Despite not advancing any athletes to the state championships, the Cazenovia girls indoor track team ended their 2018-19 season on a high note as they achieved a series of top performances during last Wednesday’s Section III state qualifying meet at Utica College’s Hutton Dome.
Senior captain Maddy Gavitt led the Lakers’ charge, breaking her own school record in the triple jump with an outstanding 35 feet, 6 inch effort.
That distance placed Gavitt fifth among all triple jumpers in Central New York, and she added a 15’8 ½” effort in the long jump, just under her best of 16’1 ½” set at the Feb.8 sectional Class B-2 meet. She also qualified to compete in the high jump but opted to focus in the horizontal jumps.
Junior Chloe Smith also ended her season in peak fashion, running her best 55-meter dash of the winter to finish ninth overall at 7.61 seconds.
Smith also posted a strong leap of 16’1 ¾” in the long jump to place eighth, but couldn’t equal her effort of 16’11 ¾”, achieved at the sectional B-2 meet, which tied the all-time school record. Smith, who has competed at the state meet twice in her career, will have great momentum heading into the spring outdoor season.
Sophomore Lili Gavitt also had her best competition of the season, running her two fastest 55-meter hurdles times ever during the meet. Her time of 9.32 seconds in the semifinals was a personal record and advanced her to the finals where she finished seventh among all hurdlers in the region in 9.34 seconds.
Elsewhere, Lili Gavitt also qualified to compete in the high jump with her best of 4’10” during the season and was just one inch from qualifying in the long jump at 15’5”.
Senior Paige Hunt also competed for the Lakers, clearing 8’6” in the pole vault to place eighth in Central New York, just short of her season best of 9 feet.
Hunt, who came close to tying the school record of 9’6” during the winter, will continue to pursue that mark during the spring season. She was also among the team’s best in the high jump and shot put during the 2018-19 campaign.
The state qualifying meet continued the team’s trend of rapid improvement at the end of the season, which included 19 season=best performances at the OHSL championships and 17 more during the sectionalmeet. The team finished as runners-up during both of those contests to total 10 consecutive years finishing in the top two at both leagues and sectionals.
