The Cazenovia girls cross country team earned three more victories last week as they scored a pair of dual meet wins to rise to 6-0 on the season and added a first place finish at the Auburn Invitational on Oct. 7.
The Lakers remained undefeated as they topped league rival Skaneateles 20 to 36 to rise to 5-0 in the OHSL Liberty National Division on their home course in Fenner. They also prevailed over visiting DeRuyter 15 to 51 to raise their overall record to 6-0.
Cazenovia placed five of the first eight runners across the line to beat Skaneateles, led by a one-two finish from Meggie Hart and Clara Rowles at 20:06 each. Rapidly improving first year runners Isla Stover (4th, 21:13) and Kelly Frost (5th, 21:39) topped all but one of the Skaneateles harriers and veteran Jackie Gamlen (8th, 23:00) sealed the victory for the “Eastern Lakers.”
Eleanor Wester (23:53) and Isabel VanTassel (24:11) filled the critical number six and seven places for Cazenovia with Jenna Steinberg, Allison Raymond, Eva Gagnon and Chloe Smith also running well in one of the squad’s best overall performances of the season. The triumph won back the “Laker Cup” for Cazenovia, which is passed back and forth each fall and spring to the victor of the most recent cross country or track dual meet between the two programs. The two teams have been among the most dominant in Section 3 running sports over the past decade.
The Lady Lakers assembled an even stronger team performance on Oct. 7 as they won the Auburn Invitational, topping the 11-team field with 55 points. Meggie Hart (3rd place, 20:43) and Clara Rowles (4th, 21:02) led Cazenovia with Isla Stover (11th, 22:09), Kelly Frost (16th, 22:48) and Jackie Gamlen (24th, 23:23) also contributing to their winning low score. Eleanor Wester (24:27) and Isabel VanTassel (24:45) also ran their fastest times of the fall on a full 5K course to support the team.
It will be a big week ahead for the Lakers as they face CBA (also unbeaten to date and ranked number one in the state among Class C teams) on Wednesday for the regular season league title. Two days later, the girls board a train for New York City to compete in the Manhattan Invitational, the largest cross country meet in the northeast.
