by Kurt Wheeler
LIVERPOOL – The Cazenovia girls cross country team capped its 2021 regular-season campaign with another pair of victories to finish the regular season 7-0 and win the OHSL Liberty-National title, defeating Skaneateles 24-33 and Solvay 15-51 on Wednesday to cap off this undefeated season.
Both Cazenovia and Skaneateles entered the final regular season meet hosted by Solvay at Long Branch Park unbeaten, but only one of the teams would maintain the streak and win the league title.
Cazenovia entered the contest just three days after their return from New York City and itsstrong performance at the Manhattan Invitational. The fast pace set on Van Cortlandt Park’s short 2.5-mile cross was still fresh on their minds as they surged to the front, controlling the first five places after the opening half-mile.
The tempo remained fast through the first mile with Lauren McLean leading the pack at 6:40 and the top five all under or near seven minutes, but Skaneateles’ leaders steadily worked their way into scoring position.
Olivia Wong once again ran negative splits, increasing her pace as the race developed, and surged into the lead at the race’s midpoint with McLean close behind. The duo held on to claim the top two places for Cazenovia with Wong at 20:11 and McLean at 20:34.
Skaneateles fought valiantly with its top three runners – eighth-grader Lucy Finkelstein (20:59), freshman Tobi DiRubbo (21:35) and Lillian Yengo (21:54) – seizing the 3-4-5 positions to keep the contest close.
But Cazenovia’s pack was too much for the “Western Lakers” as they took the next three places in an eight-second span to clinch the win. Zoey Gagne (21:58) ran her best race of the season to earn sixth, followed closely by Bonnie Pittman (22:03) and Mary Williams (22:06).
Skaneateles was able to claim ninth place thanks to Grace Conan’s 22:24, but Claire Braaten (22:29) and Melanie Michael (22:51) quickly filled the 6-7 positions for Cazenovia to displace their opponent’s final scorer and increase the margin of victory.
Mesi Stevens (23:46), Emma Steinberg (24:18), Ilsa Denton (24:55) and Sophia Gaff (27:52) also ran strong races for the victorious “Eastern Lakers.”
The win locked in Cazenovia’s third league title in the last four seasons, with the only gap being the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season when no titles were awarded.
The Lakers’ unbeaten streak and strong performance at Manhattan caught the eye of the New York State Sportswriters Association as Cazenovia moved up to no. 5 among Class C teams in the state in the most recent poll.
Now Cazenovia will have nearly two weeks to train as they prepare for the overall OHSL Liberty Championship Meet back at Long Branch on Oct. 27 as they strive to earn another big meet victory.
