SPOrTS

Phil Blackwell | Sports Editor | 434-8889 ext. 348 | pblackwell@eaglenewsonline.com

CAz SWiMMerSHelP iN title WiN

by PHil blACKWell

In recent years, Cazenovia High School has provided a reliable pipeline to the Fayetteville-Manlius girls swim team that has home meets right down the road at Cazenovia College.

Even after Morgan Kingsley’s graduation, the flow of talent continued to make an impact as Kate Millson led a quartet that contributed to yet another Hornets run to the Section III Class A championship.

F-M had seen its 64-meet win streak ended by Liverpool in September, but swept the rest of its regular-season slate and, in the sectional meet last Wednesday at Nottingham High School, got payback, scoring 379 points to beat out the Warriors (330) and Cicero-North Syracuse (324) for the top spot.

Millson, a junior, would help F-M win the opening 200-yard medley relay, pairing with Cecilia Cao, Elise Wratney and Georgia Langan to prevail in one minutes, 52.73 seconds to top C-NS’s 1:55.40 and prevail.

On her own, Millson contended in the 200-yard individual medley, her time of 2:24.49 setting a season mark by more than four seconds as she took third behind Oswego-Mexico star Alexa von Holtz (2:07.71) and was just behind C-NS’s Leah Benedict (2:23.58).

Also, Millson got to the finals of the 500 freestyle, where her 5:47.26 could not quite match her seasonbest 5:46.02 but still put her in seventh place overall.

Another Cazenovia student, sophomore Eliza Smith, earned ninth place in the Class A 100 butterlfy in a season-best 1:10.22 while improving her 500 freestyle time nearly 14 seconds to 6:07.50 for 12th place.

Maeve Kelly, also a sophomore, swam and dove for the Hornets, finishing 15th in the 200 IM in 2:41.53 after the Oct. 29 diving competitoin where she was 17th overall. Freshman Izzy Comeau was 19th in the 100 breaststroke in 1:22.69.

During Friday’s sectional state qualifier, Millson again was in the 200 medley relay, where in a time of 1:52.51 F-M just missed out on advancing to the state meet, inches behind New Hartford’s winning 1:52.26. In the 200 IM, Millson claimed eighth place in 2:27.96 before she finished ninth in the 500 freestyle in a season-best 5:41.88. And in the 400 freestyle relay, Millson joined Grace Reyna, Samantha Roddy and Kelly Liu to take sixth place in 3:58.61.

All of this helped F-M earn 268.5 points in the team standings, beating everyone except New Hartford, whose 277 points helped it earn the George Falwell Cup for the first time since 2005.

Cazenovia girls swimmer Kate Millson (far left) joined (from left) Georgia Langan, Elise Wratney and Cecilia Cao in helping Fayetteville-Manlius win the 200 medley relay at last Wednesday’s Section iii Class A championships.

Caz football drops sectional Class C semifinal

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Cazenovia’s Jack byrnes (2) lunges for a fourth-quarter touchdown. by PHil blACKWell

Quiet despair had transformed itself into electrified hope on the sidelines of the Cazenovia football team in the fourth quarter of last Saturday’s Section III Class C semifinal at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium.

Once down double digits, the undefeated, state no. 2-ranked Lakers had now tied General Brown, and there was time enough to make one more defensive stop and, perhaps, pull out one of the most dramatic and emotional victories in program history.

Instead, Cazenovia watched as the Lions mounted a clutch drive of its own, found the end zone and then snuffed out the Lakers’ last chance to prevail 30-22 and advance to next Sunday’s sectional final at the JMA Wireless Dome against Holland Patent.

Those who attended this game, whichever team they rooted for, were treated to an emotional contest on a warm, wind-swept afternoon where GB had full command most of the way, only to see Cazenovia battle back.

What made the Lakers’ rally so remarkable was the way it had struggled in so many aspects of the game throughout the early stages, from dropped passes to penalties to a defense pushed around by the Lions’ physical ground attack.

GB led 14-0 before Cazenovia got on the board in the second quarter, J.P. Hoak able to complete a series of passes, including a 30-yarder to Jack Byrnes, before Hoak went the final three yards for the touchdown.

Quickly answering, the Lions’ Gabe Malcolm, who already had a 40-yard TD run, went 52 yards deep into Cazenovia territory, setting up his own three-yard scoring run that made it 22-6, where it stood at halftime.

Things began to turn when the Lakers stopped GB on fourth down inside its own 20 early in the third period, one of several instances where the Lions had a chance to all put the game away.

Another stop in GB territory led to a quick drive as Hoak went 23 yards to Jack Donlin for the TD and also hit Donlin on a two-point pass, cutting the Lakers’ deficit in half to 22-14 with plenty of time left.

Even an injury delay as the Lakers attended to defensive back Alex Kuper early in the final period didn’t faze the Lakes, who got yet another fourth-down stop at its own 26.

A 74-yard scoring march followed, the key play a 10-yard rollout pass to Christian Schug on fourthand-10. Then, from the Lions’ 26, Hoak threw to the end zone and found Byrnes with 5:32 to play.

Moments later, Brayden Weismore found his way past the goal line for two points. Cazenovia had tied it 22-22 and believed that, unlike 2021 on this same field and in this same round against Skaneateles, it would find a way through to the title game.

It didn’t take long, though, for GB to dash those dreams. Going back to the ground, it used most of the remaining clock and drove inside Cazenovia’s 30 and then changed it up, Aiden McManaman finding Kyler Kovalik-Derrigo on a 25-yard pass.

