Cherokee put on one of the greatest shows in meet history by capturing all eight titles at Friday's Burlington County Open at the Rancocas Valley Sports Complex in Eastampton
That's right, Cherokee went 8 for 8!! The Chiefs had all four individuals winners, and they won all four team titles in the varsity and JV races combined!!!
In the boys varsity race, junior Patrick Ditmars led the charge for Cherokee, ranked No. 9 in the state, by crossing first in 16:26, and the Chiefs jammed their five scorers in the top nine with a compression of 41 seconds, and averaged 16:50 on the way to their eighth straight title, 25-86 over Cinnaminson's all junior lineup.
Behind Ditmars, Cherokee's scorers were junior Conor Jacob, fourth in 16:46, sophomore Robert Poplau, fifth in 16:54, senior Joe Natoli, sixth in 16:59, and senior Bradley Popler, ninth in 17:06.
In the girls varsity race, defending champion Nicole Clifford ran a course record 18:37 to win a great battle with Northern Burlington freshman Liliah Gordon, second in a PR of 18:45, to lead No. 5 ranked Cherokee to a 25-54 victory over runner-up Shawnee. Clifford smashed the CR of 19:26 set in 2018 by Sophie Steidle of Collingswood.
Cherokee crammed its scoring five in the top ten and averaged 19:44. After Clifford, Cherokee's scorers were sophomore Olivia Parkinson, third in 19:15, junior Kelsey Niglio, fourth in 19:45, sophomore Kerry O'Day, seventh in 20:00, and freshman Megan Niglio, 10th in 21:01.
And let's hear for the Cherokee JV squads!!
Sophomore Andrew Free finished first in 18:04 to ignite a perfect score of 15 for the Cherokee boys JV, who not only went 1-2-3-4-5, but also put all seven of runners in the top 8!!! And Cherokee senior Maria Froevig won the girls JV race in 23:20 to lead the Chiefs to a 39-34 victory over Shawnee.