(watch the video of the victorious Distance Medley Relay team)

"I feel good and I'm so excited about myself getting two nationals tittles," said Cheserek. "But coming back home with a title as team is very exciting too."

The triumph was set up by St. Benedict's first three legs - Jackson (3:03.92, 1,200 meters), Omari (49.17, 400) and Edwards (1:56.6, 800), who each posted a personal best in setting up Cheserek for the victory.

"I can't say enough about those three guys," said Hannon. "The first three legs were unbelievable and that's all it took for Edward to take charge."

CHESEREK SHATTERS NATIONAL SOPHOMORE RECORD IN DREAM MILE
Outdoor Championships on tap for him and his Gray Bees teammates

June 13, 2011

As Edward Cheserek's first full year in the United States comes to a close, one thing is apparent - New Jersey's record books will not be the same by the time the phenom from Kenya is done.

Cheserek, who has already broke numerous Essex County marks and challenged a number of state standards through the fall and winter campaigns, took down a national record for sophomores in Saturday's Adidas Dream Mile on Randall's Island in New York City.

Cheserek's time of 4:03.29 shattered the national sophomore mark of 4:06.07 set in 2003 by Jeff See of Ohio. The time trails only the 3:59.8 run by Marty Liquori of Essex Catholic in 1967 for the top time ever posted by a runner from a New Jersey school.

Lukas Verzbicas, who edged Cheserek for the National Cross Country Championships in the fall and in the National 2-mile Championship in the winter, became just the fifth runner in U.S. high school history to run a sub 4-minute mile when his won the Dream Mile at Ichan Stadium in 3:59.71. The senior from Illinois became the first high school runner since Alan Webb ran a national record 3:53.43 in 2001 to run a sub 4-minute mile.

"I feel so good and excited about that (sophomore) record," said Cheserek. "I think by the time I'm a junior or my senior year, I'll be able to break 4 minutes."

The 17-year-old Cheserek finished 4th overall and was the first underclassman in the field that consisted of the top runners in the country. His next challenge will come in the New Balance Outdoor Championships Thursday-Saturday in Greensboro, N.C.

Cheserek will take part in the 5000-meter race on Thursday, a distance in which he currently owns the No. 1 time in the nation this season at 14:02.33.

He will then come back on Saturday and join his teammates for the Distance Medley Relay. Cheserek will anchor the race in the 1,600-meter leg and will follow Tahlief Jackson (1,200), Naija Omari or Kalonji Foster (400), and Darien Edwards (800) as the Gray Bees try to better their mark of 10:07.20 set last month - it may take a sub 10-minute mark to win that race.

"If everything goes well, we will be right there," predicted St. Benedict's coach Marty Hannon, who also noted that Omari is entered in the national 400-meter run for freshmen.

GRAY BEES WIN FIRST COUNTY CROWN IN 15 YEARS
Cheserek leads way, but gets plenty of help from teammates

May 22, 2011

The Gray Bees Track & Field team kicked off the Essex County Track & Field Championships with a bang on Friday and never looked back.

The 400-meter intermediate hurdles tandem of Kalonji Foster, Darien Edwards and Naija Omari swept the opening event to propel St. Benedict's to its first outdoor county title since 1996.

The Gray Bees posted a 90-53 1/2 over runner-up Seton Hall Prep with Foster, Edward Cheserek and Ryan Rhodes leading the way.

Foster won the intermediate hurdles with a personal best 55.02, breaking his own school-record. Darien Edwards (56.11) placed second in the event and Naija Omari (56.34) was third. The trio scored 24 points with their effort.

"It was a great way to get things started," said St. Benedict's coach Marty Hannon. "It helped get our confidence going right away and that positive feeling carried through the whole weekend." Cheserek, meanwhile, posted an eye-opening triple. He followed his meet record in the 1,600-meter run on Friday (4:10.92) by scorching the meet record with an 8:53.65 in the 3,200-meter run on Saturday. It was nearly 15 seconds faster than the previous mark and No. 8 in state history.

Cheserek also won the 800 in 1:52.13, just off the meet record of 1:51.90 established in 1988 by Rich Kenah of Montclair Immaculate, who went on to become a U.S. Olympian in the event. Kenah's father, incidentally, was a graduate of St. Benedict's.

