When it finally dried up and warmed up for the high school track and field season to get underway, the Marcellus girls managed to pull off something no one has in five years – namely, beat the Cazenovia Lakers.
Unbeaten since 2009, Cazenovia was caught by the Mustangs Wednesday afternoon at Buckley-Volo Field, where double wins by Rachel Garn, Abby Fallon and Suzanna Sylcox helped push Marcellus past the Lakers by a score of 79-62.
Garn twice beat out Cazenovia’s Jeanette Cudney in distance running, as she claimed the 1,500-meter run in five minutes, 16.3 seconds and added a 3,000-meter title in 11:26.3.
Fallon actually had a part in three winning efforts. By herself, she went 1-2 with Tianna Coon in the 100-meter dash, Fallon prevailing in 13.4 seconds, and the same thing happened in the 200-meter dash as Fallon won in 28.3 seconds and Coon (29.5 seconds) was runner-up.
In between those races, Fallon and Coon, paired with Zoe Higgins and Haley Randall, gained first place in the 4×100 relay in 54.7 seconds, the only one of three relays that Marcellus would claim.
As for Sylcox, she threw the shot put 29 feet 3 inches, beating out her sister, Johanna, who was second with 27’8”. A throw of 74’4” was enough for Sylcox to edge Cazenovia’s Hannah Dain (73’6”) in the discus.
Emma Blystone claimed the pole vault, clearing 7 feet. Randall finished second in the 400-meter dash in 1:10 flat, with Brianna Szczech second in the 800-meter run.
Marcellus could not pull off the sweep in this dual meet, as the boys Mustangs took a 77-64 defeat to Cazenovia despite a string of fine individual performances.
Josh Finch, in 24.4 seconds, edged Will Coon (24.5 seconds) to go 1-2 in the 200, and Finch also edged Cazenovia’s Ryan O’Herien in the 100, though both finished in 12 seconds flat. Sean Kocher claimed the 400 sprint in 57.3 seconds, with David Stopen third.
Andy Marsh, in 12:08.3, pulled away in the 3,200-meter run, also running a leg in the Mustangs’ victorious 4×800 relay side that recorded a time of 9:34.1. Stopen helped the Mustangs go 4:01.6 to win the 4×400 relay.
In field events, Bryan DeCook went 36’5” for first place in the triple jump, while Mike Abbott cleared 10 feet in the pole vault as Tom Dailey (9’6”) finished second. Wyatt Stehle was second in the long jump as McGuane ran 4:59.8 in the mile to take second place and Caleb Wetherall got to second place in the 400 hurdles, with Sean Raymond third in that event, along with the 110 hurdles.
Ironically, another local team, Westhill, would take on Cazenovia Friday – and would pull off a sweep, the girls prevailing 99-42 and the boys winning by an 88-52 margin.
Annibel Coolican led the girls Warriors, claiming the 400 sprint in 1:04.2 and clearing 4’8” in the high jump, while Genny Corcoran swept the 1,500 (5:06.9) and 3,000 (10:48.6) distance events.
Elsewhere on the track, Caroline Coates was victorious in the 800 (2:30.8), with Erin Morrell going 1:17 flat in the 400 hurdles and Olivia Dagineau winning the 200 in 29.9 seconds. Westhill also swept the 4×100 (56.5 seconds), 4×400 and 4×800 (10:25.9) relays as Coolican, Morrell, Coates, Erin Christensen, Kathryn Doherty and Mary Washburn were among the participants.
On her own, Doherty won the pole vault (8 feet) and Anna Ross took the triple jump, going 30’4”. Bella Sterly took the shot put with a throw of 32’7” and Kayla Wild threw the discus 85’3 ½” to win.
Westhill’s boys meet included state and Federation Class B championship basketball hero Jordan Roland, who managed to win the triple jump, going 37’7”, as he also finished second in the 110 high hurdles in 17.8 seconds. The Warriors prevailed in the 4×400 (3:54.9) and 4×800 (9:35.4) relays, too.
