by Kurt Wheeler
VERONA – The Cazenovia girls cross country team capped an historic season of competition for the program with a fifth place finish at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class C championship Meet Saturday at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill.
Scoring 147 points, the Lakers finished fifth in a competitive field that featured the Class C champions from every section in New York State plus the top five individual runners from each section. East Aurora, the defending Class B champion, earned another state title with a total of 53 points.
This top-five finish for the Lakers was the third in the program’s history, equaling their achievement in 2015 and just short of their third-place finish in 2010.
Sophomore Olivia Ruddy earned her 14th first-place finish for the team in 14 races this season with a personal course record performance of 21 minutes, 1.8 seconds to capture 27th in the state. Her time was 35 seconds faster than last week despite the wet conditions caused by steady rains the day before the meet.
Junior Dinah Gifford ran one of her best races of the season to place second for the team, capturing 52nd in a time of 22:00.3, also a personal record on the course.
Freshman Maeve McGreevy earned 60th place in 22:07.8, slightly off her best at sectionals but more than 2 ½ minutes faster than her time at the VVS Invitational in September, a testimony to her exceptional improvement this season.
Senior captain Faith Wheeler (81st in 22:47.4) earned fourth for the team while junior Zoey Gagne was 90th in 23:09.3, another personal best time on the tough course.
Freshman Haylee Stearns (106th in 23:48.5) and senior captain Bonnie Pittman (114th in 24:15.3) each ran personal bests at VVS to round out the Laker field in their number six and seven spots for the team.
Following the race, the squad earned another honor as Wheeler was recognized with Section III’s Class C Sportsmanship Award. The honor is given to a Senior competing at the State Meet who has represented the Section with sportsmanship along with athletic and academic excellence.
The top-five finish at the NYSPHSAA championship capped a memorable 2022 campaign for the Lady Lakers that included the Section III Class C title and Onondaga High School Liberty League Meet Championship. The girls also earned an undefeated regular season and the OHSL Liberty-National league title.
