by Kurt Wheeler

SYRACUSE – The Cazenovia girls indoor track team used depth and discipline to capture the 2023 Section III Class B-2 championship Wednesday night at SRC Arena.

Twenty athletes scored for the Lakers as they earned points in 15 of 16 events to prevail over Vernon-Verona-Sherrill and the rest of the 11-team field. Cazenovia’s winning total was 144 points with VVS second at 129 and Skaneateles third at 80.

Izzy Stromer-Galley led the team in scoring as she placed in three events including two first-place relays. She led off the Lakers’ champion 4×400 with a 1:04.4 leg with Natalie Dolan (1:07.4) and Reid McMurtrie (personal best of 1:04.4) in the middle legs and Meghan Mehlbaum anchoring the group to victory with a personal best split of 1:04.3 to cap their total of 4:20.63.

Stromer-Galley returned to anchor Cazenovia’s victorious 4×200 team as it topped no. 1-ranked Skaneateles with a season best time of 1:50.82. Grace Dolan led off with a season best 27.4 with Riley Knapp and Caitlyn Smithers also running exceptional legs.

That foursome added 28 more points for the Lakers in the sprints as Knapp won the 55 dash in 7.63 seconds with Smithers and Dolan fourth and fifth. Dolan ran a person best time of 44.21 to place second in the 300 with Stromer-Galley fourth in 45.04.

Cazenovia’s middle distance runners were not to be outdone, earning 24 points in the 600 and 1,000-meter runs.

Maura Phillips led the way, winning a sectional title in the 600 with a 1:47.34 effort. McMurtrie (fourth) and Julia Reff (fifth) also added points in the event.

Maeve McGreevy excelled in the 1,000, running a nine second personal record of 3:20.08 to take third with Reff right behind in her own best time of 3:20.89 for fifth.

Faith Wheeler led the distance effort, running a career best of 5:15.79 in the 1,500 for second place. McGreevy (fifth) and Zoey Gagne (sixth) also scored for the Lakers.

Kate Millson (12:12.78) and Haylee Stearns (12:18.18) both ran huge personal best times to take fourth and fifth in the 3,000. Wheeler also led the 4×800 relay to a second place finish with her 2:38.4 lead-off leg with McGreevy, Sally Hughes and Dinah Gifford also handling the baton in their 10:52.36 effort.

Susie Pittman led the Lakers in the field, winning the sectional title in the pole vault with a height of 9 feet and taking second in the high jump at 4’10”. Wheeler added points in the vault with a personal best of 8 feet for fourth while Sofie Reger and Mehlbaum (4’6″ each) also scored in the high jump.

Maddy Rothfeld smashed her own school record in the weight throw by nearly four feet with a second place toss of 35’7 3/4″. She also captured second in the shot put at 28’4″ with Karly Vaas adding a personal best of 26’4 1/2″.

Corinne Albicker led the way in the hurdles at 10.28 seconds with Bonnie Pittman close behind in a season best time of 10.50. Albicker saved her best for the jumps though, achieving two career bests to secure the championship win.

Albicker triple jumped a best-ever 32’2″ to earn fifth and then returned to the runway for the meet’s final event. VVS had pulled close to the Lakers and with four girls in the long jump, including the top three seeds, the Red Devils could still tie the meet.

So Albicker unleashed another personal best effort of 15’7 1/2″ to earn fourth and Freshman Haylee Stearns showed grace under pressure to capture sixth to block the VVS rally and lock in the Lakers’ 144-129 victory.

The B-2 championship was Cazenovia’s ninth sectional title since 2011 and second in a row following their 2022 win. The victory capped the Lakers’ team season, but 18 members of the squad will continue on to next Wednesday’s State Championship Qualifier to vie for a place at March’s state meet on Staten Island.