by Kurt Wheeler
CAZENOVIA – The Cazenovia Lakers’ “indoor” girls track and field team earned two more wins in its unusual outdoor season last Tuesday afternoon, using its depth to outscore a talented Marcellus squad 77-55 and overwhelming a short-handed Bishop Grimes 129-1.
Katie Whitney led the Lakers on the track, running her fastest 55-meter dash of the season in 7.6 seconds to edge Marcellsu’ Quinn Burnett by one-tenth of a second for first place.
Then Whitney returned to help Cazenovia to a crucial victory in the final event of the meet as the Lakers won the 4×200 relay in 1:57.5, with Grace Dolan (28.2 second split), Ainsly Schug and Anna Edwards also contributing to the relay win.
Dolan (with a 1:05.2 split) also led the 4×400 relay team of Schug, Edwards and Lily Clonan to a winning time of 4:32.5 earlier in the meet.
Claire Braaten, Mary Williams, Carly Lounsbury and Molly Hart teamed up for a Laker triumph in the 4×800 as Cazenovia swept the relay events. Williams also won the 1,500, while Braaten earned second place in the 600 and Lounsbury took second in the 1,000.
Melanie Michael continued her exceptional season in the hurdles as she took first in the 55-meter event in 9.7 seconds. She also captured first in the 200 hurdles in 32.9 seconds in the first-ever running of that event in an “indoor” meet at Cazenovia for a de facto school record. Lili Gavitt earned third in the 55 hurdles, while Bonnie Pitman took third in the 200 hurdles.
A key to the Lakers’ edge on the track was its ability to eke out points with critical second and third-place finishes.
Clonan (46.7 seconds) took second in the 300-meter dash, with Edwards third. Maddie McGreevey earned second in the 1,500, while Faith Wheeler captured third in the 1,000 with a season-best time.
The margin on the track was another key to victory as Marcellus battled the Lakers to a 27-27 tie in field events. Lili Sorbello headlined Cazenovia’s effort in the field, placing first and setting a new school record in the weight throw with 30 feet, 7 inches.
Kenzie Halliday and Emma Blair also scored for a Laker sweep in the weight throw, but Marcellus countered with first in the shot put, though Sorbello and Halliday picked up second and third, respectively, to keep it close.
Cazenovia swept the pole vault as Lounsbury cleared 7’6”, while Christian Brown and Emma Steinberg followed. Marcellus again countered with impressive efforts, going 1-2-3 in the high jump, led by Shaw’s 4’10”, while Katie Pavelchak cleared 4’6” to set a sectional standard for the Lakers.
Marcellus was also outstanding in the long jump and triple jump, winning both, but the Lakers kept fighting. Pitman (29’1”) excelled in the triple jump while Reid McMurtrie and Emmi Rightmyre (each going 13’ ½” took second and third in the long jump.
The Lakers capped its short season with another virtual invitational last Friday. Despite the brief duration, the novel “outdoor-indoor” experiment was a huge success, leading to a positive experience for all the participants and preparing dozens of athletes for the spring season that began practices on Monday.
