by Kurt Wheeler
SYRACUSE – The Cazenovia girls track and field team turned in a series of impressive performances at Tuesday’s Westhill Spring Break Invitational. Multiple Lakers achieved sectional qualifying standards as the team geared up for the heart of its regular season after the vacation.
Melanie Michael led the team as she set a school record in the 200 meter hurdles, finishing second in 31.85 seconds. Already the holder of the indoor track record in this seldom-run event, she improved on her personal best by more than a second.
Michael also led the Lakers’ 3×100 meter hurdle relay of Skye Stanford and Angela Moskvich to a fourth place finish in that event, with only Class AA schools ahead of them.
Dinah Gifford was also impressive at the meet, finishing third in the grueling 2,000-meter steeplechase event in 8:16.05 in her first attempt at it. Gifford easily met the sectional qualifying standard and was only 11 seconds from the elite State Qualifier mark. She also contributed a personal best leg of 1:07.1 to the team’s sixth place 4×400 meter relay.
Grace Dolan led the 4×400 group with a personal record leg of 1:02.8, an exceptional time for this early in the season. Olivia Ruddy (personal best of 1:07.3) and Maleigha Coffie also contributed to the season-best total of 4:32.48.
Katie Whitney topped the team’s sprinters with a fourth-place time of 13.30 seconds in the 100 meter dash, as she hit the State Qualifier standard. Dolan’s 13.59 effort in the event was quick enough to hit the sectional mark.
Whitney also led the way in the 200-meter dash at 28.85 seconds with Michael adding a 29.49 effort and Gifford posting a 30.00. Faith Wheeler led the team’s middle-distance effort as she contributed a 2:42.71 in the 800 meter.
Susie Pittman had her best day ever in the horizontal jumps, placing fourth in the long jump in a personal best 15 feet 1 inch and fourth in the triple jump at 32’ ½”, also a personal record. She also scored in the high jump (sixth at 4’6”) and pole vault (fifth at 7’6”) to pace the team’s field event effort.
Other top performances in the jumps included Emmi Rightmyre’s season best of 13’8” in the long jump, followed closely by Katie Pavelchak’s 13’6”. Corinne Albicker was also close to her season best as she hit 29’1” in the triple jump for Cazenovia. Wheeler added a 7-foot effort in the pole vault in her first meet of the season.
Danielle Smith led the Lakers in the throws, achieving a season best of 24’1” in the shot put and coming within inches of her best discus throw at 73’2”. Michaela Tobin added a season best of 22’7 ½” in the shot while Olivia Morse (60’3” and Stanford (57’10”) both achieved personal bests in the discus.
The girls will be back in action this week against Class B1 powerhouse Westhill in a home contest on April 20 in what promises to be a preview of two of the top teams in the section this spring.
