SYRACUSE – No matter where one turned during Wednesday night’s Section III Class B-2 championships at SRC Arena, the Cazenovia girls indoor track and field team was imposing its will, and leaving the field far behind.
The Lakers won the program’s 10th sectional championship in overwhelming fashion, netting 222 points to pull far away from runner-up Clinton (67 points) and nine other challengers.
Between eight titles in individual events and victories in all three relays, the Lakers lived up to the cliché of a total team effort.
Susie Pittman led the way for Cazenovia with three individual titles, capturing first in the pole vault by clearing 10 feet, adding a high jump victory by topping 5 feet and, to cap it off, a personal-best triple jump of 34’10 1/4”.
But Pittman had plenty of help in all three events with Tara Pratt taking third in the vault at 7’6”, Meghan Mehlbaum earning second in the high jump at 4’10” and Claire Marris placing second in the triple jump by going 32’6”.
Izzy Stromer-Galley also had a banner night, winning the 300-meter dash in a personal best 44.37 seconds, taking second in the 55 meter dash at 7.66 and anchoring the 4×200 meter relay to victory in 1:53.01.
Teammate Reid McMurtrie was second in the 300 at 45.42, while Audie Spring (7.86) and Pratt (8.04) were close behind in the 55 and Marris, Dinah Gifford and Caroline Mehlbaum all contributed to the winning relay.
McMurtrie added first place finishes of her own as she won the 600-meter run in 1:44.73 and anchored the 4×400 to the gold medal with a 1:02.0 leg. Maura Phillips took second in the 600 at 1:47.52, while Ava Eno, Margaret Huftalen and Meghan Mehlbaum all helped the relay to its victory in 4:22.53.
Olivia Ruddy was the Lakers’ other individual champion on the track, taking first in the 1,000-meter run in 3:16.32. She returned to also lead the team in the 1,500, where she was fourth in 5:31.80 as Abbie Comeau was sixth (5:34.39) and Zoey Gagne seventh in 5:43.36.
Capping off her day, Ruddy anchored the 4×800 relay to its victory in 10:38.70 overall. Maeve McGreevy and Sally Hughes placed third (3:24.99) and fourth (3:32.97), respectively, in the 1,000 as the Lakers racked up 20 points in the event overall, while McGreevy also contributed to the 4×800 victory with Lily Kogut (2:36.1) and Phillips (2:36.0) running the fastest legs for the team.
Maddy Rothfeld earned an individual title in the shot put with a personal best throw of 33’9” to just beat out the 33’5” from Lowville’s Maya Laribee. Rothfeld also smashed her own school record in the weight throw by more than a foot, capturing third with an effort of 37’4”
Spring took her turn at the front, too, winning the long jump with a personal-best 15’10 1/2”, the Lakers dominating the event as Pratt took third in 15’4 1/4” and Alyssa Wardellw as fourth at 15’1”, another 20-point performance.
Abbie Comeau led the team in the 3,000, earning third in 11:51.77 with Dinah Gifford (fifth, 11:58.73) and Haylee Stearns (sixth, 12:26.14) also scoring for the Lakers. Marris was a triple scorer for Cazenovia, adding in a third-place 9.44 in the 55 hurdles as Caroline Mehlbaum was close behind for fifth place in 10.29.
Cazenovia will move on to next Wednesday’s Section III State Qualifier Meet, with athletes eligible for the elite competition in 11 events.
