by Kurt Wheeler
The Cazenovia girls cross country team placed the first 10 runners across the line against Hannibal last Wednesday to overwhelm the visiting Hannibal Warriors 15-51 in league action. The victory kept the Lakers undefeated atop the OHSL Liberty-National Division.
Much of the meet was shrouded in fog as a sudden shift in the weather produced a thick mist that limited visibility to less than 50 meters at times.
Despite these conditions, Cazenovia dominated. Lauren McLean led the charge, posting her fastest time ever to win the race in 21 minutes, 40 seconds over the Lakers’ rugged 3.0 mile home course.
Isla Stover (22:03) and Claire Braaten (22:25) were second and third for the Lakers with Mary Williams (22:59) and Finlay Stover (23:00) capturing fourth and fifth to lock in a perfect score of 15 for Cazenovia.
The blur of blue and gold did not stop there as Maddie McGreevy crossed the line three seconds later in 23:03 with Emma Steinberg also displacing the Warriors’ scorers in seventh place at 23:20.
The depth of the Cazenovia pack was truly evident as three more Lakers crossed the line before the first Hannibal scorer. Mia Chesbrough led that group in 23:29 while Melanie Michael took nearly a minute off her best time at Fenner to finish ninth in 24:22 and Grace Dolan captured tenth in 24:50 to complete the Laker streak.
Cazenovia also raced at the Tully Invitational Saturday in a final tune-up before their upcoming league match-up with Skaneateles.
Despite resting three of their top four runners in preparation for their upcoming battle against the “Western Lakers,” Cazenovia finished eighth in a 19-team field in the Small School division, with several girls posting their best times of the season.
Isla Stover led this time, finishing 24th in 22:14.4, her quickest time of the fall over a full 5,000-meter race, despite thick frost blanketing much of the course as the race started. Finlay Stover (23:19.8) stepped up to lead the rest of the Laker pack to a tight finish with four scorers in 27 seconds.
McGreevy (23:24.8), Williams (23:30.1) and Chesbrough (23:46.8) all finished in quick order to cap the Lakers’ score of 191 points. Emma Steinberg (24:31.6) and Michael (24:39.9) each displaced opposing runners from their number six and seven spots for the team. Dolan (25:05.1), Jenna Steinberg (25:57.7) and Maggie Rowles (27:00.8) also raced well for Cazenovia.
The Lakers would match up against Skaneateles Tuesday at Longbranch Park in Liverpool in a battle of unbeatens that will likely decide the league title. Later in the week, the Cazenovia harriers will journey to New York City to participate in the legendary Manhattan Invitational at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx for the biggest meet of the season in the Northeast.
