by Kurt Wheeler

SYRACUSE – The Cazenovia girls indoor track team scored 110 points to win the John Arcaro Memorial Invitational last Saturday at SRC Arena, outrunning Class AA powers West Genesee (93 points) and Baldwinsville (89.3 points) along with eight other teams for the win.

Cazenovia tapped into the depth of its roster and the versatility of its athletes to score in every event and win four of 16 despite entering the meet with gaps in its line-up due to COVID-19 quarantines.

Senior Captain Melanie Michael led the Lakers with scores in three events including an individual first-place finish in a State Qualifier eligible time of 9.58 seconds in the 55-meter hurdles. She combined with Caryn Gagnon (10.39) for first overall in the event in the relay-style scoring that combines the top two performances from each team.

Michael and Gagnon also combined with Katie Whitney and Corinne Albicker for second in the 4×200 meter relay in a season best time of 1:58.47.

Whitney (47.96 seconds) and Michael (48.12) each added personal best times in the 300-meter dash for fourth as team. Whitney (7.92 seconds) and Emmi Rightmyre (8.57) also took fourth as a duo in the 55- meter dash to round out the Lakers’ scoring in the sprints.

Cazenovia also excelled in the jumps, winning the high jump, long jump and triple jump and taking third in the pole vault.

Katie Pavelchak led the way with an individual first-place, State Qualifier effort of 4 feet 10 inches in the high jump combining with Meghan Mehlbaum, who also had a personal best of 4’6”.

Albicker was number one in the meet in the long jump at 14’6 ¼”, combining with Kylie Anthony (13’11 ¼”) for the win. Anthony had her own number one performance with a personal best 30’5 ¼” in the triple, combining with Erin Kuhn (26’6 ¼”) for first as a duo. Faith Wheeler (6’6”) and Sofie Reger (6 feet) teamed up to score in the pole vault.

Mary Williams and Claire Braaten led the charge for the Lakers in the middle distance events. Williams had the best 600-meter run of the year for the team (1:51.75) to partner with Kenzie Halliday (1:58.17) for second place.

Braaten qualified for sectionals and ran a team-best time of 3:20.70 in the 1,000 as she combined with Faith Wheeler (personal best of 3:25.94) for second in that event. Williams, Braaten and Wheeler also teamed up with Kate Millson to earn second in the 4×800 meter relay in 11:09.82.

Nadia Segall (12:46.66) led the way in the distance as she scored twice, combining with Dinah Gifford (12:37.78) to place second in the 3,000 and teaming with Zoey Gagne (season best of 5:54.12) to take third in the 1,500.

Bonnie Pittman ran a season-best opening leg of 1:09.7 to combine with Maleigha Coffie, Maya Gilmore and Mehlbaum (1:08.3 anchor leg) to earn fourth in the 4×400 in 4:47.82.

Williams also contributed in the throws as her 23-foot toss in the shot combined with Halliday’s 20’8” effort to earn seventh. Halliday (19’10 ½”) was tops in the weight throw as she led Emma Schwartz (16 feet) to an eighth place team finish.

The Arcaro meet win was the third big meet victory for the Lakers in five tries with the other contests being second-place finishes to track powerhouses Cicero-North Syracuse and Fayetteville-Manlius.