by Kurt Wheeler

CENTRAL NEW YORK – The Cazenovia girls track and field team displayed both athletic talent and mental toughness as it overcame two foes in each of their meets this week.

First, the Lakers prevailed over both Chittenango and frigid temperatures Wednesday afternoon. Then, two days later, it overcame powerful winds to achieve outstanding performances at the Utica Invitational.

Susie Pittman led Cazenovia to their second decisive win in a row against Chittenango as she won three events and placed second in a fourth to pace the team’s 113-28 victory over the Bears.

Pittman cleared 8 feet 6 inches to lead a sweep in the pole vault with four Lakers clearing the sectional height of 7’6” or more. She also cleared 4’8” in the high jump to lead a sweep there and earned a season best in the triple jump (32’11”) to top the team’s 1-2-3 effort there.

Corinne Albicker (15 feet) topped Pittman by two inches in the long jump with the duo leading yet another sweep in that event. Maddy Rothfeld (tops in the shot put at 28 feet) and Olivia Morse (discus winner at 69’3”) led Cazenovia in the throws once again and capped an overall advantage of 49-5 in the field events.

Albicker and Riley Knapp paced the Lakers on the track with two individual wins each. Albicker earned season bests in both hurdle events as she won the 100 meter race in 17.7 seconds and the 400 meter distance in 1:14.4, both exceptional on a day where the temperature never climbed out of the high 30s and the real feel was often in the 20s.

Knapp was also exceptional, hitting 13.0 to win the 100 meter dash and 27.1 to take first in the 200. Caitlyn Smither and Izzy Stromer-Galley were close behind for a sweep in the 100 while Grace Dolan matched Knapp’s time of 27.1 for second in the 200 with Smithers third.

Dolan earned a win of her own in the 400-meter dash with an incredible early season time of 1:01.0, her all-time best. Reid McMurtrie also earned a career best time at 1:02.5 with Stromer-Galley third for the sweep.

Also, Dolan, Knapp, Stromer-Galley and Smithers combined for a remarkable time of 51.5 seconds in the 4×100 relay, 1.4 5 seconds under the state qualifier standard and unprecedented in the cold weather. In total, the Lakers blanked the Bears 32-0 in the sprint events.

Faith Wheeler led Cazenovia’s distance effort, capturing second in both the 1,500 (5:29.9) and 800 (2:39.1) while Zoey Gagne took second in the 3000 (12:45.8).

Dinah Gifford led the 4×800 relay to victory with a 2:49.1 leg while McMurtrie led the 4×400 to victory with a 1:04.9 split as Cazenovia took all three relays. Even with the cold conditions, the Lakers achieved 43 new season best performances during the meet.

Then the Lakers were back in action at the Cook-DeStafano Invitational hosted by Utica Proctor Friday.

Despite persistent 25 mile per hour headwinds down the finishing straightaway, the girls achieved multiple sectional qualifying performances and placed fourth among 19 teams.

Albicker led the team with career best 1:13:39 for second in the 400 meter hurdles. McMurtie led off Cazenovia’s other silver medal performance with a 1:03.5 leg with Maura Phillips, Meghan Mehlbaum and Alyssa Wardell also contributing to the 4×400.

Rothfield earned career bests in both the shot (29’6 1/2”) and discus (75’1”) while Wheeler (800), Gagne (2,000 steeplechase) and Olivia Ruddy (1,500) all earned new sectional qualifying times in their events. Skye Stanford placed sixth in the grueling pentathlon event to cap the Lakers’ scoring.

Cazenovia will host Hannibal Wednesday as it strives to remain undefeated and travel to the Onondaga Invitational on Friday to follow up on their 2022 victory at that meet.