Though they had to wait an extra week to get going due to the lingering cold weather, each of Cazenovia’s track and field teams did not mind, given the results.
With an April 8 meet against Vernon-Verona-Sherrill cancelled, the Lakers finally got going seven days later, against Christian Brothers Academy, and won both sides of that meet, with the boys beating the Brothers 95-46 and the girls prevailing 93-48.
In the boys meet, Walker Nichols won three events. After pulling away in the 110 high hurdles in 16.1 seconds, Nichols had a top long jump of 20 feet ½ inch, with Alec Boone second (17’10”), and in the high jump, cleared 5’8”, half a foot ahead of CBA’s Pat Carey as Zak Morris (5 feet) was third.
Sean Satchwell followed up a victory in the mile in 5:07.4 by going 2:07.3 to prevail in the 800-meter run. Satchwell also ran a leg in the winning 4×800 relay (9:18.4) as Nichols, Tom McNerney, Alex Devine and Ryan O’Herien took the 4×100 relay in 47.7 seconds.
McNerney held off CBA’s Jack Carey, 54.5 seconds to 54.6, in the 400-meter dash, where Alec Bone finished third in 56.8 seconds. McNerney also was second in the 100-meter dash (11.8 seconds), with Boone again third (11.9 seconds).
O’Herien, throwing the shot put 38’9”, led a 1-2-3 sweep as Sawyer Hunt (37’11”) and Will Kmetz (35’11 ½”) followed and in the pole vault, O’Herien topped 9 feet, beating Dan McKillop (8 feet) and Morris (7 feet). Kmetz also was third in the discus, heaving it 100’8”.
Devine won the triple jump with a best attempt of 38’3”, with Dan O’Connor third, this after Devine took second in the 200-meter dash in 24.7 seconds., but helped Satchwell, Boone and McNerney win the 4×400 relay in 3:36.3.
Cameron Hoke was second in the 400 hurdles in 1:10 flat, ahead of Robbie Zambito (1:14.7), and third in the 110 high hurdles. Brendan Coffey took third in the 800, mile and 3,200-meter run, with Tim McPherson second in the 3,200 in 11:51.3.
Moving to the girls meet, Clara Rowles’ sensational eighth-grade campaign continued when she claimed the 1,500-meter run in 5:24.2 and the 800 in 2:47.6. Rowles also paired with Meggie Hart, Maddie Langey and Maria Stalder as Cazenovia took the 4×800 relay in 11:43.3.
Hart, for her part, was victorious in the 3,000-meter run in 11:31.6, with Delaney Yates and Jamie Joseph both posting 1:18.2 in the 400 hurdles. Tori Fischer cleared 4’9” in the high jump, one inch better than Joseph.
Ashley Kent went 17.1 seconds in the 100 hurdles, the same as CBA’s Skylar Decker, and had a top triple jump of 31’2” that Decker (32’1”) topped. Kirsten Underwood took the 100 spring in 13.7 seconds as Kent, Yates, Caeli Carroll and Jessica Macheda went 56.5 seconds in the 4×100 and Katie Robbins won the pole vault, clearing 8 feet.
Two days later, in the East Syracuse Minoa Invitational, Cazenovia picked up 27.4 points, 10 of them from Fischer’s win in the high jump. Clearing 5 feet, Fischer watched as no one else could top 4’10” as Joseph tied for 11th.
Elsewhere, Kent, fourth in the triple jump (32’3”), took third in the 100 hurdles in 17.53 seconds and Yates (18.19 seconds) was sixth, while Hart was fourth in the 3,000 in 11:13.43.
Rowles (2:34.20) and Stalder (2:35.12) were sixth and seventh, respectively, in the 800, while Underwood was seventh in the 100 sprint in 13.88 seconds. Robbins cleared 7 feet to tie for fourth in the pole vault. Joseph was seventh in the 400 hurdles and eighth in the shot put, and Adrien Owens took seventh in the 2,000-meter steeplechase.
Cazenovia won its heat in the 4×100 relay, but settled for eighth place overall in 54.81 seconds, later taking seventh in the 4×400 in 4:29.55. Chittenango took fourth in the 4×800 in 11:23.80, but saw its best individual finish from Sarah Moon, who took third in the 1,500 in 5:20.50.
