by Kurt Wheeler
CICERO – The Cazenovia track and field team extended its stellar season at last Thursday’s Section III state qualifying meet at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium as girls advanced to this weekend’s state meet and ran some of the fastest times in school history along the way.
For example, the 4×100 meter relay team of Grace Dolan, Caitlyn Smithers, Izzy Stromer-Galley and Riley Knapp finished first among all Division II (small school) teams in Central New York with a time of 49.46 seconds, nearly a second and a half ahead of the second-place team.
This broke an 11-year old school record. The previous mark of 50.35 was set back in 2012 by Page Biviano, Ashley Kent, Jillian Vogl and Ashley Winn. That team, with Anna Schultz in for Biviano, earned the silver medal at the state meet that year.
The 4×400 meter relay team of Dolan, Stromer-Galley, Meghan Mehlbaum and Alyssa Wardell also took first place as they ran the second fastest time in school history with a 4:05.88 effort, their best of the season.
Nearly four seconds ahead of the second place team at the qualifier, they will strive to break the school record of 4:03.55 at the state meet with its intense competition.
Dolan led the group with a 59.8 second lead-off leg followed by Mehlhaum, who ran a season best split of 1:02.1. Stromer-Galley took nearly a second off her best time to hit 1:01.4 and Wardell, a freshman, anchored the group to victory with a 1:02.4 effort.
The 4×800 team ran their best time of the season at 9:59.6 (the third fastest time in school history), but fell just short of their goal of reaching states as two other CNY teams managed to run even faster times.
Reid McMurtie led the way with a 2:23.94 first leg, followed by Faith Wheeler (2:33.73), Julia Reff (2:31.14) and Maura Phillips (2:30.94). The 4×800 team ended its season as the sectional Class B-2 champions.
Riley Knapp returned to the track to run the 100-meter dash in a career best time of 12.47 seconds, nearly a half second faster than her previous mark.
Knap finished third in Division II and would not normally have advanced to States, but her time was so fast it met the “super standard” of 12.73 seconds, moving her on to the NYSPHSAA championship. The super standard is based on the average fourth-place time at states over the past five years.
Dolan also returned to run an individual event, finishing fourth in the 400-meter dash in 1:00.10, her second fastest time ever in the open 400.
Susie Pittman competed in two individual events for the Lakers, including the pole vault where she cleared 9 feet (six inches off her school record mark of 9’6” to finish second, just one place from making it to states.
Teammate and co-record holder Caitlyn Smithers finished fifth overall, clearing 8’6” and then skipping straight to 9’6” in the hopes of making a stronger attempt at a new school record. Pittman also finished in the top five in the triple jump, making it to the finals with a leap of 35’ ½”, just a half inch from her career best.
Maddy Rothfeld wrapped up her exceptional season with a throw of 28’8 ¾” in the shot put. Rothfeld led the Lakers in both the shot and disc throughout the season and set a new school outdoor record in the weight throw at the Junkyard Relays.
A dozen members of the Lakers’ sectional champion team will represent Central New York as primaries or alternates in the two relays plus Knapp in the 100 meter dash in the NYSPHSAA meet Friday and Saturday at Middletown High School.
