by Kurt Wheeler
In a busy week of racing action, the unbeaten Cazenovia girls cross country team raised its record to 9-0 and took eighth place in a powerhouse field of 30 teams from across the Northeast at the Manhattan Invitational.
The Lakers visited Tully last Wednesday to face a slate of Patriot Division teams. Unable to secure a meet in their native Liberty Division, Cazenovia reached out to perennial Class D power Tully, who was hosting four other schools at its course.
Cazenovia captured five of the top seven places in the six-team field to earn a series of wins highlighted by a 20-41 advantage over Tully and a 19-51 victory over Bishop Grimes as well as shutouts over Faith Heritage, Port Byron and DeRuyter.
Tully’s Katie Edinger was number one overall, covering her 3.1 mile home course in 20 minutes, 34 seconds, but Cazenovia’s Olivia Ruddy stayed right on her heals throughout the race, ultimately earning second in 20:49 with Bishop Grimes’ Edy Livingston a half-minute back at 21:21.
Then the Laker pack took over the race at that point, claiming the next four places to lock in winning scores against all the competing teams.
Faith Wheeler led the Cazenovia pack with a time of 22:44 with teammates Dinah Gifford (22:46), Maeve McGreevy (22:47) and Zoey Gagne (22:53) sweeping the finish line over a span of 10 seconds.
Tully was able to place one more finisher across the line before Cazenovia harriers Olivia Wong (23:51), Bonnie Pittman (24:06) and Haylee Stearns (24:27) slammed the door, displacing the finishers from all the other teams to ensure the series of lopsided wins.
Cazenovia followed up with a trip to New York City on Saturday to race in the Manhattan Invitational, the largest race on the East Coast.
Assigned to the Varsity B race, the Lakers earned eighth place in a competitive field of 30 teams. Powerhouses like defending state Class C champion Bronxville and Class A Baldwinsville were among those ahead of Cazenovia.
Ruddy again led the Lakers, completing the historic 2.5 mile course in Van Cortlandt Park in 17:12.9. The team’s pack was decisive to their strong finish again as Faith Wheeler (17:34.0), Maeve McGreevy (17:34.7), Dinah Gifford (17:40.3) and Zoey Gagne (17:46.3) all earned their best “speed ratings” of the season to lock in their score of 269.
Wong, who is Cazenovia’s all-time leader on the Manhattan course (16:52 in 2021) also ran a tough race to contribute to the team’s outstanding finish.
The other half of the Laker squad was assigned to the “JV D” race where Senior Captain Bonnie Pittman led them to a 10th-place finish.
Pittman (18:53.2) and Freshman Haylee Stearns (19:11.1) both earned their best speed ratings of the season to lead the team.
Ilsa Denton also had her best race of the season to take third for Cazenovia in 20:49.1. Sedona Millard, Mesi Stevens, Iris Casey, Emma O’Shea and Brooke Wormuth also represented the Lakers in the iconic race.
Cazenovia will complete its OHSL competition season this Wednesday against Westhill and Christian Brothers Academy before returning to Tully Saturday for its final invitational meet of the regular season.
