by Kurt Wheeler
The Cazenovia girls cross country team overcame multiple injuries and illnesses to earn a tough 28-31 victory over a strong Jordan Elbridge squad last Wednesday afternoon.
With several key players out of the line-up, including top runner Molly Hart, the Lakers knew it would have to dig deep to prevail against a talented J-E team on the Eagles’ home course. The Cazenovia harriers did just that, with rising eighth-grade star Lauren McLean running her best race of the season to the lead the way.
As expected, J-E’s top two runners, Vassianna Klock and Hannah Fichter, claimed the first and second places in the race, Klock winning in a time of 20:01 and Fichter second in 20:55.
A 1-2-3 finish by a cross country team is insurmountable, so Cazenovia pinned its hopes for victory on outrunning the number three J-E runner. McLean, third overall in 21:20, and senior Isla Stover (fourth, 21:27) rose to the challenge, beating out he Eagles’ Coral Uhle, who finished ten seconds behind Stover.
J-E’s strength among the top five finishers still left a large deficit which the Cazenovia pack would have to overcome. Claire Braaten, rallying from illness just one day before, led her teammates to answer that challenge. Finishing sixth overall in 22:20, she was the tip of a wave of Lakers who claimed places six to 13.
Mary Williams (seventh, 22:35) and Maddie McGreevy (eighth, 23:06) locked in a Laker score of 28, but that was not enough to guarantee victory. It took Mia Chesbrough (ninth, 23:08) and Laura Fitzgerald (10th, 24:02) displacing the final two J-E scorers to lock in the Laker win.
Melanie Michael (24:18), Grace Dolan (24:19) and Emma Steinberg (24:46) also beat out the fourth and fifth J-E finishers, with Alyson Woolbert (2850) capping an outstanding team effort.
The league victory, which raised Cazenovia to 2-0 this season was Lakers’ 50th win since 2010 against just six losses for a win percentage of .893.
Prior to battling it out on the course, the Eagles and Lakers joined forces for a good cause. J-E sponsored the race as a benefit for pediatric cancer and invited Cazenovia to join in. The Lakers’ runners were able to collect more than $100 before the race to add to J-E’s total for the fundraiser.
Cazenovia now has a league meet set for Wednesday against Hannibal, the last tune-up before a big Oct. 8 showdown against Skaneateles.
