by Kurt Wheeler
CLINTON – The Cazenovia girls track & field team added another win to their historic 2022 season as they captured first place at the 29th Annual “Junkyard Relays” track invitational May 21 at Clinton High School.
Overcoming 90-plus degree temperatures along with athletes from 20 other participating schools, the Lakers won eight events and placed in all 23 to score 163.5 points to top Clinton (122.5) for the victory.
The “Junkyard” is a celebrated track tradition in Central New York including a variety of unique relays and combinations not seen anywhere else, from competitions for freshmen only, throwers relays, field events where top three performances are added up and even a coaches musical chair game.
Despite the sizzling heat and light-hearted nature of the meet, the Lakers achieved some impressive outcomes, with all three of their “normal” relays achieving the standard for the state qualifier.
The 4×800 meter relay of Claire Braaten (personal record leg of 2:32.4), Nadia Segall, Faith Wheeler and Dinah Gifford led off the day with a season best time of 10:19.34 – more than 25 seconds faster then their league champion time set earlier in the week.
Melanie Michael, Grace Dolan, Corinne Albicker and Katie Whitney also improved on their season best in the 4×100 with a winning time of 52.83 seconds.
Dolan returned to lead off the Lakers’ first place 4×400 meter relay with a personal best time of 1:01.4. Olivia Ruddy also hit her best time ever during the race (1:03.9) with Gifford and Meghan Mehlbaum adding strong legs to help the team to a time of 4:17.70, more than nine seconds under their previous best.
Other winning efforts on the track included the freshmen 1,000-meter sprint medley of Ruddy, Sophie Rheaume, Emily Benedict and Susie Pittman and Ruddy who cruised to victory in 2:36.27, more than 26 seconds ahead of their closest competition. The 1,600 sprint medley of Dolan, Whitney, Ruddy and Braaten also took gold with 4:43.36.
The most dramatic moment of the meet came as the Lakers’ 4×100 meter throwers relay snatched victory from the presumptive favorite Clinton team by .07 seconds as Mary Williams surged past the Warriors’s anchor leg at the finish.
Only girls who had competed that day in a throwing event were allowed to be part of the relay team. Williams (shot), Katie Pavelchak (shot), Michaela Tobin (shot, discus and javelin) and Olivia Morse (discus, 20 pound weight throw and javelin) showed their speed and athleticism as they prevailed in 57.98 seconds.
Williams returned to run the 2,000-meter steeplechase, combining with Dinah Gifford (personal best of 8:03.0) to place second individually) and Nadia Segall for first place as a team in the challenging event.
Michael and Bonnie Pittman headlined the squad’s effort in both hurdle relays, partnering with Ruddy for second in the 400 meter event and with Angela Moskvich for third in the 100 meter hurdles.
Other key scorers on the track included the 1,000 meter upper-class relay of Whitney, Dolan, Mehlbaum and Michael (second in 2:35.00), the #2 4×1,500 relay of Grace Kingsley, Williams, Segall and Olivia Wong and the second-place distance medley relay of Wong, Wheeler, Kingsley and Kate Millson.
Albicker led the way in Cazenovia’s field event wins, hitting season bests in both the long jump (14 feet 9 ¼ inches) and triple jump (31’5 1/2”). She partnered with Rheaume and Rachel Molloy for the long jump win and with Susie Pittman and Maleigha Coffie for the triple jump crown.
Pittman also led the Lakers scoring efforts in pole vault (8’1”) and javelin (60’3”). Pavelchak and Mehlbaum (4’6” each) led the team’s third place high jump relay. Morse (77’3” in discus) and Karly Vaas (24’11 1/2” in shot, 22’8” in weight) paced the team in the throws as each hit career bests.
Thirty-four members of the squad competed for the Lakers during the meet, with the team’s depth being a decisive advantage as it has been throughout the season.