"Edward ran everything perfectly," said Hannon. "Obviously, he can run faster. But he just had it on cruise control all weekend." Rhodes, who recently announced he will be attending Lehigh in the fall, eclipsed his personal best in the Shot Put for the second time this month. He bettered the 51-101/2 he put up in the county relays with a 54-4 on his final attempt on Saturday.

ESSEX ESSEX COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS
TEAMS: 1-St. Benedict's Prep 90. 2-Seton Hall Prep 53 1/2. 3-West Orange 50. 4-Montclair 49. 5-Livingston 41. 6-Newark Central 35. 7-Orange 26. 8-Columbia 25 1/2. 9-East Orange 21. 10-Verona and Weequahic 20. 12-Bloomfield 14. 13-Newark Tech 12. 14-West Essex 10. 15-Millburn 9. 16-Newark Academy 8. 17-Cedar Grove 6. 18-Caldwell 4. 19-Montclair Immaculate 2.
100-METER DASH: 1-Saquan Mitchell, Newark Central, 11.10. 2-De'Andre Long, Orange, 11.20. 3-Ahmad Evans, Newark Central, 11.35. 4-Slyvester Gooden, Newark Tech, 11.43. 5-Aaron Rhodes, Montclair, 11.47. 6-Mich Brutus, St. Benedict's Prep, 11.47.
200-METER DASH: 1-D'Andre Long, Orange, 21.92. 2-Dexter Valley, West Orange, 22.11. 3-Marqui Salley, Montclair, 22.34. 4-Kazari Trought, West Orange, 22.38. 5-Saquan Mitchell, Newark, 22.41. 6-Aaron Rhodes, Montclair, 22.53.
400-METER RUN: 1-Dominic Singh, East Orange, 49.10. 2-De'Andre Long, Orange, 49.89. 3-Dexter Valley, West Orange, 50.24. 4-Jerrod Gainer, Newark Central, 50.26. 5-Naija Omari, St. Benedict's Prep, 50.43. 6-Marqui Salley, Montclair, 50.49.
800-METER RUN: 1-Edward Cheserek, St. Benedict's Prep, 1:52.13. 2-Jared Mason, West Orange, 1:53.91. 3-Justin Hill, Seton Hall Prep, 1:54.46. 4-Tahlief Jackson, St. Benedict's Prep, 1:54.82. 5-Dominic Singh, East Orange, 1:57.38. 6-Michael Anderson, Columbia, 1:57.64.
1,600-METER RUN: 1-Edward Cheserek, St. Benedict's Prep, 4:10.92, record; former record, 4:13.80, Jeramy Elkaim, Livingston, 2010. 2-Jeramy Elkaim, Livingston, 4:14.91. 3-Blake Udland, Millburn, 4:15.12. 4-Justin Hill, Seton Hall Prep, 4:21.86. 5-Nick Fogarty, Livingston, 4:22.00. 6-David McCombs, Columbia, 4:23.40.
3,200-METER RUN: 1-Edward Cheserek, St. Benedict's Prep, 8:53.65, record; former record, 9:07.29, Tyler Udland, Millburn, 2009. 2-David McCombs, Columbia, 9:49.50. 3-Tahlief Jackson, St. Benedict's Prep, 9:51.51. 4-Nicholas Lukas, Verona, 9:53.32. 5-Robert Stone, Millburn, 10:07.71. 6-Matt DeShaw, Millburn, 10:08.02.
