From sprints to distance runs to field events, the Skaneateles girls track and field team had everything covered – and the end result was a Section III Class B-1 championship.
The Lakers brought home that title from Thursday’s sectional meet at Westhill. With a total of 149.5 points, Skaneateles pulled away from those other Lakers, Cazenovia, who with 103.5 points edged Westhill-Bishop Ludden (99 points) for second place.
Though it didn’t win the sprints, the Lakers’ sheer volume led to lots of points, starting in the 100-meter dash, where Amanda Wetmore (12.95 seconds), Cecilia Marrinan (13.26 seconds) and Angela Krause (13.27 seconds) snapped up the second through fourth spots, good for 18 team points.
After Wetmore, Krause, Laurel Parker and Katelyn Ellison finished second (50.65 seconds) to CBA (50.25 seconds) in the 4×100 relay, Maddie Peterson got to second place in the 400-meter dash in 1:00.29, with Shannan Roberts (1:00.72) edging Olivia Gage (1:00.73) for third place, which produced another 18 points.
The 200-meter dash saw four Lakers chase the Brothers’ Anna Schug, who won in 26.42 seconds after Schug went 57.43 seconds in the 400 to fend off the Laker posse. Maddie Peterson was second in 26.48 seconds, beating out Olivia Gage (26.83 seconds), Wetmore (27.03 seconds) and Marrinan (27.46), who got 20 team points between them.
This added up to 56 points gained in the three sprints, and it formed the foundation of the Skaneateles team conquest that was completed when Peterson, Roberts, Gage and Mia Grasso won the 4×400 relay in 4:15.26 over South Jefferson (4:16.68) and the field.
Kaitlyn Neal was another cornerstone to the victory. Neal won the 3,000-meter run in 10:37.26, getting away from Cazenovia’s Meggie Hart (10:40.33), with Liz Dwyer (11:17.23) fourth, this after Neal took a close second (4:46.84) to Cazenovia eighth-grader Clara Rowles (4:46.31) in the 1,500-meter run as Julia Willcox finished third in 4:49.19.
Grasso earned her own title in the 400-meter hurdles, finishing in 1:09.72 to fend off Cazenovia’s Jamie Joseph (1:10.79) at the line, while also taking fifth place in the high jump (4’8”), ahead of Aubreah Lynn (4’6”), who tied for sixth.
Even in field events, Skaneateles made a mark thanks to Katherine Carlile, whose discus throw of 83 feet 10 inches beat the field as CBA’s Julie McInvale (82’9”) finished second.
Willcox would get second place in the 800-meter run in 2:24.82 behind South Jefferson superstar Skylar Pastor (2:23.57), who also won the high jump and 100 hurdles. Natalie Condon was seventh.
In the 4×800 relay, Skaneateles finished second as Grasso, Condon, Dwyer and Finan Malcolm posted 10:09.88 to only trail Westhill-Ludden, who won with 10:01.84. Malclolm finished sixth in the 2,000-meter steeplechase in 8:32.40.
Jillian Van Leer competed in the pentathlon, earning 1,800 points to finish fourth. Krause had a fourth-place triple jump of 32’4 ¼” and was ninth (14’8 ¼”) in the long jump. Keely Gregg tied for seventh in the pole vault, clearing 7 feet.
When it was the boys turn for its sectional Class B-1 meet Friday at Canastota High School, it could not quite match the girls success, getting 68 points for fifth place as Westhill-Ludden (118 points) rose to the top spot.
Twice, the Lakers won relays. Connor Hill, Cooper Watt, Kai Soderberg and Griffin Lawson ran away with the 4×800 in 8:27.07, more than 19 seconds ahead of the field, while in the 4×400 Hill, Watt, Lawson and Zach Blair went 3:33.09 to get in front of Cazenovia (3:35.19), though the Lakers did take sixth place in the 4×100 in 48.05 seconds.
Hill was victorious in the 400 sprint in 50.95 seconds to beat Holland Patent’s Mason Herkel (51.44 seconds), while Lawson was second (2:00.18) to Syracuse ITC’s Soloman Lawrence (1:59.81) in the 800.
Hagen, in the long jump, went 19’5 ½”, a close second behind Cazenovia’s Walker Nichols, who won with 19’7”. Also, Hagen was second (1:01.74) to Solvay’s Colton Francemone (1:00.72) in the 400 hurdles, with Max Messie sixth (1:06.07), and also was third in the 100 in 11.79 seconds.
Messie improved to third place in the pole vault, clearing 11’6” as Holland Patent’s Tucker Ofalt won with 12’6”. Blair was seventh in the 200 and Alex Van Riper was seventh in the pentathlon.
