by Mike Millson
LITTLE FALLS – The Cazenovia varsity boys outdoor track team dominated the Section III Class B-2 championships held Thursday at Little Falls High School scoring 147 points, well ahead of second place Clinton with 102.
All season, team members had wondered, “Where is Little Falls?”, and “Why is sectionals so far away (an hour and 15 minutes)?”. It all made sense when they saw the great facilities and looked across the track to a stunning view of a valley stretching into the horizon.
For once this season, the weather was nearly perfect – a little breezy, but sunny, and the temperature was nearly perfect in the mid 70s.
Andrew Kent took full advantage and had a day for the ages, winning two individual events and propelling the 4×100 and 4×400 meter relays to victory.
Kent broke his own school record in the 200-meter dash, with a time of 22.40 seconds, ahead of Canastota great Devon Youker, and was not challenged in the 400, winning with a time of 51.64.
The Lakers have now won every sectional meet since 2018, the year Kent joined the team as an eighth-grader.
Other individual event winners were Brandon McColm in the 1,600 meters with a personal record time of 4:50.29 and Cassidy Gilmore in the 800 meters with 2:07.03, just ahead of teammate Cooper Hughes at 2:07.19.
The Lakers won all three relays with season best times. The 4×100 team of Kent, JP Hoak, Elijah Clement and Andrew Lee avenged their loss to Clinton at the Junkyard Relays with a time of 45.24 seconds.
Also, the 4×400 meter relay team of Hughes, Kent, Dan Millson and Jaden Kaplan posted a time of 3:36.63 to win a close battle with Skaneateles. The 4×800 meter relay team of McColm, Hughes, Gilmore and Michael Senehi was well ahead of the field with a time of 8:32.87.
The Lakers dominated the 1,600 meters. In addition to McColm’s win, Gilmore finished in third place in 5:00.55 and Will Austin fifth in 5:09.22.
The pole vault was another event with three Lakers scoring. Killian Blouin set a personal record with a height of 10 feet for fourth place, and Sam Wilcox and Clement both clearing 9’6” for fifth and sixth place, respectively.
Michael Senehi set two personal records on the day, going 11:17.4 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase for second place and taking fourth place in the 400 meter hurdles in 1:04.89.
Others setting personal records with scoring performances included Connor Frisbie, who was second in the 110 in 17.85 seconds; Quinn Smith, third place in the pentathlon with 1,940 points, and Millson in fifth place in the 400 sprint in 54.08.
Clement, Gilmore, Hughes, McColm, and Millson had the distinction of scoring in three events. Clement added a second place finish in the discus with a throw of 112’10”, McColm a fourth in the 3,200 in 11:29.7 and Millson a sixth in the triple jump with 36’4”.
Other scoring performances included Frisbie in third place in the triple jump (38’3”), Dylan Shephard in fourth place in the 110 meter hurdles (18.7 seconds), and Willem Light-Olson in sixth place in the pentathlon (1,833 points).
In addition, personal records were set by Hoak (11.92 seconds) and Lee (12.21) in the 100, Lee (24.47) and Tom Insel (25.05) in the 200, and Jaden Kaplan (54.96) in the 400 meters.