110-METER HURDLES: 1-Dante Fernandez, Newark Central, 14.71. 2-Al-Malik Walker, East Orange, 14.75. 3-Steven Taste, Bloomfield, 15.03. 4-German Valdez, Livingston, 15.18. 5-Josh McNeil, West Orange, 15.23. 6-Perry Mims, Columbia, 15.33.
400-METER INTERMEDIATE HURDLES: 1-Kalonji Foster, St. Benedict's Prep, 55.02.2-Darien Edwards, St. Benedict' Prep, 56.11. 3-Naija Omari, St. Benedict's Prep, 56.34. 4-Anfernee LaRue, West Orange, 57.28. 5-Quashon Handford, Newark Central, 57.38. 6-Kason Handford, Newark Central, 57.75.
LONG JUMP: 1-Harold Page, Weequahic, 22-1. 2-Steven Taste, Bloomfield, 21-8. 3-Clay Austin, Seton Hall Prep, 21-6 1/4. 4-Jordon Jett, Newark Academy, 21-4. 5-Nigel Thompson, Montclair Immaculate, 21-3 3/4. 6-Stephaun Marshall, Montclair, 21-0 1/2.
HIGH JUMP: 1-German Valdez, Livingston, 6-2. 2-Xavier McIntosh, Columbia, 6-2. 3-Kenyon Wright, St. Benedict's Prep, 6-0. 4-David Njoku, Cedar Grove, 6-0. 5-Kweku Sapara-Grant, Verona, 5-10. 6-Ndubuisi Okafor, Columbia, 5-8.
TRIPLE JUMP: 1-Josh McNeil, West Orange, 44-4. 2-Kemoko Turay, Newark Tech, 43-6 1/2. 3-William Robinson, Weequahic, 43-5 3/4. 4-Xavier McIntosh, Columbia, 43-5. 5-Kweku Sapara-Grant, Verona, 42-4. 6-German Valdez, Livingston, 42-3 1/4.
SHOT PUT: 1-Ryan Rhodes, St. Benedict's Prep, 54-4. 2-Julian Pinnix-Odrick, Montclair, 52-8 1/4. 3-Austin Ruiz, Seton Hall Prep, 49-2 3/4. 4-Henry Wilson, Montclair, 46-5. 5-Jared Coalmon, Columbia, 45-8 1/4. 6-Antoine Saint-Victor, Seton Hall Prep, Seton Hall Prep, 43-11.
DISCUS: 1-Julian Pinnix-Odrick, Montclair, 162-8. 2-Austin Ruiz, Seton Hall Prep, 139-2. 3-Josh Wang, Livingston, 136-11. 4-Michael Collizza, Newark Academy, 135-7. 5-Dan Cano, Montclair, 134-10. 6-Obinna Nwosu, St. Benedict's Prep, 134-0.
JAVELIN: 1-Erik Maher, West Essex, 172-11. 2-Phillip Udeogu, Seton Hall Prep, 172-9. 3-Sean McGinley, Verona, 172-9. 4-Avery Ellis, Montclair, 160-3. 5-Nate Phillipson, Cedar Grove, 159-10. 6-Chris Kuchera, Seton Hall Prep, 156-8.
POLE VAULT: 1-Joe Cuntrera, Seton Hall Prep, 13-0. 2-Andy Jung, Livingston, 12-6. 3-Josh Held, Verona, 12-6. 4-Jimmy Batistick, Caldwell, 12-6. 5-Mike Lazar, Livingston, 1-6. 6-Dominic D' Antonio, Seton Hall Prep, 11-6.
1,600-METER RELAY: 1-Montclair (Marqui Salley, Tyrone El, Rory Monaghan and Aaron Rhodes) 3:22.43. 2-West Orange 3:22.84. 3-St. Benedict's Prep 3:23.00. 4-Weequahic 3:25.29. 5-Seton Hall Prep 3:28.24. 6-East Orange 3:28.24.

