by Kurt Wheeler
CANASTOTA – The Cazenovia girls track and field team scored 176 points to overwhelm second place Skaneateles (79) and nine other teams to repeat as Section III Class B-2 champions in Thursday’s meet at Canastota High School.
As it did throughout the season, the Lakers leaned on its deep pool of talent to win the day, with 21 girls scoring in 18 of 19 sectional events for the victory.
Befitting a team that relies on its depth for success, Cazenovia captured all three relays during the championship. The 4×800 team of Reid McMurtrie (2:23.0 split), Maura Phillips, Julia Reff and Lily Kogut ran a season best of 10:00.99 to take the gold.
Then the 4×100 quartet of Grace Dolan, Caitlyn Smithers, Izzy Stromer-Galley and Riley Knapp clocked a season best of 50.65 seconds (just 0.30 from the school record) to win their race.
Finally, the Lakers’ 4×400 team of Dolan (1:00.4 split), Stromer-Galley, Meghan Mehlbaum and Alyssa Wardell (personal best split of 1:01.7) held off Skaneateles to win in 4:08.43, their second fastest time of the year.
Dolan added to her two relay wins with an individual victory in the 400-meter dash (1:00.33) and took second in the 200 in a personal best time of 26.70. The Lakers went 2-3-4 in the 200 as Knapp and Stromer-Galley also scored to help the team pile up 18 points in that event alone.
Knapp (12.95 seconds) and Stromer-Galley finished 2-3 in the 100 meter dash with Smithers also scoring. Wardell added a third-place finish in the 400 as Cazenovia totaled 59 points in the sprints overall.
Susie Pittman was Cazenovia’s other individual sectional champion, edging teammate Smithers by virtue of one less attempt at the winning height of 9 feet 3 inches. The duo, who currently share the school record of 9’6″, attempted to set a new school record but fell just short.
Sofie Reger also hit the State Qualifier height of 8’3″ to score as Pittman also added points in the triple jump (34′ 1/2″ for second), high jump (4’10” for third) and long jump (15’6 1/4″ for fourth).
Audie Spring had a career-best long jump of 15’9 1/2″ to take second while Corinne Albicker also scored in the triple jump and Mehlbaum backed up Pittman in the high jump.
Albicker led the team in the 400-meter hurdles (personal best of 1:11.83 for fourth), Cazenovia earning three scores in the event as Mehlbaum (1:12.70) and Bonnie Pittman (1:13.62) also ran season bests.
Faith Wheeler led the team’s distance runners as she ran a huge personal best of 5:06.92 for fourth in the 1,500 and then returned to score in the 800. Phillips led the team in the 800 at 2:28.47 for second while Zoey Gagne scored in the 3000 at 12:06.71. Gagne returned to score in the 2,000-meter steeplechase also as Dinah Gifford led the team in the event with a season best of 8:32.24.
Maddy Rothfeld scored in both of her events, reaching 30 feet for fourth in the shot put and 81’10” for sixth in the discus. Olivia Morse earned a season best of 75’4″ in the disc to cap her successful season.
Skye Stanford (1,742 points) and Angela Moskvich (1,553) added a 14-point boost to top off the Lakers’ prolific scoring as the duo finished second and third in the pentathlon with career best totals in their challenging five-part event.
Twenty Lakers athletes have advanced to the sectional Qualifier Meet on June 1 at Cicero-North Syracuse where they will match up against the top athletes from across Central New York battling to represent the region at the NYSPHSAA meet a week later in Middletown.
