The Cazenovia boys track and field team’s exceptional 2017 season will end with some of its top sprinters making the trip to Union-Endicott High School this weekend for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships.
During last Friday’s Section III state qualifying meet at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium, the Lakers easily won the Division II (small school) 4×100 relay, where only the winner was guaranteed a state meet spot.
With seniors Alec Boone and Sean McPherson joining sophomores Elijah Wellington-Harper and James Pavelchak, Cazenovia finished in 45.06 seconds, more than a full second ahead of runner-up Central Valley Academy (46.15 seconds).
It’s the third time Boone has made it to the state meet, having done so in 2015 and 2016. To focus on the relay, he chose not to compete in the qualifier in two other events, the 100-meter dash and long jump.
Chittenango had a chance in the boys 4×800 relay to advance as Mike Capeling, Phillip Abell, Jacob Blaszkow and Caleb Prenoveau finished in 8;24.65, a close second behind Homer’s winning time of 8:23.02. Capeling took third place in the Division II mile in 4:35.97, while Nick Stanton was 12th in the long jump, going 19 feet.
On the girls side, Chittenango’s McKayla Capeling, McKenzie Dombroski, Mekenzie Dahlin and Chelsea Lamphere were seventh in the 4×800 relay in 10:24.33. Lamphere also was eighth in the 1,500-meter run in 5:10.68.