CENTRAL NEW YORK – Not that long ago, when it came to the two Lakers cross country programs, Cazenovia found itself well behind the pace which Skaneateles set, especially on the girls side.
All of that has changed now, with the primary evidence Wednesday’s race at the Sean Googin Sports Complex where Cazenovia took both races over Skaneaetles – one close, one not as much – to keep the Laker Cup.
Jake Woolbert’s individual title provided the first highlight in the boys 19-44 decision, Woolbert covering his home course in 16 minutes 35 seconds to finish nearly a minute ahead of the 17:28 from Skaneateles’ Tritan Boucher.
Six Cazenovia runners followed, led by Will Galton’s third-place 18:52 and Evan Molloy’s fourth-place 18:57. Kooper Wilmot went exactly 19 minutes for fifth place, with Nolan Campagna sixth in 19:13. Owen Woodworth made his way to seventh place in 19:23 and Henri Mongeau (19:44) edged Skaneateles’ Sam Coleman (19:47) at the line.
This followed, by a week, Cazenovia’s win over Phoenix by that exact same 19-44 margin on Sept. 25, which involved Woolbert tearing to first place in 18:09, well clear of the Firebirds’ Jason Perkins in 19:34.
Wilmot’s 19:47 was enough to hold off Molloy (19:49) for fourth place, with Galton fifth in 20:05. Woodworth posted 20:18 and Tristan Field-Bradley went 20:19 running together with Mongeau (20:20) as Alex Neis (21:09) and Andy Franz (20:18) followed.
As for Cazenovia’s girls, its meet against Skaneateles was far tighter than the boys match but ended with a 26-30 victory because of what its entire roster accomplished.
Lily Kogut made her way to second place in 20:05 behind the winning 19:36 from Skaneateles’ Lucy Fleckenstein. Then Abbie Comeau finished third in 20:43 and Maeve McGreevy got fourth place in 21:40.
Skaneateles did take the next three spots, but Cazenovia clinched victory when Avery Cashatt finished eighth in 23:25 and Gwen Livingston finished ninth in 23:30, just ahead of the 23:35 from Izzy Stromer-Galley.
As if all this success wasn’t enough, Cazenovia found more Saturday at the Tully Invitational, both on an individual basis with Woolbert and a collective basis on the girls side.
In the girls Small School division the Lakers’ total of 46 points beat host Tully’s runner-up 58, with Kogut leading the charge thanks to a third-place time of 20:51.2 as Comeau was fifth in 21:27 flat. Cashatt finished 11th among team runners in 24:17.4 as Livington was 13th (24:31.6) and Stromer-Galley 14th (24:32.7) to gain the team crown.
The boys Small School race saw Woolbert go to the front and stay there, ultimately finishing in 17:02.3, well clear of the runner-up 17:19.6 from South Lewis’ MacCoy Maciejko.
As a whole, Cazenovia got third place with 56 points behind Tully (50) and South Lewis (52), with five Lakers running close together. Wilmot was 12th in 19:19.2 ahead of Campagna (19:22.1), Galton (19:26.4), Molloy (19:35.9) and Field-Bradley (19:43.7).
