by Kurt Wheeler
LITTLE FALLS – The Cazenovia girls track and field squad capped an exceptional season of team competition with a decisive victory in the Section III Class B-2 championship Meet on May 26.
Leveraging its unequaled depth to place in 17 of 19 events, the Lakers scored 142.5 points to outpace Skaneateles (92) and 10 other teams for their fifth sectional title. Seventeen different girls scored for Cazenovia in the well-balanced win.
The Laker relays led the way, with all three capturing sectional championships in their events in State Qualifier eligible times. The 4×800 team of Claire Braaten, Nadia Segall, Faith Wheeler (personal best 800 meter split of 2:33.9) and Dinah Gifford (personal best of 2:31.9) kicked off the meet with a season best of 10:18.33 to capture first place.
Minutes later, the 4×100 ran their fastest time of the season with Melanie Michael, Grace Dolan, Corinne Albicker and Katie Whitney sprinting to victory in 52.07 seconds.
Dolan returned at the end of the meet to lead off the 4×400 team of Wheeler, Olivia Ruddy and Meghan Mehlbaum. The speedy foursome cruised to first place in 4:19.12, nearly nine seconds ahead of second-place Lowville.
Susie Pittman was the other individual champion for Cazenovia, taking first in the triple jump with a leap of 31 feet 11 1/4 inches. Even more impressive was the multitalented Freshman’s effort in the pole vault.
While second overall with one more missed attempt than Clinton’s Claire Barone, Pittman tied the school record of 9 feet 6 inches with the best vault for the Lakers in a decade. She also added points in the long jump (third at 14’4″) and high jump (fourth at 4’8″).
Pittman had plenty of help in the jumps as Albicker added points in the triple (third place, 31’2″) and long (fourth, 14’3 3/4″), Freshman Sophie Rheaume placed fifth in the long at 14’3″ in her first sectional meet and veteran high jumper Katie Pavelchak took fifth at 4’6″.
Cazenovia’s hurdlers also had a banner day. Senior captain Melanie Michael captured second in the 100 meter hurdles in a career best, State Qualifier eligible time of 16.93 seconds, returning to earn third in the 400 meter hurdles in a season best of 1:12.07.
Bonnie Pittman was close behind to capture fourth in a personal record time of her own at 1:13.06 as the Lakers totaled ten points in the event, eclipsing the pre-meet projection of one point.
Senior Captain Katie Whitney was also in championship form, tying her career best in the 100 meter dash to earn third place and scoring in the 200 meter dash in addition to anchoring the 4×100 to victory.
Dolan was also spectacular in the sprints, running a personal record time of 1:01.83 for third in the 400 and adding a third place 27.55 effort in the 200 on top of her two relay victories. Mary Williams also ran a personal best time of 28.68 in the 200.
The Lakers’ distance runners contributed heavily to the team victory, led by Gifford, who took third in the 2,000-meter steeplechase (8:09.6) and fifth in the 3,000-meter run.
Claire Braaten was third in the 800 and also added points in the 3,000 while Olivia Wong also doubled up, scoring in the 1,500 and 3,000.
Williams contributed a fourth place finish in the 1,500 while Segall added fourth place points in the 800 to her championship effort in the 4×800. Williams, Segall and Zoey Gagne all achieved personal best times in the steeplechase.
Skye Stanford scored 1,476 points to place fourth in the demanding five-event pentathlon with Angela Moskvich earning 1,178 points for seventh in her first attempt. Both Freshmen, each of the girls achieved multiple season best performances during the event.
Danielle Smith (75’6″) and Olivia Morse (72-4) both threw well for the Lakers in the discus but finished just out of scoring position.
The sectional championship victory was the final team competition for the Lakers, who also earned an undefeated regular season league title and an OHSL Liberty Meet crown during the spring.
Sixteen of the girls will advance to the sectional state qualifying meet at Cicero-North Syracuse High School on Thursday as they seek to represent Cazenovia and Section III at the June 10-11 state meet.