GRAY BEES ESTABLISH A COUPLE NEW SCHOOL RECORDS
Track team goes three-for-three in New York

May 14, 2011

What a difference a couple of weeks can make.

The Gray Bees Distance Medley team received a boost having Tahlief Jackson in the lineup after missing its leadoff runner at the Penn Relays on April 29.

The result: Jackson shaved 15 seconds off the first leg of the DMR - the same time the Gray Bees shaved off their Penn time - while establishing a new school-record of 10:07.20 on Thursday at the Loucks Games in White Plains, N.Y.

Jackson ran a 3:07.7 in the opening 1,200 meters, which eclipsed the first leg of 3:22.7 the team posted in the Penn Relays. He handed the baton to Kalonji Foster, who ran a 50.7 in the 400 leg, before Darien Edwards scampered to a personal best off 1:59.9 in the penultimate stint at 800 meters.

Edward Cheserek, who had to pass 11 runners to get the Gray Bees a fifth-place showing at the Penn Relays, got the baton near the lead of the race for his 1,600-meter anchor. He immediately forged in front and coasted to victory, racking up a 4:08.7 without being challenge.

The 10:07.20 is the top time in New Jersey this season and, if the first three runners keep their times in check and Cheserek is pushed, the time could go much lower. Cheserek put up a sizzling 4:05.75 in the Penn Relays and is capable of bringing that time down even further.

The Gray Bees backed upped that effort two days later with the No. 2 time in the state in Saturday's 4x800-meter relay at the Loucks Games.

Jackson, Garland Miller, Edwards and Cheserek combined for a new school-standard of 7:52.62. Cheserek ripped off a 1:51.0 after Jackson led off in 1:57.0. Edwards posted a 2:01.4 in the second leg and Miller split 2:02.2 in the third spot.

The 7:51.62 is second fastest 4x800 time in NJ this season behind Dickinson's 7:51.31 in the trials at the Penn Relays.

The Gray Bees also placed first in a smaller division race, the Tri-State 4x400 relay, on Friday when Kalonji Foster, Jackson, Najai Omari and Edwards combined for a 3:24.26.

GRAY BEES EXCEL AT ESSEX COUNTY RELAY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Track team takes down a pair of long-standing records

May 6, 2011

St. Benedict's track and field team couldn't have asked for a much better performance.

The Gray Bees took down a pair of meet records that had stood for 29 and 32 years, respectively, while establishing a few new school standards at Friday night's Essex County Relays.

Coach Marty Hannon's club established meet marks in the Intermediate Hurdles and Sprint Medley relays, and set school and individual records in the process - coupled with a new personal mark in the shot put - at Livingston High School.

The Gray Bees had the three fastest times in the Intermediate Hurdles, led by Kalonji Foster, who ran a 55.41 in 400 meters to lead the meet and set a new school record. He was followed by teammates, Naija Omari (56.93) and Darien Edwards (57.29) - the second and third place finishers in the event - for a combined mark of 2:49.63 that broke the meet record, which was established by Montclair in 1979.

Foster, a junior, also led the Shuttle Hurdles team, which included himself, Anthony Smith, Kendall Kirkland and Darien Edwards, to victory by edging East Orange with a winning time of 1:02.24, another school mark.

Kenyon Wright also joined Foster for a combined mark of 11-9, which equaled the top height in the High Jump on the evening.

Edward Cheserek, meanwhile, was his usual brilliant self during the meet. He guided the Spring Medley team to a record of 3:27.58, breaking the mark by almost one full second that was established by Columbia in 1982. Cheserek followed Mitch Brutus, Kenyon Wright, Darien Edwards when he split 1:50.2 in the 800-meter anchor leg.

The sensational sophomore from Kenya nearly pulled the Gray Bees from the depths of the field to first in the 4x800- and 4x1,600-meter relays, but the Gray Bees had to settle for runner-up finishes in both.

In 4x800, Cheserek's 1:52.7 anchor pushed SBP across the line with an 8:04.9, just behind Columbia. This came after he had ran a sizzling 4:05.8 in the mile to nearly pull has team from the back of the pack for a runner-up finish to Millburn in the 4x1,600 -meter relay with a 18:05.59.

"I tried to balance my splits, (but) was tired for my last race,'' Cheserek told The Star-Ledger after the race. "I was very happy with how I raced. I don't think I could have gone much faster today."

Ryan Rhodes, a senior, unleashed the shot with a heave of 51-10 1/2 to lead the field and establish a new personal best, also third best in school history. But the combined mark of 89-9 3/4 for his team, was only good enough for a third place effort in the event.

Although the Gray Bees broke a number of records, coach Hannon's team couldn't win its first title since 2003. Seton Hall Prep, whose only gold medal came in the javelin - an event the Gray Bees don't even compete in - hung on beat St. Benedict's, 72-70, by scoring in 12 of 16 events.

