by Kurt Wheeler
CAZENOVIA – The Cazenovia girls cross Country team shut out Phoenix 15-51 Wednesday afternoon to finish its regular season with a perfect 8-0 record and clinch the Onondaga High School League Liberty-National Division title.
This league championship victory was the fifth in a row for the Lakers.
With perennial lead runner Olivia Ruddy resting a minor injury to get health for the post-season, Maeve McGreevy took charge of the race to guide the Lakers to the win. McGreevy posted a season best time of 21 minutes, 21 seconds on Cazenovia’s home course in the Fenner hills to place first.
Senior captain Zoey Gagne was second for Lakers at 21:57 with fellow captain Olivia Wong capturing third. Wong crossed the line in 22:41, more than a minute faster than her previous best this fall on the challenging course as she continued her rapid improvement with the post-season approaching.
Captain Lauren McLean was fourth in a time of 23:24 with teammate Mesi Stevens just 20 seconds back at 23:44 to capture fifth place and lock in the Lakers’ perfect score of 15 points.
Stevens outsprinted number one Phoenix runner Madison Quaco (23:46) to earn her first-ever top five finish for Cazenovia and seal the victory as she took more than a minute off her previous best time.
Ilsa Denton (25:17) and Emma O’Shea (26:38) both displaced Phoenix scorers from their number six and seven positions to contribute to the decisive win.
Seniors Michaela Tobin (27:36) and Iris Casey (29:31) both ran season bests in their final race at Fenner while freshman Savannah Randall had the biggest improvement of any of the harriers, shaving more than a minute and half off her previous best time.
Before the race, the Lakers honored their six Seniors in a brief ceremony. The powerful victory was a fitting conclusion for the Class of 2024’s cross country careers.
During their six years in the program, Cazenovia posted an overall record of 44-1 with five consecutive league titles. This year’s Seniors also contributed heavily to the teams 2022 sectional title and top-five finish at the NYSPHSAA championship meet.
Cazenovia will be back in action Wednesday as it travels to Marcellus Park to battle the combined field of large and small schools at the OHSL Liberty meet.
