by Kurt Wheeler
The Cazenovia girls cross country team lived out the school district’s 2020 mantra of “Be Safe, Be Kind, Be Flexible,” during an unpredictable week from Oct 5-8.
On Monday, the girls enduring a grueling track workout, always tough, but rendered more so by this year’s safety requirement for athletes to wear masks at all times.
Despite the challenge and burning lungs as they ran their weekly timed mile and 400-meter repeats, the girls stayed positive and worked hard to prepare for their first competition.
Tuesday, like every day, showed the real value of interscholastic sports as the girls supported and encouraged one another, had fun designing a team sweatshirt and showed kindness in a hundred small ways as they did an easy practice the day before their first meet.
Flexibility popped into the equation Tuesday evening as the runners got word that their scheduled season-opening opponent, Christian Brothers Academy, had experienced a positive COVID-19 test and their meet for the following afternoon would be postponed.
After quickly changing plans to conduct an intra-squad scrimmage on Wednesday, Mother Nature added another curve ball with a major storm just as school was ending. The sun was back out by 3:30 along with news that Manlius-Pebble Hill could compete in an impromptu meet on Thursday.
As the Lakers warmed up, they got word that the small MPH girls squad wasn’t able to make it to the meet on such short notice. Without missing a beat, half the team switched to practice jerseys and the team went back to “Plan B” for a scrimmage.
None of it mattered when the gun went off for the first time in 2020. The girls’ individual training over the summer and hard work as a team since Sept 22 was quickly evident as they sprinted from the start line.
Molly Hart (21:07) and Lauren McLean (21:50) led the “Gold” team to a 21-34 victory as they turned in times close to their 2019 season bests over the Lakers’ challenging 4,800-meter course at the Sean Googin Sports Complex.
Mary Williams (22:44) improved on her best time from a year ago as she teamed with Claire Braaten (23:14) to keep the “Blue” team close. The trio of Maddie McGreevy (23:42), Melanie Michael (23:54) and Zoe Gagne (24:00) put the Gold team over the top as they finished in quick succession.
They were followed by a strong pack of Blue runners as Grace Dolan (24:16). Laura Fitzgerald (24:36), Bonnie Pittman (24:54) and Mia Chesbrough (24:55) crossed the line, but Gold had already sealed the victory.
A host of other Lakers followed quickly thereafter with Emma Steinberg, Caryn Gagnon, Olivia Wong, Iris Casey, Karly Vaas and Samantha Combs also running well for the team with 17 of the squad’s deep roster of 20 running to open the season.
The good news for Cazenovia fans is that all of the girls will be wearing blue and gold and scoring for the Lakers in their first interscholastic meet, slated for next Wednesday against an opponent yet to be determined.
Despite the challenges and uncertainty of 2020, the girls showed how much can be accomplished when they work together to stay “safe, kind and flexible.”
As the sounds of their laughter echoed across the field during the cool-down run and the sun set on the Fenner foliage, athletes and fans alike couldn’t help but count their blessings to have our teams back in action this fall.
