The Cazenovia girls track and field team closed out a decade of success in the Onondaga High School League with a 99-42 victory over rival Skaneateles last to capture the Liberty-National division crown.
The title win was the team’s eighth since 2010. The dual meet victory closed out Cazenovia’s regular season with a 5-0 mark, and raised its 10-year total to 63-3.
Blue skies and sunshine greeted the Lakers for the first time this season and they took full advantage of the uncommon good weather to post 45 season-best performances.
Molly Hart and Isla Stover were among the many Lakers to peak at the right time as each ran their fastest times in both the 1,500 (5:24.2 and 5:33.0) and 3,000 -meter runs (11:57.6 and 12:09.7) to place 1-2 in each and earn Cazenovia a 16-2 advantage.
The 4×800 meter relay followed suit as every girl ran a season best to win the race. Kelly Frost (2:40.5) led the way with Mary Williams, Mia Chesbrough and Cavy Monahan also contributing to the critical relay. Williams and Stover both scored in the 800 to round out Cazenovia’s success in the distance events.
The news was equally bright in the sprints and hurdles with multiple girls running personal record times to give the “Eastern Lakers” the advantage.
Savannah Johnson had a huge meet, stepping up to fill in for injured teammate Chloe Smith. Johnson ran a season best of 13.2 seconds in the 100-meter dash for second place to break up Skaneateles’ outstanding duo of sprinters and hit another best of 27.4 seconds for second in the 200 with Peyton Basic third in 28.6.
Johnson also anchored the 4×100 team of Grace Dolan, Paige Hunt and Caryn Gagnon to victory in a season-best time of 52.7 seconds.
Lili Gavitt led a dramatic sweep in the 100 meter hurdles at 17.1 seconds, with Gagnon second in a career best 17.2 and Melanie Michael third in 17.3. Michael (1:13.3) and Gagnon (1:19.5) also ran their fastest times ever to score in the 400 hurdles.
Peyton Basic dominated the 400 meter dash, running a career best time of 1:03.9 for first place with teammate Grace Dolan third in 1:07 flat.
Then Basic returned to pull off a dramatic come-from-behind victory in the 4×400 relay with a 1:04.7 anchor leg. Dolan, Monahan and Ella Huftalen joined her in the win as Cazenovia swept the three relay events and earned a 61-26 advantage on the track.
Maddy Gavitt led the team in the field events, scoring in four events, including three first-place finishes. Gavitt led a sweep of the long jump with a season best 16 feet 1 inch as Chloe Smith and Lili Gavitt earned second and third.
Also, Gavitt’s 34’5” triple jump was good for first with Ava Gavitt’s season best of 30’4 ½” taking third. And Gavitt had a 4’10” effort in the high jump as Paige Hunt and Lili Gavitt each cleared 4’8” for a 1-2-3 Cazenovia sweep.
Paige Hunt continued her success in the pole vault with a first place finish at 9 feet and three good attempts at 9’6” attempting to tie the school record. Maddy Gavitt backed her up in the vault with an 8-foot clearance for second place.
Claire Edwards led the team in the throws, winning the discus with a season-best 93’8 ½” and earning third in the shot at 27’3”. Her points added to the team’s 38-16 margin in the field events.
The weather returned to blustery and cold for Friday’s Baldwinsville Invitational, but several Lakers overcame the conditions to turn in noteworthy performances nonetheless.
Maddy Gavitt led the team with a first place finish in the nearly 30-team field in the triple jump by going 32’10 ¾”. Lili Gavitt (17.63) and Melanie Michael (17.66) earned third and fourth, respectively, in the 100 hurdles and Michael also captured fifth in the 400 hurdles.
Claire Braaten led the Lakers on the track with her two fastest 800 meter runs of the season, including a 2:39.9 effort in her leg ofthe 4×800 relay. Kelly Frost also had a season best of 8:48.71 to qualify for sectionals in the 2,000 meter steeplechase, while Basic (1:03.85) and Dolan (1:06.48) both ran personal record times in the 400 meter dash.
The Lakers will return to action Wednesday at Marcellus as they vie for the small school crown at the OHSL Liberty championships.