"It was a great performance by all - everyone contributed in a major way," said Hannon, whose team scored in 9 of the events, but doesn't compete in the triple jump, javelin, and pole vault. "Nothing to have regrets about except that in outdoor meets, we always give up a lot of points."

ESSEX COUNTY RELAYS
TEAMS: 1-Seton Hall Prep 72. 2-St. Benedict's Prep 70. 3-West Orange 65. 4-Montclair 63. 5-Livingston 46. 6-Columbia 41. 7-East Orange 22. 8-Nutley 19. 9-Millburn 18. 10-Newark Central and Verona 14. 12-Montclair Immaculate 10. 13-Shabazz 8. 14-Bloomfield, Cedar Grove and Irvington 7. 17-Weequahic and Orange 3. 19-West Essex and Newark Tech 2.
4x100-METER RELAY: 1-West Orange (Dexter Valley, Josh McNeil, Lance Smith, Kazari Trought) 42.78. 2-Shabazz 43.14. 3-Montclair 43.25. 4-St. Benedict's Prep 43.51. 5-Newark Central 43.53. 6-Orange 43.97.
4x200-METER RELAY: 1-West Orange (Dexter Valley, Lance Smith, James Cham, Kazari Trought) 1:29.06. 2-Montclair 1:29.15. 3-Columbia 1:32.38. 4-Newark Central 1:32.43. 5-Orange 1:33.02. 6-Weequahic 1:33.38.
4x400-METER RELAY: 1-West Orange (Anfernee LaRue, Karl Cajuste, James Cham, Dexter Valley) 3:21.24. 2-Seton Hall Prep 3:23.87. 3-East Orange 3:24.64. 4-Montclair 3:25.18. 5-Weequahic 3:27.27. 6-Nutley 3:28.03.
4x800-METER RELAY: 1-Columbia (Michael Anderson, Victor Jimenez, David McCombs, Jacori Gyeboi-Ford) 8:01.24. 2-St. Benedict's Prep 8:04.09. 3-Seton Hall Prep 8:12.94. 4-Livingston 8:20.54. 5-West Orange 8:20.73. 6-East Orange 8:24.64.
4x1,600-METER RELAY: 1-Millburn (Matt DeShaw, Dan Bier, Robbie Stone, Blake Udland) 18:02.72. 2-St. Benedict's Prep 18:05.59. 3-Seton Hall Prep 18:13.81. 4-Livingston 18:37.46. 5-Columbia 19:16.31. 6-Montclair 19:29.89.
SPRINT MEDLEY: 1-St. Benedict's Prep (Mitch Brutus, Kenyon Wright, Darien Edwards, Edward Cheserek) 3:27.58, meet record; former record, 3:28.50, Columbia, 1982. 2-West Orange 3:27.78. 3-Seton Hall Prep 3:36.82. 4-Columbia 3:37.21. 5-Newark Tech 3:45.35. 6-Nutley 3:45.40.
DISTANCE MEDLEY: 1-Livingston (Nick Fogarty, Shane Molzer, Kieran Tonero, Jeramy Elkaim) 10:27.47. 2-Millburn 10:39.94. 3-St. Benedict's Prep 10:45.31. 4-Columbia 10:55.00. 5-Seton Hall Prep 11:10.13. 6-East Orange 11:27.86.
SHUTTLE HURDLES: 1-St. Benedict's Prep (Kalonji Foster, Anthony Smith, Kendall Kirkland, Darien Edwards) 1:02.24. 2-East Orange 1:02.55. 3-Montclair 1:03.21. 4-Newark Central 1:04.32. 5-West Orange 1:05.66. 6-Irvington 1:06.06.
TEAM INTERMEDIATE HURDLES: 1-St. Benedict's Prep (Kalonji Foster, Naija Omari and Darien Edwards) 2:49.63, meet record; former record, 2:49.80, Montclair, 1979. 2-West Orange 2:59.12. 3-East Orange 2:59.34. 4-Seton Hall Prep 3:01.68. 5-Newark Central 3:02.67. 6-Columbia 3:02.73.
TEAM HIGH JUMP: 1-Montclair (Aamad Bush and Michael Smith), St. Benedict's Prep (Kenyon Wright and Kalonji Foster) and Columbia (Ndubuisi Okafor and Xavier McIntosh) 11-9. 4-Seton Hall Prep 11-9. 5-Verona 11-9. 6-Livingston 11-3.
TEAM LONG JUMP: 1-Montclair (Stephaun Marshall and Michael Smith) 40-3. 2-Livingston 39-51/4. 3-Verona 38-113/4. 4-Seton Hall Prep 38-33/4. 5-Bloomfield 38-31/4. 6-West Orange 38-11/2.
TEAM TRIPLE JUMP: 1-Montclair Immaculate (Nigel Thompson and Leonard Hughes) 80-41/4. 2-Livingston 80-3. 3-Cedar Grove 79-111/4. 4-Columbia 79-01/2. 5-Newark Central 78-91/2. 6-Nutley 78-41/4.
TEAM SHOT PUT: 1-Montclair (Henry Wilson and Julian Pinnix-Odrick) 92-4. 2-Seton Hall Prep 91-63/4. 3-St. Benedict's Prep 89-93/4. 4-Nutley 89-8. 5-West Orange 88-1. 6-Bloomfield 87-63/4.
TEAM DISCUS: 1-Montclair (Julian Pinnix-Odrick and Daniel Cano) 282-8. 2-West Orange 272-8. 3-Seton Hall Prep 266-10. 4-Nutley 239-9. 5-Columbia 235-10. 6-Livingston 235-7.
TEAM JAVELIN: 1-Seton Hall Prep (Phillip Udeogu and Chris Kuchera) 308-6. 2-Nutley 307-1. 3-Verona 285-2. 4-Bloomfield 277-9. 5-West Essex 274-6. 6-Cedar Grove 274-4.
TEAM POLE VAULT: 1-Livingston (Andy Jung and Mike Lazar) 24-0. 2-Seton Hall Prep 23-0. 3-Irvington 21-0. 4-West Orange 18-0.

