by Kurt Wheeler
CLINTON – The Cazenovia girls track and field team assembled their most dominant performance of the season as they captured first place among 19 teams at the 30th Annual Junkyard Relays hosted by Clinton.
Scoring 194 points out of a perfect score of 230 to triumph over Clinton (114.5) and 17 other teams, Cazenovia scored in all 23 events, including 13 first-place finishes and six second place finishes.
The “Junkyard” is a Central New York track and field tradition, featuring not only classic relays such as the 4×400, but eclectic combinations like the 1,000 meter sprint medley, the 3×400 meter hurdles and field event relays that combine the distances of each team’s top three competitors.
The Lakers’ 4×800 meter relay highlighted the day, running an exceptional time of 10:05.40 for first place, the fastest time run by any small school team in Section III this year.
Maura Phillips opened the race with a personal best 2:28.5, followed by Izzy Stromer-Galley (2:35.0), Julia Reff (2:34.5) and anchor Reid McMurtrie (personal best of 2:27.6) as the foursome ran the fastest 4×800 for Cazenovia in nearly a decade.
Not to be outdone, the 4×400 team took second in 4:06.99, just three seconds from the school record. Cazenovia and Sauquoit Valley (4:03.51) ran the two fastest times among small schools in the Section this year.
Grace Dolan led off with a personal record split of 59.7 seconds, followed by Alyssa Wardell (1:03.5), Stromer-Galley (personal best of 1:02.5) and McMurtrie (best of 1:00.8).
Meghan Mehlbaum (personal best 400 meter split of 1:02.2) anchored the 1,000 sprint relay of Riley Knapp, Dolan and Sophie Rheaume to victory in 2:27.43. Caitlyn Smithers joined Knapp, Dolan and Rheaume to win the 4×100 in 52.20 while Wardell led the freshmen-only 1,000 relay to victory with a personal best 400 meter time of 1:02.6.
Other first place finishes on track included Kate Harrington, Cady Webb, Jane Lee and Lauren McLean in the 800 meter sprint medley (2:08.44) as well as Dolan, McMurtie, Stromer-Galley and Knapp in the 4×200 in 1:49.82 (nearly seven seconds ahead of the number two team).
Dolan, Phillips and Audie Spring all contributed to first place in the 1,600 sprint medley that was highlighted by Reff’s personal record 800 meter split of 2:30.8 to come from behind for the victory.
The Lakers also captured first in three relays unique to the Junkyard including the 4×400 meter hurdle event where Mehlbaum, Corinne Albicker and Bonnie Pittman exchanged the baton to win in 3:42.27.
Zoey Gagne ran a personal best of 8:21.0 to lead Dinah Gifford and Haylee Stearns to victory in the 2,000 steeplechase relay. The race was the second personal record of the day for Gagne, who also led the team in the 4×1,500 with a time of 5:25.81. Susie Pittman anchored the throwers only 4×100 relay of Skye Stanford, Emily Benedict and Becca Brooks to victory in 57.79 seconds.
Pittman led Cazenovia javelin throwers with a personal best of 71 feet 9 inches. Maddy Rothfeld was tops in all three of the other throwing events as she set a new school outdoor record in the 20 pound weight throw (35’2″), tossed the shot 29’2″ and reached 78 feet in the discus. Karly Vaas backed her up in all three events with 27’9 1/2″ in the weight, 26’6 1/4″ in the shot and a personal best of 69’3″ in the discus.
Susie Pittman took first overall in the triple jump with a 34’8″ effort and led the Lakers to number one as a relay. Corinne Albicker earned a first place finish of her own in the long jump at 14’4 3/4″ with Wardell and Rheaume also contributing to the Cazenovia relay win.
Smithers led the way in Cazenovia’s final field event win, clearing 9 feet for first with Pittman and Sofie Reger (personal best of 8 feet) adding to the total. Reger also hit a season best of 4’6″ in the high jump as she partnered with Mehlbaum and Stanford for second in the high jump.
The Lakers will now set their sights on defending their Section 3, Class B-2 title at Canastota on Thursday afternoon.
