HANNIBAL – Everything is working for the Cazenovia girls track and field team just as the post-season push gets underway.
All the Lakers did was win 11 different events, with second-place finishes in 12 events, on the way to winning Monday’s Onondaga High School League Liberty division small-school championshp at Hannibal.
Amassing 266 points, Cazenovia more than doubled the total of runner-up Marcellus (117.5) and the rest of the seven-team field in an overwhelming performance that included 17 first-team All-League honors and 15 second-team honors – 32 of the 56 awarded.
Again Susie Pittman led the way, earning first team recognition in four events. She won the 200 meter dash in 27.68 seconds, captured the triple jump at 35 feet 5 inches and won both the high jump (4’10”) and pole vault (9’6” despite a persistent rain throughout the meet.
Reid McMurtrie also stood out, earning first team honors in the 400-meter dash (1:02.06) and anchoring the 4×800 to victory in their fastest time of the season with a 2:28.8 leg. Olivia Ruddy, Delanie Dowling and Maura Phillips also added to the team’s 10:16.67 total as they hit the sectional state qualifying meet standard for the first time this season.
Izzy Stromer-Galley anchored the team’s other gold medal relay with Audie Spring, Anna Reksc and Claire Marris adding to the winning time of 52.84 seconds. Stromer-Galley also contributed a pair of silver medal finishes in the 100 (13.48) and 200 (28.17) meter sprints. Spring got on the scoreboard four times, earning points in the 100, long jump and triple jump.
Cazenovia dominated several events with 1-2 finishes including the high jump, where Meghan Mehlbaum joined Pittman in clearing 4’8”, and pole vault, where just behind Pitman Sofie Reger had a career-best vault of 9 feet.
In the 2,000-meter steeplechase Dinah Gifford won in 8:32.17 and Zoey Gagne was second in 8:34.74). Gagne added a third in the 1,500-meter run behind Lily Kogut (5:24.74) and Abbie Comeau (5:24.75), who hit the finish line together. Comeau added a victory of her own in the 3,000 in a personal best time of 11:29.70 with Gifford also capturing third.
Mehlbaum achieved three silver medal finishes as she added scores in the 400 hurdles (1:11.70) and 4×400 meter relay to her high jump tally. Alyssa Wardell, Ava Eno and Maura Phillips also added to the Lakers’ 4:23.98 total in the relay, with Phillips adding a second place effort of 2:35.24 in the 800.
Claire Marris was the team’s other silver medalist on the track as she took second in the 100 meter hurdles in exactly 16 seconds and added a third in the 400 hurdles. Caroline Mehlbaum earned two career bests as she backed up Marris in the 100 hurdles at 18.01 and added a third score in the 400 hurdles at 1:12.67.
Maddie Rothfeld led the team in the throws, earning first team all league honors in the shot put throwing it 30’11 1/2”. Teammates Olivia Morse (82’4”) and Becca Brooks (80’7”) finished 2-3 in the discus as each hit career bests.
Angela Moskvich was the team’s final individual all-league honoree, earning second team honors in the pentathlon with a career best point total of 1,789 points which included best-ever efforts in the 800 meter run, long jump and high jump along the way.
Cazenovia has one final tune-up at this Saturday’s DeRuyter Invitational, where it hopes to hit state “super standards” in several events, before they travel to Boonville on May 22 to pursue the Seciton III Class B-2 Championship at Adirondack High School.