CHESEREK DAZZLES CROWD AT PENN RELAYS
Baseball team completes very hectic stretch

May 1, 2011

Edward Cheserek has a way of making his presence felt, even when he isn't in the running for a first-place medal.

The Gray Bees sophomore had little chance of wresting the title when he grabbed the baton in third to last place in the Distance Medley Relay Friday at the 117th Penn Relays.

But Cheserek made everyone in the crowd at Franklin Field take notice when, lap-after-lap, he kept picking off runners.

Cheserek, who started the 1,600-meter anchor leg in 16th place, eventually passed 11 runners in all and wound up giving the Gray Bees a medal with a fifth-place finish in the Champions of America DMR with a combined time of 10:22.42. His 4:05.75 was the top time of the day by over six seconds and was the 7th fastest anchor leg in the history of the race.

Cheserek followed Garland Miller, who ran a 3:22.70 lead off leg in the 1,200, Kalonji Foster (51.03 in the 400) and Darien Edwards (2:02.94, 800). The Gray Bees also finished fifth in the DMR at the New Balance Nationals during the indoor season.

Cheserek then came back Saturday as the anchor of the 4x400-meter relay team and ripped off a 49.95, not too shabby for a runner whose forte is distance. The 4x400 team, which consisted of Foster, Edwards, Tahlief Jackson and Cheserek, posted a combined time of 3:25.05 and placed 3rd in the Prep race.

Next up for coach Marty Hannon's club is the Essex County Relays, which are being held Friday at Livingston High.

The Gray Bees Baseball team just wrapped a seven-day stretch in which they played seven games. Click here to read more...

CHESEREK ONCE AGAIN LEADS WAY FOR TRACK TEAM
Baseball team wins a pair of games on the road

April 16, 2011

The inclement weather that came with blustery wind and driving rains hampered nearly everyone who braved the conditions in the Morris Hills Relays on Saturday.

Everyone, except for Edward Cheserek.

The sophomore from Kenya took the chill out of the air with a sizzling performance that was nothing short of staggering at the 46th running of the event in Rockaway.

