 16:28 at the 2022 Meet of Champions.
What makes Cherokee’s performance truly special is how the Chiefs responded to adversity, came together as a team and performed splendidly in the biggest meet of the season.
Before the season began, the Cherokee boys learned that their top runner, who won the state Group 4 title at Holmdel with a 15:54 and was the No. 3 New Jersey returner at Holmdel this fall, had left the team and decided to train and race on his own.
Considering that Cherokee finished only 20 points out of first place and their 5th runner placed 33rd in team points … well, we can all do the math.
But this Cherokee team did something just as impressive as winning a Meet of Champions title. They grew stronger from adversity and accomplished something incredible as a team. Instead of falling apart without their top runner, they became an even stronger, more tight-knit group, raced for each other and proved that cross country really is the ultimate team sport.
This isn’t about judging the young student athlete who left the team. He did what he believed was best for himself, and it’s not for anyone else to question that. It’s about the way the remaining Cherokee runners handled the situation, grew from it and came out even stronger.
Benjamin Realley led Cherokee Saturday in 19th place in 16:03 (13th in team points). Senior Gavin Danielewicz, who was 84th in this race last year and didn’t break 17 minutes at Holmdel as a junior, ran a Holmdel-PR 16:27 for 37th place (21st team points). Senior Sean Sooy dropped 12 seconds from his Holmdel PR and placed 41st (23rd) in 16:30. Four seconds later, senior Maximo Harada crossed the line in 16:34 in 44th (26th), also a Holmdel best. Harada was 79th in last year’s MoC and improved by 35 places and 25 seconds. And sophomore Hamza Salahuddin, who wasn’t even in Cherokee’s top seven last year, ran 16:39 for 54th (33rd), another Holmdel PR.
Also, 6th man Leo Vyvyan ran sub-17 in 90th in 16:56 and was the 2nd 6th man in the race, just three places behind CBA’s 6th man (who clinched the team title on a tiebreaker with West Windsor Plainsboro North) and 7th man Bruce Novoa was also a big part of this team and ran 17:24 at Holmdel Saturday.
This was Cherokee’s 12th top-5 finish at Meet of Champions, which is impressive on its own. The way the Chiefs did it makes it as unforgettable as any of those other performances. They showed what being committed to the team is truly all about.
The Chiefs will be back in action Saturday in Wappingers Falls, N.Y., for the Nike Cross Regionals at Bowdoin Park. The top two teams will advance to Nike Cross Nationals next month in Portland, Ore.
Here’s a look at Cherokee’s remarkable Meet of Champions record. The Chiefs have placed in the top 10 some 22 times the last 29 times the race has been contested and top-5 three straight years now.
3rd in 1997
2nd in 1998
3rd in 1999
2nd in 2000
4th in 2001
6th in 2002
5th in 2003
5th in 2004
6th in 2005
9th in 2006
9th in 2007
10th in 2008
7th in 2015
7th in 2016
6th in 2018
4th in 2019
7th in 2021
3rd in 2002
9th in 2023
3rd in 2024
5th in 2025
3rd in 2026
