Just before the last blast of winter returned on the first weekend of April, area track and field teams managed to take part in their opening meets of the season.
Cazenovia’s girls track team, expected to vie again for league and Section III honors, had a strong opening effort against Norwich last Wednesday afternoon, the Lakers prevailing by a 110-31 margin as the boys lost, 79-62, to the Purple Tornado.
Maddy Gavitt led a Lakers sweep of the field events, going 16 feet 1 inch in the long jump and 32’11 ½” in the triple jump before matching Tori Fischer in clearing 4’8” during the high jump.
Kirsten Underwood went 13.2 seconds to win the 100-meter dash and also won the 200-meter dash in 29.0 seconds. Maria Stalder added a 400-meter dash title in 1:04.4 Underwood was part of the winning 4×100 relay, which finished in 53.7 seconds.
Clara Rowles also won twice, going 5:35 in the 1,500-meter run after she registered a victory in the 800-meter run in 2:35.8. Meggie Hart went 11:11.3 in the 3,000-meter run and claimed that race after matching Rowles in the 1,500. Hart, Rowles, Stalder and Maddie Langey ran the 4×800 relay in 10:25.5 as the Lakers also won the 4×400 in 4:30.7.
Jamie Joseph went from getting a win in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:13.1 to a first-place shot put toss of 30’10”. Jackie Gamlen earned first place in the 100-meter hurdles in 19.2 seconds, with Katie Robbins clearing 8 feet in the pole vault.
For Chittenango, the effort included a tight girls meet against visiting Oswego where Kaitlyn Swain’s sweep of the sprints made the difference in the Bears’ 72-60 victory over the Buccaneers.
Swain got it started by running the 100 in 14.2 seconds. Later, in the 400 sprint, Swain tore to victory in 52.6 seconds and, to wrap it up, went 28.3 seconds for first place in the 200.
At the longer distances, McKenzie Dombroski would claim a victory in the 1,500 in 5:55.90, and go 2:50 flat to take the 800 before running a leg for the winning 4×800 relay team, joning Eryn Thompson, Devin Gordon and Hayley Foran as Chittenango won in 12:53.4.
Gordon, on her own, went 12:52 in the 3,000 run to prevail there, while Krissy Roberts swept through her specialties, going 31’3” to win the triple jump and having a top long jump of 14’9”. Swain, Roberts, Foran and Alex Rehaume claimed the 4×400 relay in 4:44.9.
The Chittenango boys team also prevailed, 90-50, over Oswego, with Mike Capeling and Tyler Howard combining to win five events between them.
Capeling, in 5:25.2, led a 1-2-3 sweep of the mile ahead of Philip Abell (5:27.2) and Jacob Blaszkow (5:32.0), while also winning the 800 in 2:20.3 as Abell (2:22.8) and Blanding (2:20.3) were close behind. Finally, in the 3,200-meter run, Capeling won in 11.19.8, edging Oswego’s Payton Reese (12:22.2) at the line.
Howard, fresh off leading Chittenango’s unbeaten boys volleyball team to a Section III Class B and regional title, won the 400 sprint in 1:02.4, moving on to the pole vault, where he cleared 8 feet to prevail.
Akira Gatewood, for his part, went 24.8 seconds to prevail in the 200, with Nick Stanton edging the Buccaneers’ Dawson Izyk, 12.2 seconds to 12.3, in the 100 sprint. Gatewood added a second-place long jump of 19’5” and a second-place triple jump of 34’4” behind Izyk’s 38’1”.
Gatewood, Abell, Stanton and Ward Beley won the 4×400 in 3:50 flat, while Blanding, Braszkow, Caleb Seale and Caleb Prenoveau went 9:12.1 to claim the 4×800. The Bears would go for 2-0 Tuesday afternoon when it hosted Cortland.