Even with Clara Rowles breaking a course record at the Skaneateles Polo Grounds, the Cazenovia girls cross country team could not snatch the OHSL Liberty National division regular-season title away from those other Lakers.
These two undefeated sides clashed amid heavy rains Wednesday afternoon, and by a 22-33 margin, Skaneateles held on to its league crown.
Yet the team battle almost took a back seat to the individual clash between Rowles and Kaitlyn Neal, the Skaneateles standout.
Both Rowles, an eighth-grader, and Neal, a junior, had won several invitational races this season, and were ranked as the top two Class C individuals in the state. Add to it the heavy precipitation, and it made for a memorable battle.
For 2.5 miles (4,000 meters), Rowles kept right up with Neal, and the pace was so blistering that it was a given that the old Polo Grounds course record of 18 minutes, 37 seconds would fall.
Only in the last 500 meters did Neal, three years older and far more seasoned in these types of races, get clear, winning in 18:06, breaking the Polo Grounds record by more than half a minute. And Rowles would take second place in 18:20, also shattering the course mark.
Meggie Hart also had a good race for Cazenovia, grabbing fourth place in 20:14 as Julia Willcox (19:57) took third place for Skaneateles.
Then the team battle got decided when the host Lakers took the fifth through seventh spots, thanks to Liz Dwyer (20:34), Finan Malcolm (21:18) and Elsa Soderberg (21:20). Cazenovia saw Katie Robbins take eighth place in 21:35, with Caitlin Clonan ninth in 21:41 and Adrien Owens (22:02) getting 10th place.
Cazenovia did win, though, in the boys race against Skaneateles, prevailing 21-37, while also seeing Kevin Ridings win an exciting individual race in a time of 16:52, edging out Skaneateles’ Cooper Watt (16:54) at the line.
Sean Satchwell finished third, in 17:59, just ahead of teammate Brendan Coffey (18:02) in fourth place. Matt Mistur got to sixth place, in 18:41, and Jimmy McPherson was seventh in 18:51, in front of Cooper Holgate, who was ninth in 19:09.
