by Kurt Wheeler

CAZENOVIA – The Cazenovia girls indoor track team is gearing up for a run at their ninth sectional championship with athletes at or near the top of the Section III Class B-2 rankings in multiple events.

Leading the Lakers’ charge, the 4×400 and 4×800 relays are ranked number one in their class and the 4×200 at number two. Izzy Stromer-Galley, Grace Dolan and Meghan Mehlbaum and Reid McMurtrie all contributed to Cazenovia’s section-leading time of 4:20.30 in the 4×400 with Maura Phillips also among their top performers.

Faith Wheeler, Maeve McGreevy, Sally Hughes and Julia Reff combined for the Lakers’ top-seeded effort of 10:47.24 in the 4×800 meter relay with Dinah Gifford also among their leaders in the event this winter.

Reff (#3 in the 1,000), Wheeler (#4 in the 1,500) and Gifford (#4 in the 3,000) are also among the best in individual distance events, with Zoey Gagne adding a sixth place effort in the 3,000.

The 4×200 team of Stromer-Galley, Dolan, Riley Knapp and Caitlyn Smithers are #2 in Class B at 1:53.16 with the potential to go even faster. Only Skaneateles is ranked ahead of them and the Eastern Lakers hope to match their mark at the upcoming league championship meet.

Knapp is also an individual leader for the Lakers with a mark of 7.75 seconds in the 55-meter dash. Cazenovia has three of the top four in the section in the event with Smithers (7.80) and Dolan (7.84) close behind.

Dolan is also near the top of the 300-meter rankings, currently holding the second fastest time in Class B2 with her 44.24-second effort. Cazenovia sprinters are dominating that event as well with Stromer-Galley (44.93) and Susie Pittman (45.21) all among the top five.

Pittman leads the Lakers’ field event athletes with number one rankings in both the pole vault (8 feet 6 inches) and triple jump (33’4”) and number three in the high jump (4’10”). As with Cazenovia’s track events, she has plenty of company.

Wheeler and Smithers (7’6” each) are both ranked in the top four in the pole vault while Corinne Albicker has posted the third best triple jump at 32 feet. Her long jump effort was even stronger, earning the second best status among B2 jumpers at 15’4 ½”. Mehlbaum was among the top five in the high jump at 4’8”.

Maddy Rothfeld is also among the best for Cazenovia among Section 3 field event athletes, earning the third best weight throw this season. Her 30’4 ½” effort set a new indoor school record for the Lakers. She is also among the top shot put throwers earning fourth with her distance of 27’1”. Teammate Karly Vaas is seventh in the shot at 25’11 ¾”.

Cazenovia will be in action Wednesday at the OHSL Championship Meet as last year’s Class B-1 champion Westhill and the defending B-2 champion Lakers go head-to-head for the 2023 league title. Then the Lakers will return on to SRC Arena on Feb. 8 to defend their sectional title.