by Kurt Wheeler
The Cazenovia girls cross country team remained unbeaten in dual meets and raced in New York City in another busy week of cross country action.
First, the Lakers beat Hannibal 15-51 to move to 5-0 in the OHSL Liberty National Division before traveling to Manhattan to race in the largest high school meet in the United States.
Cazenovia paused before its final home meet of the season to honor its five senior runners. Mary Williams, Claire Braaten, Melanie Michael, Emma Steinberg and exchange student Lobar Kadirova were all recognized by coaches and teammates for their athletic and personal contributions to the team.
Knowing they faced an incomplete Hannibal squad the Lakers livened up the competition by pitting their Juniors and Seniors against their Freshman and Sophomore runners. Fittingly, the seniors led the upperclass girls to a 27-29 victory over their younger teammates.
Lauren McLean (21:17) and Olivia Wong (21:42) led all runners as each achieved season bests on the team’s tough home course. Senior captains Claire Braaten (22:54) and Mary Williams (23:07) along with junior Bonnie Pittman (23:30, season best) immediately rallied their group toward victory, however.
Sophomore Zoey Gagne (course best of 23:37) slipped across in sixth overall for the younger team, but seniors Melanie Michael (23:50) and Emma Steinberg (25:40) capped the scoring for their side with their best races on the fall at Fenner. Ilsa Denton, Sedona Millard and Sophia Gaff also ran well for the Lakers in the competition.
The girls transitioned quickly from the fields of Fenner to the urban terrain of New York City, taking the train to Manhattan on Friday in preparation for the massive Manhattan Invitational held at VanCortlandt Park a day later. Thousands of runners from schools representing 14 different states converged on the famed 2.5 mile course to compete.
Wong led Cazenovia to a 14th place finish in an incredibly competitive Varsity “A” race, finishing 31st in the huge field in a time of 16:52.9.
McLean was second for the Lakers in 17:41.8, with Williams close behind at 18:016 in one of her best races of the year as all three earned medals in the race for their top finishes.
Braaten (18:38.1) and Bonnie Pittman (19:05.8) were the final scorers for Cazenovia with Zoey Gagne (19:08.9) and Melanie Michael (19:34.1) filling the important six-seven positions for the team.
Steinberg (20:27.2) led Cazenovia’s second team to a strong fifth place finish in the Junior Varsity “B” Race. Ilsa Denton, Mesi Stevens, Rachael Caraher and Sophia Gaff rounded out the excellent team finish for the Lakers, with each of them winning a medal as a top-75 finisher in the competition.
The Lakers were able to round out its weekend in New York City with visits to Times Square, Central Park, the 9/11 Memorial and the Statue of Liberty before returning to Central New York by train on Sunday.
Then Cazenovia will have just two days to prepare before matching up against Skaneateles at Long Branch Park on Wednesday for the regular season league title.
