The Cazenovia girls indoor track team kicked off a busy pre-holiday week with a victory at the DiMao Invitational on Dec 18. The Lady Lakers came in first in the Division I field despite being the smallest school in the eight-team division, scoring 108 points to top Class A New Hartford (86), Utica Proctor (61) and five others.
The Lakers, who scored in every event in the relay-style meet, were primed by Maddy Gavitt who led both the high jumpers (4-9) and long jumpers (season best of 15-10.25) to first place finishes and the triple jumpers to a second place showing (State Qualifier distance of 33-10). Chloe Smith contributed a 15-1 long jump of her own to that winning effort and was also the top sprinter in the field, running 6.56 seconds in the 45-meter dash to pair with Taylor Tilison for the team victory.
Paige Hunt also had a big meet, hitting the State Qualifier standard of 9-0 in the pole vault to lead a first-place finish there and contributing to the Laker win in the high jump. Claire Edwards (28-1) and Kenzie Yates (27-4) led Cazenovia to a second-place effort in the shot put while Lily Sorbello (23-6.5) was the Lakers’ leader in the weight throw. Lili Gavitt won the 50-meter hurdle event (9.27), partnering with Melanie Michael (9.67) for first as a relay.
Clara Rowles led the team in the distance events, hitting the sectional standard in the 1500 (5:17.35) as she teamed with Molly Hart for second place. She also ran a quick 800-meter leg (2:38) of the distance medley relay to help Cazenovia to a third place finish there. Mary Williams (2:44.92) partnered with Emily Reff to take third in the 800-meter event while Molly Dolan (1:33.0) led the way in the 500 meter race. Chloe Smith led the 4×200 relay to its best time of the year (1:58.35) for third place while Kaitlyn Puffer ran the quickest leg of the 4×400 team as they also sprinted to their fastest time of the season (4:42.17) to earn third.
The Lakers were back in action at OCC just before Christmas as they claimed third place in an 18-team field at the Constantino Memorial Meet on Dec 22, their fourth top-three finish in four meets so far this season. The Constantino meet was the first competition this winter based on individual versus relay scoring, showing that the Lakers can be successful in either format.
Chloe Smith led the team with a season-best, first place effort in long jump (15-8) and a second place, State Qualifier-eligible time of 7.77 in the 55-meter dash. Maddie Gavitt chipped in a second-place effort in triple jump (32-2.5), a third place finish in the long jump (15-0.5) and also scored in the high jump. Paige Hunt captured second in the pole vault (8-0) and scored in the high jump while Claire Edwards hit a career indoor best in the shot put (28-5) to take third place.
Clara Rowles led the team on the track once again, scoring in both the 600 (1:51.56) and 1000 (3:26.36). Molly Hart ran a season-best of 5:24.19 in the 1500 to hit the sectional qualifying standard and place eighth. Lili Gavitt sprinted to a career best of 9.94 in the 55-meter hurdles. Melanie Michael also had a personal best in the hurdles (10.28) and led the team in the 300 (49.99). All three of the Lakers relays scored as Hannora Race led the 4×800 to a third-place finish, Molly Dolan paced the 4×400 to a sixth place finish and Choe Smith anchored the 4×200 to sixth place as well.
The Lakers will train throughout the holidays and make their first trip to the Mohawk Valley as they compete at Utica College on Jan 4.
