by Kurt Wheeler
The Cazenovia girls indoor track squad ended its team competition season with a third-place finish at the Section III Class B-2 championships Saturday at SRC Arena.
Defending champion Clinton dominated the field with 134 points and rival Skaneateles edged the “Eastern Lakers” 90 to 85.5 for second place.
Just one week after a brilliant showing at the OHSL Championships, where the underdog Lakers nearly upset eventual sectional B-1 champion Westhill, Cazenovia couldn’t assemble the same series of personal best performances they had achieved at the league meet.
Chloe Smith headlined the meet for the team as she brought home their sole individual title with a first-place effort of 16 feet 4 ½ inches in the long jump. She also added a season best performance of 7.61 seconds in the 55-meter dash for third place and added a strong leg on the second place 4×200 meter relay.
Savannah Johnson anchored the 4×200 to a time of 1:52.56 with Grace Dolan and Riley Knapp also contributing.
Johnson had another gutsy performance in the 300-meter dash as she ran down Kaylee Haynes of South Jefferson in the final stretch to finish second in 44.66 seconds, adding a fifth-place effort of 7.79 in the 55 sprint.
The Cazenovia 55-meter hurdlers were a highlight during the meet as they achieved three season bests and captured three scoring positions to earn 18 points for the team.
Melanie Michael led the charge with a second place finish in 9.69 seconds. Lili Gavitt (season best of 9.84 for third) and Katie Whitney (best of 10.08 for fourth) were right on her heels. Bonnie Pittman also recorded a personal best time of 10.61 for ninth place.
The Lakers 4×400 relay matched its pre-meet ranking as it captured second place in 4:27.94. Molly Dolan, Melanie Michael and Ainsly Schug (personal best of 1:06.9) all ran strong legs to set up Peyton Basic who held off Clinton with a tough 1:05.1 anchor leg.
Basic also contributed to the 4×800 relay of Carley Lounsbury, Julia Reff and Ava Hart that claimed fourth place in 10:56.75.
Molly Hart led the distance runners with a fourth-place effort in the 1,500-meter run (5:20.27) and a fifth in the 3,000-meter run (11:53.02). Claire Braaten added a fifth in the 1,500 (5:22.25) while Ava Hartley (sixth in the 1,000 in 3:20,88) and Grace Dolan (sixth in the 600 in 1:48.80) also scored for the Lakers..
Claire Edwards was close to her season best with a throw of 30’4 1/2” to earn third in the shot put. Lili Gavitt equaled her season best of 4’8” to claim fourth in the high jump and also added a long jump of 13’10 3/4” to place sixth. Christina Brown also matched her season best of 7-6 in the pole vault to tie for sixth place.
While short of their goal of earning their eighth sectional title since 2011, the Lakers’ effort capped a uccessful winter which saw its place first among Class B/C/D teams in six of their seven regular season meets.
Although the team season is completed, several individuals will compete at the sectional state qualifying meet, slated for Feb 25, also at SRC Arena.
