by Kurt Wheeler
SYRACUSE – The Cazenovia girls indoor track team followed up on its season-opening win with another strong performance at the Oscar Jensen Memorial Relays Sunday at SRC Arena.
Scoring in every event, the Lakers earned 62 points, good for second place in the 17-team field. Only Class AA power Cicero-North Syracuse (105) outscored Cazenovia.
Senior Caitlyn Smithers contributed to two of the Lakers’ top finishes in the relay-style meet. She cleared a personal record of 7 feet 6 inches in the pole vault to partner with Faith Wheeler (7 feet) for second in that event. Sophie Reger also achieved a personal best, sectional height of 7 feet in the vault.
Smithers returned to clock 7.85 seconds in the 55-meter dash, her best yet. Combined with Riley Knapp’s 7.82, the duo earned second place as each hit the sectional qualifying standard.
Izzy Stromer-Galley was also dynamite for Cazenovia, hitting a sectional time of 1:49.51 in the 600-meter run and partnering with Julia Reff (1:52.24) for third place. She recovered quickly to post a 46.47 (just .03 from sectionals) two events later to combine with Meghan Mehlbaum (49.06) for third as a relay.
Zoey Gagne paced the Lakers’ distance runners to a pair of fourth place finishes as she completed the 1,500 in 5:44.20 and the 3,000 in a personal record time of 12:22.55. She teamed up with Maeve McGreevy (5:46.45) for the score in the 1,500 and with Haylee Stearns (13:01.79) in the 3,000.
Faith Wheeler was also tough on the track, running a personal best of 3:25.86 in the 1,000 to lead Cazenovia’s fourth-place effort there with Kate Millson (3:50.60). Corinne Albicker (best ever time of 10.55) and Skye Stanford (11.57) closed out the team’s scoring on the track with an eighth-place finish in the 55 meter hurdles.
Albicker returned to lead the team in the jumps as she finished third as an individual in the long jump with a sectional distance of 14’5” and partnered with Reid McMurtrie (12’2”) for second as a duo. She also reached 29’2” in the triple jump to team up with Erin Kuhn (26’3 ¾”) for fourth.
Meghan Mehlbaum had another great week in the high jump, hitting 4’6” to earn seventh with teammate Maura Phillips (4’2”).
Maddy Rothfeld topped with Lakers’ throwers with an exceptional toss of 28’8” in the weight throw, the best for Cazenovia in two years, to surpass the sectional mark and team with Karly Vass (22’11”) for fourth place. Rothfeld also led in the shot put with a 23’11” effort to combine with Vaas’ 22’7 ¾” for seventh.
The Lakers’ exceptional team depth and versatility was on full display as they scored in all seven running events and all six field events despite the absence of some of their top athletes. The girls will return to action close to full strength this Saturday at the George Constantino Memorial.
