After nearly two weeks off due to stormy weather, the Cazenovia girls indoor track team got back into action at the massive Utica Challenge Invitational last Friday night.
The meet, hosted by Utica College, featured more than 40 schools from four sections across New York State and provided a high level of competition for the Lakers as it gears up for their league and sectional title meets.
Senior captain Maddy Gavitt led the Lakers, posting season-best performances in all three of her events and scoring in two of them. Her effort was highlighted by a leap of 34 feet 6 inches in the triple jump, eight inches better than her previous best this winter, to place seventh.
Also, Gavitt equaled her season best of 4’10” with no misses in the high jump to place fourth and added half an inch to her best long jump of the year to reach 15’10 ¾”.
Paige Hunt achieved the highest finish of the day for Cazenovia, earning second place in the pole vault with a height of 9 feet She was perfect through that height with no missed attempts and continues to flirt with the school record height of 9’6”, a barrier she hopes to break during this season’s remaining meets. Broadalbin-Perth’s Ava Tyler won here with 9’6”.
Chloe Smith also had a busy night of competition for the Lakers, finishing just off her season bests in three events as she hit 7.75seconds in the 55 meter dash, 15’10” in the long jump and 47.70 seconds in the 300 meter dash.
Freshman Caryn Gagnon had a superb meet, running a personal best and qualifying for sectionals in the 55 meter hurdles at 10.05 seconds. She also returned to run her fastest time in the 200 meter dash (29.2 seconds) to team up with Taylor Tilison (29.2), Grace Dolan and Grace Rajkowski for a time of 1:59.82 in the 4×200 meter relay.
Lili Gavitt also had a strong finish in the 55 hurdles, running a 9.85 in addition to her high jump clearance of 4’8”.
Clara Rowles led the Lakers distance effort in the 1,000 meter run (3:27.49) with Julia Reff hitting a season best in the event at 3:37.51. Molly Hart led team in the 3,00-meter run, finishing in 11:59.98, while Molly Dolan was tops in the 600-meter run (1:55.78) and Carley Lounsbury hit a personal best at 1:56.95.
Grace Rajkowski (1:09.9) and Grace Dolan (1:10.6) led the 4×400 meter relay while Hope King posted the top time on the Lakers’ 4×800 team (2:46.7).
Claire Edwards topped the Cazenovia throwers with a toss of 26’5 ½” in the shot put while Lily Sorbello was first for the team in the weight throw at 25’10 ½”.
Cazenovia returned to SRC Arena on Sunday to make up the Bob Grieve Invitational that was snowed out Jan 19 in one final effort to prepare for the post-season, which begins with the OHSL Championships on Thursday night.
The Lakers posted seven straight OHSL titles from 2010-2017 before falling to second place in 2018. They will strive to restore their title-winning tradition this week.
