by Kurt Wheeler
CAZENOVIA – The Cazenovia girls track team made a new kind of history last Tuesday afternoon, winning the first ever outdoor meet of an indoor track season.
The Lakers used its exceptional depth and diverse talents to overwhelm Christian Brothers Academy 103-10 in the unique competition.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, local colleges were unable to host indoor track teams in their arenas, forcing the cancellation of the regular winter season in Central New York.
In a creative response, a number of local schools moved their season to the “Fall II” session running March 15 to April 17 with meets being conducted outdoors.
Cazenovia took full advantage of the opportunity with 43 girls participating on the squad and leveraging this spring’s great weather to prepare to contest all of the usual indoor track events.
Then the Lakers were able to use their depth favorably, winning 13 of 14 events against the smaller CBA squad and sweeping many of them.
The Lakers kicked off the meet with a sweep of the 55-meter hurdle event, led by Melanie Michael in a time of 10.1 seconds. The 4×400 relay team of Grace Dolan (1:07.6 split), Melanie Michael, Anna Edwards and Mary Williams won in a time of 4:45.3. Carley Lounsbury kept up the momentum on the track, leading a sweep in the 1,000-meter run in 3:43.5.
Riley Knapp (7.8 seconds) and Katie Whitney (7.9) earned the top two places in the 55-meter dash to expand the edge. Lily Clonan, running her first indoor track meet ever, led Cazenovia in the 300-meter dash with a first place effort of 48.1 seconds.
CBA’s Annie Toole earned her team’s lone victory of the day with a 1:54.7 effort in the 600-meter run, but Claire Braaten quickly countered for the Lakers, capturing second place just one second back at 1:55.7.
The teams did not contest the usual 1,500 and 3,000-meter events in the opening meet with uncertainty about weather conditions so early in the year but fielded multiple 4×800 and 4×200 meter relays.
Cazenovia’s “A” team of Lounsbury, Maddie McGreevy, Olivia Wong and Mia Chesbroug took first in the 4×800 min a time of 12:45.6. The 4×200 team of Whitney, Dolan, Knapp and Reid McMurtrie took first in a time of 1:57.7.
The Lakers were also dominant in the field events, capturing all six disciplines there despite the short pre-season opportunities to prepare.
Emmi Rightmyre led Cazenovia in the long jump with a 13’3” effort. Ava Gavitt topped the field in the triple jump at 28’6 3/4” with Bonnie Pittman close behind at 28-5.5. McGreevy and Katie Pavelchak led the charge in the high jump, with each clearing 4-4
Lounsbury won her third event of the meet with a 7-foot clearance in the pole vault while Christina Brown took second at 6’6”.Lily Sorbello led the Lakers in the throws, tying her personal best in the weight throw with a toss of 26’5” and also taking first in the shot put with a 23’5” effort.
Cazenovia also participated in a “virtual meet” last Friday, with all participating schools running on their own track and performances digitally.
