SYRACUSE – In a decisive manner, the Cazenovia girls indoor track team began its post-season journey by beating the field in Wednesday’s Onondaga High School League Division I championships at SRC Arena.
By the time the night was done, the Lakers had put up 158 points to top Westhill (125) and 11 other teams for the league title. In doing so, Cazenovia athletes accumulated 13 first team all-league honors and seven second team honors.
The win earned Cazenovia its eighth OHSL crown and their first one since 2017. Westhill had nipped the defending Section III Class B-2 champion Lakers five times in a row until the 2024 contest.
Izzy Stromer-Galley led the team with three first place finishes, starting out by winning the 55 meter dash in a career best 7.62 seconds and then winning the 300 meter dash in 44.62. Stromer-Galley also anchored the 4×200 meter relay to victory with a 27.2-second leg.
Audie Spring ran her fastest time of 7.84 seconds to score in the 55 while Reid McMurtie (third, 45.78) and Meghan Mehlbaum (fourth, 46.11) were close behind in the 300. Claire Marris, Dinah Gifford and Caroline Mehlbaum also contributed to the winning 4×200, whose 1:53.61 beat out Marcellus’ second-place 1:55.92.
Susie Pittman also earned triple league honors, winning the high jump with a career best leap of 5 feet 2 inches and the pole vault with 9’6”. She returned to place second in the triple jump with a season best distance of 34’7 1/2”. Tara Pratt also scored in the pole vault with a personal best height of 7 feet while Marris placed third in the triple jump at 32’11 1/4”.
Maddy Rothfeld was the Lakers’ other individual league champion, winning the shot put with a career best throw of 33’1 1/4”. She also took third in the weight throw with an effort of 35’11 1/2” that tied her own school record in the event.
Lily Kogut anchored Cazenovia’s 4×800 meter relay to first place with a personal best leg of 2:35.6. Maura Phillips, Maeve McGreevy and Sally Hughes also contributed to the league championship time of 10:44.71, nearly half a minute ahead of Westhill’s second-place 11:11.22.
Kogut (fourth, 3:19.89) and McGreevy (sixth, 3:25.92) also scored in the 1,000 as they backed up Olivia Ruddy’s second team all-league performance of 3:17.97. Ruddy also led the Lakers in the 1,500 with a gutsy 5:26.24 performance for fourth place, with Zoey Gagne and Abbie Comeau scoring in the event as well.
McMurtie scored points in three events, anchoring the 4×400 meter to second team league honors with a 1:02.1 leg and earning all-league in the 600 also with a personal best 1:44.12 second place finish in addition to her 300 meter effort.
Phillips also scored in the 600 with a season best time of 1:47.35 and led off the 4×400 with Meghan Mehlbaum and Ava Eno adding to the 4:21.49 performance.
Comeau led Cazenovia’s triple score effort in the 3,000 with a third-place time of 11:50.03. Gifford was fourth in 12:00.90 with Haylee Stearns sixth in 12:42.40, all season best times.
Cazenovia now advances to the sectional championship meet on Wednesday night where they will battle Clinton for their 10th Class B-2 title since 2011.