Cheserek first put up an anchor leg split of 1:50.9 for 800 meters in the sprint medley relay to help the Gray Bees post a meet-record time of 3:29.88. He combined with Darien Edwards, Kalonji Foster and Kenyon Wright in shaving nearly 3 seconds off the meet standard established by the Gray Bees back in 2005.

Cheserek then went out later in the meet chased down Livingston's All-American Jeramy Elkaim and erased a 13-second deficit over the final mile in distance medley relay. He ran a 4:08.4 anchor to lead the Gray Bees to victory in 10:44.43. Jason Presley, Okhumale Igetei and Edwards preceded Cheserek in the DMR.

"This kid just continues to amaze everyone," said St. Benedict's coach Marty Hannon of his star runner. "No one was expecting those kinds of times in those conditions. It was quite a show."

St. Benedict's wound up third in the team standings behind the host school, Morris Hills, and West Orange.

Hannon's club managed a second-place finish in the high jump relay and a third-place effort in the 3x400-meter hurdles relay. Kenyon Wright, who tied for first with a leap of 6-0, joined Foster and Kyaire Kirkland for a combined high jump mark of 16-6, while Foster, Edwards and Kendall Kirkland ran a 3:00.30 in the team hurdles.

The baseball team has reeled off two straight victories after a season-opening setback. Read more...

CHESEREK VS. VERZBICAS: Part III

April 12, 2011

St. Benedict's coach Marty Hannon said Edward Cheserek has accepted an invitation to be included in the loaded field at the Adidas "Dream Mile" on June 11 at Ichan Stadium on Randall's Island in N.Y.

It will give Cheserek another shot against Lukas Verzbicas of Illinois.

Cheserek finished second to Verzbicas in the National Cross Country Championships Oregon last fall and again last month in an epic 2-miles clash in the New Balance Nationals.

Verzbicas broke away late to at the NYC Armory to win the 2-miler in 8:40.70, just 2.66 ahead of Cheserek, the Nos. 2 and 3 all-time marks in U.S. indoor history.

The two distance superstars - the Lithuanian-born Verzbicas and the Kenyan-born Cheserek - will toe the line in the "Dream Mile" where Cheserek, a sophomore, may have his last shot at gaining the upper hand against Verzbicas, a senior who is headed to Oregon.

The event organizers are hoping the national caliber field, which also includes the Rosa brothers, Jim and Joe, of West Windsor, will produce a sub 4-minute mile. Stay tuned.

CHESEREK GETS SPRING TRACK SEASON OFF TO BLAZING START
Team combines for second place effort at Kearny

April 3, 2011

Edward Cheserek began his outdoor track season the same way as he ended his initial indoor season - with a New Jersey record.

The sophomore, who closed the winter campaign by smashing the state record in the 2-mile run in the New Balance Nationals, opened the 2011 Spring campaign Friday evening by establishing the state standard in the 3000-meter steeplechase at Princeton University.

Cheserek ran a 9:00.11 in the Howell Invitational, which was good enough for a second-place showing in an open race that included collegiate runners. The old state high school standard for that race was 9:03.79 set in 1984 by North Hunterdon's Andy Martin.

The rest of the track & field team opened the season a day later in the Kearny Relays and the Gray Bees placed second.

Coach Marty Hannon's club was locked in a see-saw battle with Manchester Township all day, but the Gray Bees lost the title on the final event when the school from Ocean County won the 4x400 relay and pulled out a 108-102 decision for the team title.

The Gray Bees swept the medley relay races. The Sprint Medley team of Tyler Cooper, Aziz Smith, Mich Brutus and Garland Miller won with a 3:49.9, while the Distance Medley contingent of Morgan Kipchumba, Darien Edwards, Naija Omari and Miller secured to top showing with an 11:32.80 effort.

St. Benedict's also claimed both hurdles titles. Kalonji Foster, Anthony Smith, Kendall Kirkland, and Darien Edwards won the Shuttle Hurdles in 1:04.9, while Edwards, Frantz Sorio and Kendall Kirkland combined to claim the Intermediate Hurdles title in 3:06.34.

Kenyon Wright and Kalonji Foster combined to win the High Jump title with an 11-10 showing and Ryan Rhodes and Obinna Nwosu won the Shot Put with a 84-4 1/2.