by Kurt Wheeler
CENTRAL NEW YORK – The Cazenovia girls cross country team got its season off to an exceptional start, beating Skaneateles by the largest margin in program history and finishing among the top 10 teams at the massive Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Invitational.
It all started last Wednesday with an impressive 17-42 victory over Skaneateles. Cazenovia placed the first four runners across the line to jump start their most decisive victory over the rival Lakers in their many years of competition.
This triumph allowed Cazenovia to retain the “Laker Cup,” a traveling trophy that goes to the winner of each cross country or track dual meet between the two powerful programs.
First-year sensation Olivia Ruddy led the rest of the field by nearly a minute, taking first in 20 minutes, 22 seconds. Dinah Gifford took second for Cazenovia in 21:21 with Faith Wheeler (21:28) and Olivia Wong (21:36) close behind as each runner posted exceptional early season times on their rugged home course.
Skaneateles was able to place two finishers across the line before #5 runner Grace Dolan (22:37) sealed the victory for Cazenovia. Skaneateles took one more place before another wave of “Eastern Lakers” swept the line.
Zoey Gagne (23:13) and Lauren McLean (23:53) took the key six and seven spots, displacing other scorers, while Bonnie Pittman (24:22), Maeve McGreevy (25:05) and Haylee Stearns (25:12) also beat out the next Skaneateles finisher. Ilsa Denton, Michaela Tobin, Iris Casey and Brooke Wormuth also ran strong races for Cazenovia.
The Lakers looked even stronger as they traveled to VVS last Saturday to compete on the course that will host both the Section III and state championship meets in November.
Cazenovia took fourth place among 17 teams in the Varsity 2 race with only Class A powers Cicero-North Syracuse and Baldwinsville and defending state Class C champion Bronxville ahead of them.
Ruddy led the way again, finishing 13th in the competitive field with a time of 21:30. Wheeler (22:36) and Gifford (22:39) finished back-to-back in places 22 and 23 followed closely by Dolan, who ran the best race of her career to take fourth for the Lakers in 23:04 (#31).
Wong locked in the team’s score with a gutsy 23:40 effort to take 38th place for a total of 102, just one point behind Baldwinsville. Gagne (24:17) was sixth for the Lakers while McGreevy ran her best race yet to take seventh in 24:46.’
Pittman was eight overall for the team in 25:42 and led the Lakers’ JV team to a second place finish with Stearns, Tobin, Wormuth, Mesi Stevens and Sedona Millard, also contributing to the strong effort.
Electronic timing allowed the results from all six girls races during the massive meet to be merged, revealing an encouraging picture for the Lakers’ 2022 campaign.
Cazenovia placed ninth among the 110 participating schools. Five of the eight teams ahead of them were Class A, including defending state champion Saratoga Springs and runner-up Fayetteville-Manlius.
Defending Class B champion East Aurora and Class C champion Bronxville were also among the few who outpaced the Lakers. Cazenovia finished ahead of all its Section 3, Class C rivals, a positive indicator for the young season.
Cazenovia will host Phoenix in league action on Wednesday and travel to the East Syracuse Minoa Invitational on Saturday.
