Were it not for that other band of Lakers, the Skaneateles girls indoor track and field team might have possession of the Onondaga High School League Liberty division title by now.
Instead, Skaneateles claimed the runner-up spot during Monday’s league meet at Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena, amassing 100 points. Only Cazenovia, with 150 points, fared better.
Madeline Adams earned a victory in the 3,000-meter run, her time of 10 minutes, 36.25 seconds topping the field by more than 15 seconds as Jennifer DeRosa (12:03.22) took sixth place.
Favored in the pole vault, Kaela Fiutak won again, clearing 9 feet, tied for the best effort of the entire evening with Cicero-North Syracuse’s Jessica Wheeler. In the long jump, Fiutak went 15 feet 11 11 ¾ inches, second to Cazenovia star Paige Biviano.
Then Erin Tonzi won the triple jump, going 31 feet 9 ¾ inches to edge Tully’s Casey Cole (31 feet 6 inches) for another title. Kaitlyn Neal got second place in the 1,500-meter run in 5:10.09, with Morel Malcolm (5:23.17) fifth.
Of the three relays, Skaneateles did best in the 4×400, where Taylor Woodruff, Anna Barnett, Jane Gaffney and Shelby McNeilly earned a victory in 4:23.97, leaving Cazenovia (4:29.88) nearly six seconds behind.
Elsewhere, McNeilly, Corinne LaFrance, Mia Campanile and Molly McCarthy claimed second place in 1:58.13 in the 4×200 relay as Adams, Gaffney, Tonzi and Casey Van Slyke were third (10:29.90) in the 4×800 relay, as Van Slyke took third (1:48.80) in the 600-meter run and McCarthy was third in the 55-meter dash in 8.05 seconds.
Woodruff, on her own, got third in the 300-meter dash in 43.74 seconds. Alana Navaroli, with a shot put toss of 29 feet ¾ inch, rose to third place. Courtney Pitman was fourth in the high jump, clearing 4 feet 2 inches. Tonzi was sixth in the 1,000-meter run.
Two nights later, in the boys OHSL Liberty/Patriot meet, the Lakers picked up 23 points, which left them in eighth place. Tully roared to the top spot in a crowded field with 74 points.
Going for the title in the 55-meter dash, Malik Meritt settled for second place, 6.82 seconds to CBA’s Deshawn Salter (6.74), while Nick Simmons was fourth in 7.05 seconds. Khiary Gale cleared 5 feet 2 inches to tie for fourth in the high jump.
B.J. Kerr, Austin Amory, J.J. Gregg and Taylor Weyneth rose to third place in the 4×400 relay in a time of 3:50.27. Simmons joined Erik Pola, Max Dwyer and Nate Molnar for fifth (1:43.43) in the 4×200. Connor Hurley was seventh in the triple jump and Matt Short eighth in the long jump.
They are back at SRC Arena this Wednesday for the Section III Select Meet, the precursor to the Section III championships, which take place Feb. 17-18.
