by Kurt Wheeler
SYRACUSE -Paced by first-place finishes in the pole vault , long jump and 4×800 meter relay, the Cazenovia girls indoor track team finished second among 19 teams at their opening meet of the 2021-22 season.
Only Class AA Cicero-North Syracuse (98 points) outscored the Class B-2 Lakers (75) at the Jack Morse Kickoff Meet at Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena, with Liverpool (47) and 16 other schools trailing.
Corinne Albicker scored in three events to help lead the team, earning the team’s only individual first place finish with victory in the long jump at 14 feet, 11 1/2 inches. She teamed up with Kylie Anthony (13’9 ½”) to capture first as a team in the relay style meet which combines the top two performance from each school for scoring.
Albicker (29’10”) also teamed with Bonnie Pittman (27’7 ¾”) for fourth in the triple jump and contributed in the 55-meter dash.
Senior Captain Katie Whitney and Freshman Susie Pittman were also triple scorers for the Lakers. Whitney led the way in the 55 sprint (third individually at 7.90 seconds), anchored the 4×200 meter relay team to a fifth-place finish in 2:02.01 with a 29.1 second leg and helped the sprint medley relay to a third place finish in 4:56.86.
Pittman (7 feet) teamed with Faith Wheeler (6’6”) to win the pole vault and cleared 4’8” in the high jump to partner with Katie Pavelchak (4’6”) to earn third. She also contributed to the medley relay along with Claire Braaten and Wheeler.
Cazenovia’s distance runners were superb, with the team of senior captain Mary Williams, Olivia Wong and Nadia Segall joining Braaten to win the 4×800 meter relay in a time of 10:54.33. Wong (5:36.28) led the way in the 1,500, partnering with Williams, Segall and Dinah Gifford to earn second in that event as a team.
Senior captain Melanie Michael led all Laker hurdlers, finishing third as an individual in 10.02 seconds. She teamed up with Caryn Gagnon (10.37) to capture fourth as a relay.
Michael ran the second fastest leg (29.9) in the 4×200 with Gagnon and Pavelchak also contributing to the score. Michael also helped the 4×400 meter relay of Bonnie Pittman (1:10.3 leg), Ilsa Denton and Anna Reger to a 4:58.38 finish.
Kenzie Halliday led the Laker throwers, tossing the weight 20’6 ¼” to partner with Danielle Smith for sixth place. Smith led the team in the shot put with a 23’1 ½” effort to combine with Mary Williams (23’1”) to score in her third event of the meet) for a sixth place relay finish.
The Lakers’ depth (34 athletes on this year’s squad) and balance (scoring in 12 of 13 events) were keys to their success as they got their season off to a quick start.
Cazenovia will be back in action at Utica College this Friday as it faces off against old rivals such as Clinton from their previous seasons in the Mohawk Valley Indoor Track Association.
