States: A Team Effort

This post will be brought to you by two contributors: Mike Wang and Dan Helfand. Stay tuned for the upcoming season recap post.

Michael Wang

          On Saturday November 17, 2012, the Cherry Hill East Men’s Cross Country Team traveled up to historic Holmdel Park for the NJSIAA Group Championships, which they qualified for by placing second at the Sectional meet. The goal of this meet was to create new habits for upcoming Cherry Hill East teams, by creating a culture where it’s expected for East Runners to be near the front of all races.  The team was reminded to keep in mind during the race was to run “reckless” down the hills.

           

            The race conditions of the day were partly sunny, 52 degrees with a bit of wind.  As the gun went off, Mike Minion and Ben Dillon set the tone of the race early by going out hard and placing themselves in the top 15 at the 1.25 mile mark.  It was an extremely competitive race between the two as they often switched positions. In the end, Ben and Mike ran 16:49, and 16:50, respectively.  Last year at this meet, Ben and Mike ran 17:49 and 18:40, respectively. Ben improved by a whole minute while Mike improved by over 1:50 in under a year. This just shows how hard work can lead to dramatic improvement. Next up for East was Sophomore Dan Helfend who ran 17:15 good for 59^th place. Once again, Dan showed a competitive nature as he passed numerous people throughout the race. Rounding out the scoring was Chris Mele and Jared Dashvesky who ran 17:43, and 17:44, respectfully. This tight pack, along with Mike Bruce, ran close to each other throughout the race. Now, you’re probably asking what happened to freshman prodigy Aaron Groff; well. Aaron was right behind Dan at the 2.5 mile mark. Unfortunately, he suffered some excruciating pains and could not move, and later on had to be moved to Emergency Medical Transport. Truly an amazing season for a freshman, don’t worry Aaron, you have 3 more years to get it back.

 

            Overall, the team finished 12^th for Group 4, and 22^nd overall in the entire state of New Jersey. This concludes the 2012 Cross Country Season, and a truly amazing one. The graduating seniors would like to thank the entire team, and alumni, for the past 4 years. It’s been a great ride guys, and privileges to train, suffer, and laugh with so many of you. The memories of 4 years of will carry on for a lifetime.

            Next year, the team will return 5 of the 7 varsity runners with the goal of having 5 guys under 17 at Holmdel.  But for now, the team will take their two weak break. Then winter track is right on the doorsteps with the first race on December 15^th.

Dan Helfand

          I’d like to dedicate this section to my teammate, friend, and the best frosh anyone could ask for. Although you might not like attention, thats too bad Aaron, because I’m giving it to you. Aaron Groff runs tougher then any freshman I will ever meet in my life. I can always guarantee you that when Aaron finishes a race, running or swimming, he has emptied his tank. Aaron unfortunately experienced some problems in the race, and that is ok. Because I know Aaron enough to say that he would only drop out of a race for reasons he could not control. To everyone who has not yet told Aaron that he had a great season, you better do so.

          On a different note, all varsity members should be satisfied with their races. And to all, have a miserable two week break.

          I consider this year to be the start of a dynasty. Where Cherry Hill East will do more then put their name on the map, but own the map itself. Way to be “reckless” boys.