SYRACUSE – Susie Pitman again provided the headlines, smashing her own school record in the pole vault as part of the Cazenovia girls indoor track team’s latest explosive performance.
The Lakers closed out the regular season last Thursday by finishing third in a 21-team field in the Bob Grieve Memorial at SRC Arena, scoring 71 points, which only Cicero-North Syracuse (157) and Baldwinsville (84) managed to top.
Pittman reached the new height of 10 feet 2 inches in the pole vault She hit the state meet standard of 10 feet on her first attempt and went on to clear a new record of 10’2”, tops among all Section III pole vaulters. Ella Gale (7 feet) and Tara Pratt (6’6”) also earned personal best vaults during the competition.
Aside from her record effort, Pittman scored in the high jump (clearing 4’8” for sixth place) along with teammate Meghan Mehlbaum (also 4’8”) and also ran a 26.3 second split on the 4×200 meter relay.
She was joined by Izzy Stromer-Galley (26.7), Claire Marris (28.3) and Caroline Mehlbaum (28.3) as the group ran their fastest time of the season. Their clocking of 1:49.76 was good for second place and ranks fourth in Section III this season.
Stromer-Galley was also sensational in the 300, hitting a personal best time of 44.60 for fifth place to take the lead among Class B2 runners in the event. She also took seventh in the 55-meter dash at 7.84 with Audie Spring claiming a person best of 7.94 in the event.
Reid McMurtie was sixth the 300 in 45.29 seconds and also led off the Lakers third place effort in the 4×400 meter relay, combining with Megan Mehlbaum, Margaret Huftalen and Maura Phillips for a time of 4:23.16.
Olivia Ruddy ran three hard races to lead Cazenovia’s distance runners. She earned a career best in the 1,000 with a time of 3:15.81 for fifth place with teammates Lily Kogut (3:21.70) and Maeve McGreevy (3:23.0) also running season bests.
Ruddy also led the Lakers in the 1,500, taking fifth in 5:29.42 with Abby Comeau one step behind in 5:29.64. She returned to anchor the 4×800 to a third-place finish, passing Westhill at the finish to prevail by five-hundredths of a second at 10:34.21 to Westhill’s 10:34.26. Kogut, McGreevy and Phillips also contributed to the successful relay.
Dinah Gifford (12:03.18) and Zoey Gagne (12:11.18) earned season best performances in the 3,000-meter run for Cazenovia to cap the team’s distance effort.
Claire Marris led a trio of personal best times in the 55-meter hurdles to wrap up the Lakers’ scoring on the track. She recorded a time of 9.19 seconds, second best in Class B-2 this season. Caroline Mehlbaum (10.26) and Angela Moskvich (11.04) also ran their best personal times.
Maddy Rothfeld led an outstanding effort by the Cazenovia throwers, tossing the shot 31 feet for third place and the 20 pound weight 34’7” for fourth place. Alayna Berson was second for the Lakers in the shot with 26’ ½” while Lucy Bliss (27’11 ¾”) and Becca Brooks (27’4”) each recorded personal bests in the weight throw.
Audie Spring led Cazenovia in both the long jump (15 feet for eighth place) and triple jump (31’3 ½”) to cap the team’s scoring in the field.
Cazenovia gets nearly two weeks to train for the league championship meet, slated for Jan. 31 back at OCC, striving to win here before returning for the sectional meet less than a week later.
