Name an event during Thursday night’s Section III Class B indoor track and field championship meet at Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena, and it was likely that Cazenovia was out in front, or close to the front.
As a result, the Lakers are sectional champions for the third year in a row, picking up 132 points to top an 11-team field where Skaneateles, with 92 points, slid into second place.
To start her night, Ashley Winn breezed to the title in the 55-meter dash in 7.41 seconds, with Clare Costello (7.67 seconds) completing a 1-2 sweep.
Then, in the 300-meter dash, Winn had to fight off Skaneateles’ Emma Ford, 42.30 seconds to 42.88 seconds, and in doing so posted the fastest time of the entire two-day sectional meet. Costello got third place in 43.08 seconds.
As the night ended, Cazenovia added an exclamation point in the 4×200 relay. Winn ran the first leg, putting the Lakers in front, and Costello, Jessie Matt and Emily Willard did the rest en route to a victory in 1:50.48, more than six seconds ahead of runner-up Jordan-Elbridge (1:57.19).
Earlier, Jeanette Cudney worked her way to second place in the 3,000-meter run in 11:28.85, and her time of 5:06.91 meant another second-place finish, each time trailing Skaneateles freshman Kaitlyn Neal. Meredith Shephard was sixth in the 1,500.
Liz Pittman cleared 8 feet 6 inches, second to Clinton’s Hannah Shankman (9’9″), in the pole vault, and added another runner-up finish in the triple jump, where her 33’1 3/4″ was topped by another Clinton athlete, Alayna Lofgren, who won in 34’5 1/2″.
Ashley Kent worked her way to second place in the 55-meter hurdles, her 9.31 seconds just behind Phoenix’s Haylie Virginia (9.24 seconds) as Kelsey Henderson (10.12 seconds) was fifth. Both Kent and Henderson had personal-best times in that event. Kent also took fourth in the triple jump (32’4″) and fifth in the long jump.
Samantha Gates, Evelyn Wells, Hannah Roussell and Sarah Willard were second (4:30.54), just behind Skaneateles (4:28.80), in the 4×400 relay. It was the same in the 4×800, with Margaret Wolsey, Colleen Stalder, Maureen Milmoe and Grace Milmoe claiming another second-place prize in 10:32.71, again with Skaneateles (10:14.42) in front.
Gates added a fourth in the 600-meter run (1:45.75), with Maureen Milmoe fifth (1:50.76) and Wolsey (1:50.77) sixth. Grace Milmoe was fifth in the 1,000-meter run in 3:20.18. Hannah Dain made her way to third place in the shot put, heaving it 27’4″. Tori Fischer was fourth in the high jump, clearing 4’9″.
Meanwhile, in the boys Class B sectional meet, Cameron Braathen earned another title in the shot put. Braathen’s top throw of 44 feet 6 inches was just enough to beat Phoenix’s Jason Czyz (44’5 1/4″) by three-quarters of an inch.
Alex Devine, Ryan O’Herrien, Will Fellows and Conner Polsin combined to finish third in the 4×200 relay in 1:39.61, not far from Marcellus, who won in 1:39.04. Ryker Smith, clearing 5’6″, got fourth place in the high jump.
Polsin took sixth in the 55 sprint (7.12 seconds), where O’Herrien was ninth. Brody Kellish was seventh in the triple jump, just missing the points, while Fellows was ninth in the 600.
Many of Cazenovia’s stars go back to SRC Arena next Wednesday for the Section III qualifier, the last chance to earn a spot in the March 2 state meet at Cornell University’s Barton Hall.
