by Mike Millson
HANNIBAL – The Cazenovia varsity boys outdoor track team made the long trip to Hannibal for the OHSL Liberty Small School Championships Monday and were crowned champions for the fourth consecutive year, beating a field that included Phoenix, Skaneateles, Altmar-Parish-Williamstown, Hannibal, Jordan-Elbridge, and Solvay.
If the Lakers were tired from their third meet in six days or affected by the cold, windy, rainy weather, it didn’t show in the performances. Cazenovia accumulated 212 points, with its closest competitor, Phoenix, earning 118 points
Andrew Kent led the way for the Lakers, winning the 200 meters (23.57 seconds), 400 meters (51.73), and anchoring the 4×400 meter relay that prevailed in 3:51.95.
Cooper Hughes was also a triple winner, taking first place in the 800 meters (2:13.12), joining Kent in the 4×400 meter relay, and anchoring the 4×800 meter relay to a season- best time of 9:00.11.
Michael Senehi nearly matched Kent and Hughes, joining Hughes on the winning 4×800 relay and adding two second place finishes in arguably the toughest events in outdoor track, the 3,000-meter steeplechase (personal record 11:45.24) and 400 meter hurdles (1:07.15).
Cazenovia won all three relays. J.P. Hoak, Tom Insel, Wyatt Scott, and Andrew Lee took first place in the 4×100 meter relay in 47.32. Dan Millson and Jaden Kaplan joined Kent and Hughes on the winning 4×400 meter relay. Branden McColm and Cassidy Gilmore paired with Hughes and Senehi to win the 4×800 meter relay.
Other winners included Connor Frisbie in the triple jump with a personal record distance of 38 feet 8 inches and Elijah Clement in the discus with a winning throw of 113’7”, also a personal record.
Frisbie added three second place finishes to his triple jump win, clearing 5’4” in the high jump, going 18’3 3/4″ in the long jump, and setting a personal record with a sectional qualifying time of 18.48 seconds in the 110 meter hurdles.
Clement and Millson joined Frisbie with the distinction of scoring in four events. Clement added a fourth place finish in the pole vault (9 feet”) and sixth in the 100 meters (12.55 seconds) to go with his wins in the discus and 4×100 meter relay.
Millson added third-place finishes in the 400 meters (personal record 54.35) and triple jump (season best 36’9.5”) and fifth place in the long jump (17’4”) to his 4×400 meter relay win.
Multiple Lakers scored in nearly every event. Hoak (12.15 seconds) took second place in the 100 meters, followed by Lee (12.53) in fifth. Gilmore was right behind Hughes in the 800 meters with a time of 2:13:38 for second place, with Faham Murad (2:20.70) sixth.
Both McColm (4:55.59) and Will Austin (5:04.66) set personal records in the 1,600-meter run, with McColm taking second place and Austin fifth. McColm and Austin also scored in the 3,200-meter run, with McColm in third place (11:08.81) and Austin fifth (11:25.80).
Aiden Harig cleared 5’2” in the high jump and ran 1:09.72 in the 400 meter hurdles, both good for third place finishes. Quinn Smith set a personal record in the pentathlon, accumulating 1,907 points to take third place.
Other scoring efforts included Killian Blouin clearing 9’0” for second place in the pole vault, Kaplan running 55.76 for sixth place in the 400 meters, and Dylan Shepard third in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 18.83.
