With three weeks of preliminaries behind them, the Cazenovia girls cross country team plunged into the fight in the OHSL Liberty division and quickly moved to the top of the standings.
In the first of four league meets over the next month, the Lakers would encounter Christian Brothers Academy and Hannibal last Wednesday at the Sean Goggin Sports Complex, and it would win on both sides, holding off the Brothers 23-36 and topping the Warriors 15-50.
On an individual basis, Jeannette Cudney led Cazenovia, finishing in 20 minutes, 11 seconds, behind only CBA’s Megan Pierce, who won in 20 minutes flat. Michelle Karker worked her way to third place in 20:33.
After CBA’s Maire Kate McGlynn took fourth, Cazenovia clinched the victory by claiming the next four spots in order.
Megan Stanford, in fifth place in 20:57, led that push, while Malone Gabor was sixth in 21:04. Margaret Wolsey was seventh in 21:18 and Rae Tobey (21:23) sneaked into eighth place, all ahead of CBA’s fourth and fifth runners.
Moving to the boys meet, Cazenovia lost a close 26-31 decision to CBA, but did not get as close against Hannibal in a 15-46 defeat.
Sean Satchwell finished best among Laker runners in eighth place, inches ahead of Ben Langey, though both recorded a time of 18:48. The Brothers and Warriors swept the top seven positions, with CBA’s Brendan Smith rolling to an individual win in 16:03, more than a minute ahead of the field.
As for Chittenango, it got involved in a four-team contest with Jamesville-DeWitt, East Syracuse-Minoa and Cortland. The Bears would fare best on the girls side, where Kendall McGee was fourth in 20:17 and Shannon Bunce (20:54) took sixth place. None of the Chittenango boys runners reached the top 10.
