Cazenovia girls win 5th straight title

SYRACUSE>> The Cazenovia girls indoor track and field team entered Thursday’s Section III Class B Championships facing a tough challenge as it tried to earn a fifth straight title. Several athletes entered the meet sick or injured while Westhill/Bishop Ludden and Skaneateles provided stiff competition.

Those odds got longer as the four-time defend- ing champions began the meet in sixth place, but they didn’t give up.

Coach Kurt Wheeler’s squad pulled into a tie with Skaneateles for second place with two events to go, trailing W/BL by nine points before Ashley Kent’s school record 34-11.5 mark in the triple jump clinched Wheeler’s 10th sectional title.

“I am so proud of my girls,” said Wheeler in an email. “Difficult circumstances and challenges reveal character and these young women showed they had it tonight.”

Cazenovia outscored W/ BL 93-91 for the title with Skaneateles taking third with 88 points.

Kent’s victory in the triple jump was her second of the night after taking first in the long jump with a mark of 15- 8.75. The senior captain also added a third-place finish in the 55 hurdles (9.76). Canastota’s Rachel Bargabos won the 3,000 meter run (10:43.24) for the Raiders, who finished last in the nine-team field.

Cazenovia’s boys team placed second in Class B, seven points behind Skaneateles’ 105. Walker Nichols had three first-place finishes for the Lakers, winning the 55 hurdles (8.05), high jump (5-10) and long jump (20- 4) while teammate Sean Satchwell placed first in the 600 (1:27.65) and 1,000 (2:45.37).

Canastota finished ninth out of 10 teams and Adam Van Valkenburgh finished third in the 3,200 with a time of 10:32.43.