UTICA – Once again, the Cazenovia boys track and field team rose to the top, this time against a substantial field composed of large and small schools.

The occasion was Friday’s Cook-DeStefano Track and Field Invitational at Proctor High School in Utica, where the Lakers, earning 65.5 points, edged Whitesboro (63 points) for the top spot as 17 schools competed in all.

Contending in the 400-meter dash, Cazenovia had Jaden Kaplan finish second in 51.75 seconds and Dan Raymond third in 53.57, only behind the 51.42 from Whitesboro’s Jack Towns.

Branden McColm ran 800 meters in two minutes, 5.73 seconds and was runner-up to Waterville’s Logan Baker (2:00.80) and, in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, McColm got to third place in 11:32.25 as Eddie Comeau was sixth in 12:33.38.

In the 4×100 relay, Kaplan, Connor Frisbie, J.P. Hoak and Wyatt Scott finished in 45.90 seconds, which put them second behind Whitesboro’s 44.89.

Cazenovia took third in the 4×400 as Raymond, Judah Ossont, Tristan Field-Bradley and Eliot Comeau posted 3:41.80, while Caleb Gilmore, Will Austin, Jake Woolbert and J.D. Dolly were fifth in the 4×800 relay in 9:20.64.

On his own, Woolbert, in 11:14.65, was third in the 3,200-meter run, edging teammate Chris Kelly, who was fourth in 11:14.85. Comeau cleared 5 feet 6 inches in the high jump for fifth place, with Killian Blouin topping 10’6” in the pole vault and also finishing fifth.

Frisbie, seventh in both the high jump (5’6”) and the triple jump with 38’2 1/4”, took sixth in the 110 high hurdles in 18.40 seconds as Sam Wilcox (19.79) was ninth. Finn Worthington was fifth in the 200-meter dash in 25.43. Hoak went 12.43 in the 100-meter dash for 10th place.

Owen Woodworth took part in the five-event pentathlon and made his way to fourth place with 1,842 points, doing best in the 1,500-meter run, where he was second among competitors in 5:08.14.

Will Austin ran 1,600 meters in 5:07.09 to earn eighth place as Dolly was 12th in 5:18.39. Connor Hopper took 10th in the 400 hurdles in 1:13.63. Jonathan Sweet had a ninth-place discus throw of 93’1”.