by Kurt Wheeler
VERONA – The Cazenovia cross country girls saved its best team effort of the season for the moment that mattered most: the Section III Class C championship race.
A clutch performance last Saturday at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill High School earned the Lakers a thrilling victory over two talented opponents as it scored 48 points to beat out defending champion South Jefferson (53) and Adirondack (56) for the program’s fourth sectional title.
All three teams were ranked among the top 12 Class C teams in the state and the championship forecast on MileSplitNY predicted a very close race with the Lakers finishing third.
Throughout the season, the team’s mantra had been that rankings and ratings don’t win races, gutsy performances do. And the Cazenovia girls delivered.
The entire squad sprinted from the start line, determined to avoid the slower start that cost them extra effort working through the field at the league championship meet.
This strategy worked as they settled into competitive positions that had them within striking range of their two strong rivals throughout the race.
Sophomore Olivia Ruddy battled with the top runners from Adirondack and South Jefferson throughout the 5,000 meter VVS course to earn the top spot for Cazenovia once again with a fifth place finish in 21 minutes, 36.8 seconds.
Freshman Maeve McGreevy built upon her breakout performance at leagues to finish just one place behind her teammate, capturing sixth in 21:40.2, two places ahead of her pre-race ranking.
Faith Wheeler delivered her strongest race of the season, passing multiple opponents in the final mile to earn the top finish among any senior. Wheeler’s ninth-place, 22:13 effort was two positions ahead of expectations to pull the team closer to victory.
Junior Dinah Gifford was also impressive, running a tough race to claim 12th in 22:51.5, four spots above her ranking, including two rivals passed in the final 200 meters.
Number five Laker runner Zoey Gagne proved to be the deciding factor for Cazenovia. Despite the heroic efforts of Laker runners one through four, both key opponents still had a slight advantage.
Then Gagne delivered a season-best effort to finish 18th overall in 23:13.1, four spots ahead of the fifth South Jefferson runner and 18 places ahead of Adirondack’s final scorer to lock in the Laker victory.
In total, the five Cazenovia scorers crossed the line in a span of just 13 places and one minute 36 seconds, an exceptional team performance.
Haylee Stearns (number six for Cazenovia in 29th, 24:10.6) and Olivia Wong (seventh for the team in 30th, 24:10.8) both contributed to the victory by displacing the fifth Adirondack scorer.
Senior Bonnie Pittman was just two places back in 24:24.7 while teammates Sedona Millard (27:50) and Ilsa Denton (28:41) also ran well for the Lakers.
Perhaps even more impressive than Cazenovia’s first place finish among the 13 Class C squads to earn the title was their fifth-place standing among 73 teams in the overall Section III merged results, with only Class A powers Fayetteville-Manlius, Cicero-North Syracuse, Liverpool and West Genesee topping the Lakers. Their strong overall finish bodes well for their prospects next week.
Cazenovia now advances to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship meet, also hosted by VVS, this Saturday, at 12:30 to represent Section III against the top Class C teams from across New York State.
