The Cazenovia girls track and field team opened its 2019 season with a decisive win over OHSL Liberty-National opponent Jordan-Elbridge last Wednesday afternoon.
The Lady Lakers won 11 of 17 events overall, including all six field events, to overwhelm the Eagles by a score of 97-44.
Senior Captain Maddy Gavitt led the Lakers with victories in three events. She won her signature event, the triple jump, with a best attempt of 32 feet 2 inches. Gavitt holds both the indoor and spring track school records in the event.
Also, Gavitt won the long jump (15’1″) and high jump (4’8″), and she had plenty of help in all three events as Ava Gavitt took third in the triple at 28’9″ Chloe Smith (14’8″) and Lili Gavitt (13’9″) backed her up in the long jump, and Lili Gavitt (4’8″) and Paige Hunt (4’4″) ensured a sweep in the high jump.
Hunt had an exceptional effort in the pole vault, clearing nine feet for first place on a cold, blustery opening day. She also returned to score in the shot put (25’9″) and ran a leg on the winning 4×100 meter relay.
Claire Edwards led the way in the throws, winning the discus throwing 86 feet and the shot with a 27’9 3/4″ effort. Senior Captain Kenzie Yates (24’2:) also contributed to a Cazenovia sweep in the shot.
Lili Gavitt posted the first Laker victory on the track, winning the 100-meter hurdles in 17.0 seconds, with Maddy Gavitt one step back at 17.1 and Freshman Melanie Michael in third at 18.5 seconds.
Chloe Smith led a Cazenovia sweep in the 100-meter dash, capturing first in 13.0 seconds as Grace Dolan took second in 14.0 and Caryn Gagnon captured third in 14.3. Dolan and Gagnon teamed up with Hunt and Savannah Johnson to win the 4×100 in 55.3 seconds. Johnson returned to win the 200 meter dash in 29.8 seconds.
Cazenovia’s rookies had a major impact on the meet as Dolan, an eighth-grader, also scored second in both the 400 meter dash (1:09.1) and 200 meter dash (30.1 seconds) while Gagnon, a freshman, picked up second in the 400 hurdles.
Sophomore Laura Fitzgerald also got on the board in the 200 after a year of recovery from an injury. Eighth-grader Finlay Stover was the Lakers’ other scorer in the 400 while Freshmen Claire Braaten and Mary Williams took second and third in the 800-meter run.
Cross country star and first-year track athlete Isla Stover scored in two events for the Lakers with points in both the 1,500 and 3,000-meter runs. Veteran runners Molly Hart (winner in the 1,500 at 5:30.5) and Kelly Frost (third in both the 400 hurdles and 3,000) rounded out the Lakers’ scoring on the track.
Cazenovia (1-0) will host Hannibal April 10 before travelling to its first invitational of the season at Tully on April 13.
