by Kurt Wheeler
CAZENOVIA –
The Cazenovia girls track and field team remained undefeated as they overwhelmed OHSL Liberty league foe Solvay 132-8 and non-league opponent OnTech Charter 137-3 on Wednesday, winning 16 of the 17 events against the Bearcats and all 17 against OnTech.
Despite competing in a steady rain throughout the meet, the Lakers kept its focus and delivered a series of consistent performances to earn the wins.
Katie Whitney led the team on the track, posting victories in the 100 (13.3 seconds) and 200-meter dash (28.6) and anchoring the 4×100 to first place in 54.5 seconds.
Melanie Michael led off the 4×100 and earned two individual victories of her own as she captured the 100 meter hurdles in 17.8 seconds and the 400 hurdles in 1:15.3.
Grace Dolan was also a triple winner, capturing the 400 in 1:04.1 and contributing to the winning 4×100 and 4×400 relays, while Olivia Wong led the team’s effort in the distance events, prevailing in the 1,500 and the 3,000-meter runs. Faith Wheeler earned the Lakers final individual victory on the track with a 2:44 effort in the 800-meter run.
Claire Braaten, Nadia Segall, Zoey Gagne and Kate Millson teamed up for the victory in the 4×800 meter run while Olivia Ruddy, Meghan Mehlbaum and Millson joined Dolan for the 4×400 victory to ice a perfect 87-0 shutout of Solvay on the track. OnTech was able to earn second in the 100 meter dash to hold the Laker track advantage to 84-3 against them.
Corinne Albicker led the Lakers in the field events, earning two victories there to add to her winning leg on the 4×100 and her second place finish in the 100 hurdles. She won the long jump at 13 feet 8 inches despite the soggy runway and prevailed in the triple jump with a 29’2” effort.
Susie Pittman continued her success in the pole vault, winning at 7’6” with Wheeler one height back at 7 feet. Pittman also added a second in the high jump to back up Katie Pavelchak’s winning effort of 4’8”.
Karly Vaas led Cazenovia in the throws, winning the shot put with a 22’5” toss. Solvay’s lone win came in the discus as Emily Rolince was first at 72’9”,but the Lakers’ Danielle Smith (68’1 1/2”) and Skye Stanford (61’9”) quickly took second and third to minimize the advantage.
The Cazenovia girls achieved 35 season best performances despite the wet weather. Noteworthy bests included Bonnie Pittman’s 19.0 in the 100 hurdles for third place along with Nadia Segall (5:36.5) and Mary Williams (5:39.0) who placed second and third in the 1500.
Sophie Rheaume ran a career best of 14.1 in the 100 to earn third place while Meghan Mehlbaum scored in two new events (800, long jump) as she prepared for a potential post-season attempt in the five-event entathlon.
The 4-0 Lakers would visit Marcellus, the only other unbeaten squad in the OHSL Liberty Central Division Division, next Wednesday as the two teams vie for the regular season league title.
