2023 Girls Post-Season Recap
2023 Girls Post-Season Recap
1st at Sectionals and 4th at States
Thanks to Coach Jarvis for his recap of the Cherokee girls at both sectionals and states!
Sectionals went as well as expected for the team. They were able to beat Cherry Hill East again after defeating them at the Conference meet.
This marked the 4th time in school history that the girls have won a Sectional title.
The first was in 2003. Then the girls won it in 2020 and 2021.
Kerry O'Day led the way finishing 3rd, Megan Niglio 9th, Grace Wojciechowski 10th, Lainy Bromley 15th and Olivia Parkinson 18th were the scoring 5. Although a few didn't have the race that they wanted to, the heat played a little into the times that were run.
Heading into the state meet, the main goal was to advance to the Meet of Champions. A top 3 finish was the ideal goal, but knew that could prove challenging in the deep field.
At the conclusion of the race, I knew the girls had done something pretty special. It seemed like everything was starting to click at the right time. 6 of the seven girls ran lifetime bests at Holmdel.
Kerry O'Day was certainly on a mission as she posted the 2nd fastest time in school history at Holmdel clocking 18:41 (her previous best was 19:24 from 2021) for 4th place.
Megan Niglio ran 19:30 to finish 8th (her previous best was 19:58 from 2021). Her time is #9 all-time in school history.
Next across the line was Lainey Bromley who ran 20:20 with a new Holmdel PR to place 31st.
Grace Wojciechowski, in only her second time racing at Holmdel, ran 20:53 to place 56th, and then Olivia Parkinson ran 20:57 to place 59th.
The team scored 135 points to place 4th, just 3 points off 3rd place.
The 5-man team average was 20:04 which is the second-best team average at the state meet and the 3rd best team average ever run at Holmdel.
I knew they did something pretty special when we got our top 5 under 21 minutes.
With the top team from every group getting an automatic bid, we needed to wait until they announced the wild card teams to make it official. That news came Sunday afternoon when they posted them online.
This marks the fourth time the team has qualified for the Meet of Champions. In 2004 (8th), 2010 (6th), 2021 (1st) and now 2023 (??).
The 2020 season ended at Sectionals and the NJSIAA did not hold a state championship or MOC. They did have a pseudo-MOC meet, the Holmdel Invitational, which we were invited to and placed 5th.
The girls are excited and ready to see how they will stack up with the best in the state.
Thanks again to Coach Jar for the recap. We wish him and the girls the best of luck as they race the Meet of Champions this coming Saturday at Holmdel Park.
The girls race at 11 am and the boys race at 12 noon.