The Cazenovia girls varsity cross country team opened their league season with a 22-35 victory over Hannibal on Sept 19. The Lady Lakers also outpaced neighboring DeRuyter 15-51 during the race to open 2018 at 2-0. Three days later the girls turned in another series of season-best performances to place fourth among 44 teams at the Baldwinsville Invitational.
Senior Captain Clara Rowles led the Lakers in their victory over Hannibal, covering their rugged three mile home course in Fenner in 20:51 for first place. Molly Hart contributed her best race of the young season to claim second overall in 21:57. Hannibal’s top two and DeRuyter’s number one runner finished next, but the Lakers’ pack sealed the double victory with Cazenovia claiming eight of the next ten places.
Finlay Stover ran the best race of her young career to place third for Cazenovia (sixth overall, 22:38) followed by Senior Captain Kelly Frost (seventh, 22:54). Junior Eleanor Wester ran a career-best on the Fenner course to close out the scoring for Cazenovia, placing ninth overall in 23:15. Freshmen Claire Braaten (23:53) and Mary Williams (24:14) both added to the victory by displacing Hannibal’s final scorer. In total, 13 members of the Laker squad turned in season-best performances during the race.
Cazenovia’s string of peak performances continued on Sept 22 at the massive Baldwinsville Invitational as all 15 members of the squad competing ran their quickest time of the season on the Bees’ flat, fast 2.95 mile course. The team’s outstanding depth proved valuable as they placed fourth among 44 teams in the huge field with all their scorers finishing among the top quarter of the 263 runner field. The Lakers were the top Class C team from Section 3 (187 points) with only Class B CBA (146) and Chittenango (155) and Section 4’s Lansing (181) finishing ahead of them.
Clara Rowles led Cazenovia with a top-20 finish, capturing 16th in a season-best 19:41. Isla Stover recovered from a mid-week illness to place second for the team (27th overall, 20:13). Kelly Frost (51st, 21:02), Finlay Stover (57th, 21:14) and Eleanor Wester (66th, 21:43) all ran their best races of the fall to round out the team’s scoring. Claire Braaten (21:51) and Mary Williams (22:41) once again claimed the six-seven spots for the team to displace numerous scorers from other teams.
The Lakers were also successful in the combined large & small school JV race, finishing sixth overall among 16 teams, but first among small schools with only Class A powers such as Ithaca and CNS finishing ahead of them. Maddie McGreevy paced the JV girls with a time of 22:17, followed by Emma Steinberg (22:31), Mia Chesbrough (22:50), Jenna Steinberg (24:10) and Eva Gagnon (24:36), all season-best times.
The Lakers will host league rival Skaneateles this Wednesday at Fenner, honoring their three seniors in their final home meet at 4:30 before taking on the “Western Lakers.”
