Four Lakers earn All-League honors
Submitted by Kurt Wheeler
Girls cross country coach
The Cazenovia girls cross country team repeated their regular season success with a first place finish among all Liberty National teams at the overall OHSL Liberty league championship meet. The Lady Lakers also stacked up well against larger school rivals, finishing fourth overall in the 13-team combined Liberty league field.
Senior Captain Clara Rowles led the team with one of her best races of the season, finishing 7th overall in a time of 21:27. Junior Isla Stover raced to her best “speed rating” of the season en route to a 9th place, 21:36 finish. The two girls led the OHSL Liberty National All-League first squad, capturing the first two places on the elite roster.
Sophomore Molly Hart had a career-best race, finishing 21st overall in a time of 22:26 for a speed rating of 64. Her strong run placed her at the top of the All-League second squad. She was joined there by her teammate, Senior Captain Kelly Frost. Frost ran a 22:59 to finish 30th overall in the 100-runner field.
Junior Eleanor Wester stepped up for the Lakers to claim 41st place in a time of 23:59 to cap Cazenovia’s scoring at 108 points. Finlay Stover (42nd, 24:06) and Mary Williams (43rd, 24:09) earned the critical number six and seven spots on the team to help displace scorers from rival squads. All three girls were joined by Senior Captain Jackie Gamlen (48th, 24:36) in earning Honorable Mention All-League status.
Mia Chesbrough (24:55) and Emma Steinberg (25:17) both raced well for the Lakers, while Eva Gagnon (25:22) turned in her best performance of the season. Jenna Steinberg, Madison Chamberlain, Maggie Rowles and Madeline McGreevy also braved the cold, wet conditions to compete in the championship meet.
The OHSL title meet performance equaled the girls regular season success which included an undefeated dual meet record and Liberty National championship. CBA, elevated to Class B this year after two straight Class C titles, won the overall meet with Class B Chittenango placing second. Class C rival Westhill also edged the Lakers in the combined meet rankings.
Cazenovia will try to avenge that setback and also upend top-ranked Class C teams Clinton and South Jefferson as the Lady Lakers compete for their fourth sectional title at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 3 at Chittenango High School.
