by Kurt Wheeler
SYRACUSE – In an epic battle between two of the best track programs in Central New York, the Cazenovia Lakers came up just short against the Westhill Warriors, falling 149 to 131 at Thursday’s OHSL Division I championships.
The Lakers and Warriors dominated the meet, outscoring the other 10 schools in the competition combined.
Entering the meet as a slight underdog, Cazenovia knew it needed every scoring opportunity break in its favor.
Susie Pittman opened the door with a surprise victory in the pole vault, clearing a personal best of 8 feet to hit the State Qualifier standard. Combined with Faith Wheeler’s fourth place at 7 feet Cazenovia gained a four point advantage from pre-meet predictions.
Olivia Wong won her own individual title, finishing first in the 3,000 meters in a personal best 11:33.37. Dinah Gifford earned third at 12:20.71 to meet the Lakers’ hopes in that event, but Westhill was able to seize on scratches in the event by other teams to score five points.
And so it went throughout the meet, with each team exceeding expectations back and forth from one event to the next.
Claire Braaten had a masterful meet, earning second team all-league in the 1,500 in a personal record time of 5:24.12, taking third in the 1,000 at 3:24.96 and leading off the Lakers’ league champion 4×800 relay.
Wong also ran a best-ever 1,500 to take third place in 5:25.28, while Nadia Segall achieved all-league status with a second place, 3:22.04 finish in the 1,000. Segall, Wheeler and Mary Williams joined Braaten to dominate the field in the 4×800, lapping every other team en route to 10:35.18, their fastest of the season.
Bonnie Pittman led the team’s middle distance effort, shattering her personal best in the 600 to take third in a sectional qualifying time of 1:51.15. Williams was right at her side, taking fourth in a best-ever 1:51.16 as the duo exceed their expected score in the event by nine points.
Also, Pittman also led off the Lakers’ third-place 4×400 meter relay, passing the baton to Maleigha Coffie, Melanie Michael and Meghan Mehlbaum (anchor leg of 1:06.1) as the team achieved its fastest time of the winter in 4:36.18.
Michael returned to score in two more events, capturing third in the 55-meter hurdles in a 9.61 and leading off the Lakers’ third place 4×200 meter relay team. Caryn Gagnon ran a season best 10.00 in the hurdles for sixth and joined Michael, Corinne Albicker and Katie Whitney (28.3 second anchor leg) to run Cazenovia’s best 4×200 time of the winter at 1:57.30.
Whitney also contributed an individual third-place finish in the 55 dash at 7.65 seconds, her second fastest of the season.
Susie Pittman followed up on her pole vault heroics with scores in two more events, earning second team all-league in the high jump at 4’8” and battling to fourth place in the 300-meter dash at 45.90 seconds. Katie Pavelchak equaled that height to earn third place in the high jump while Mehlbaum ran a personal best of 47.08 for sixth in the 300.
Albicker had the team’s best performance in the long jump, taking third at 14’4 ¾” while Kenzie Halliday led the way in the throws, earning fifth in the weight throw at 25’5”. Danielle Smith threw a personal best of 23’9” to earn sixth.
In total, the Lakers achieved 14 season bests during the meet to score 18 points more than predicted by the rankings. Westhill countered Cazenovia’s superb effort with numerous personal record performances of their own to exceed expectations by 24 points for the victory.
Now these two squads will pursue separate sectional titles this Thursday as the Lakers seek its eighth Section III Class B-2 championship while larger Westhill goes after the B-1 title.