One play later, with just 42.4 seconds left, Kaleb Natali converted on a five-yard run, with a two-point conversion to follow. Going into a stiff wind, the Lakers’ last chance was snuffed out when Malcolm intercepted Hoak at the Lions’ 33.

Hoak threw 36 passes, completing 17 of them for 233 yards as Byrnes caught seven passes for 119 yards, but the Lakers were held to a season-low 81 yards on the ground, not even one-fifth what the Lions did with 425 rushing yards. Brad Gagnon and Jed Olkowski led Cazenovia’s defense with eight tackles apiece.

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Cazenovia quarterback J.P. Hoak sends a pass downfield in last Saturday’s Section III Class C semifinal against General brown. Hoak completed 17 of 36 passes for 233 yards and a touchdown in the lakers’ 30-22 defeat.

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Caz defensive back taven reilley (1) cannot keep General brown’s Gabe Malcolm (42) from the end zone.

If ever there was a time a visiting side could fault home-course advantage, the Cazenovia boys cross country team could do so at the conclusion of last Saturday’s Section III Class C championships.

Here were the Lakers, assured of posting its best-ever finish at a sectional meet, and the only thing in the way of a first sectional title was the home side from VernonVerona-Sherrill.

And it was the Red Devils, with 79 points, holding off Cazenovia (82 points) by three points to win the team title and advance to this weekend’s state meet as Mexico was third with 112 points.

Individually, it was senior Branden McColm leading the Lakers, going 18 minutes, 49.8 seconds to make his way to ninth place, seventh among runners outside of VVS.

Running together, senior Will Austin and eighth-grader Jake Woolbert got into the top 15, Austin getting 13th place in 19:07.8 as Woolbert was 14th in 19:11.8.

Sophomore Kooper Wilmot was 22nd in 19:42.2 as junior Garret Lounsbury was 24th in 19:47.6 and junior Eddie Comeau was 27th in 19:55.5.

To win it, VVS needed Jordan Wingert (18:38.5) and Nathan Geroux (18:43.0) to finish just ahead of McColm, plus Rowan Planck (19:17.5) and Ben Bellinger (19:19.2) to crack the top 20 and a 29th place finish from R.J. Krupski to fend off the Lakers.

Up in Class B, Chittenango finished second to New Hartford in the girls sectional race as junior Laura Powers earned a berth in the state meet with her third-place time of 21:35.3.

Powers was joined by sophomore Ani McCarthy, who claimed the fifth and final individual spot when she finished in 22:53.6 as Bailee Burton, in 24:12.3, edged out Mariah Stewart (24:13.4) and Sophia DiGennaro (24:20.8) for 20th place.

The boys Bears were fourth in Class B, but star senior Caleb Leblanc earned a trip to the state meet when he made his way to third place in 18:02.9, not far from the winning 17:46.9 by Jamesville-DeWitt’s Connor Clarkson.

Kaleb Toscano, in a time of 19:21.1, got 16th place for Chittenango, with Manu Tipa 20th among team runners in 19:42.8 as Logan Rogers (21:03.0) was ahead of Gavin Roach (21:21.7).

Cazenovia girls volleyball stopped in Class C final

by PHil blACKWell

For an entire season, the Cazenovia girls volleyball team had worked toward exactly what it was going to face Saturday at nearby Chittenango High School.

With the Section III Class C championship at stake, the Lakers would try and dethrone its namesakes from Skaneateles, but never really get too close in a three-set defeat.

Cazenovia earned this chance by prevailing last Tuesday in the sectional semifinal against no. 3 seed Phoenix, taking just three sets to put away the Firebirds.

The opening set was important. Phoenix had its share of runs, but by a 25-22 margin the Lakers seized the early lead, then blitzed through the second set 25-7.

A long third set followed, the Firebirds trying to extend the match, but Cazenovia breaking a 24-24 tie and then earning match point to win 26-24 and advance.

Maren Smith had a tremendous allaround effort, earning 15 kills and adding 14 digs, three aces and three blocks, while Ashley Lordon finished with six kills.

Aside from her four kills, Zoe McLean matched Smith with 14 digs, as did Olivia Prykl, as Becca Ziemba earned 16 assists and Lucy Bliss had 10 assists, to go with eight digs.

Four days later, Cazenovia took another shot at a Skaneateles side it had not earned a set against in their regularseason encounters on Sept. 16 and Oct. 13.

The first six points of the match went to Skaneateles, and with the likes of Ayla Pas’cal, Kate Raddant and Maddy and Alice Bender in great form, it ended 25-14.

When it came to the second set, it got even more lopsided. Dominant serving from junior Maggie Lootens led to a string of points and a big margin that only grew until Skaneateles had the second set 25-8.

Cazenovia did play a bit better in the third set, but that only delayed things a bit. Skaneateles closed out the sweep 25-14 and, by doing so, advanced to this weekend’s regional round.

Smith finished with five kills, three blocks and eight digs. Bliss and Ziemba each got three assists.

Olivia Prykl got seven digs, with Ziemba and Corrine Albicker earning six digs apiece

Finishing the season at 14-4 overall, Cazenovia will see four seniors – Smith, McLean, Lordaon and Albicker – graduate.

However, Ziemba, Bliss, Prykl, Mya Skeele and Anna Bjork will be among the many players set to return in 2023.

Town

l From page 1 standpoint, what happens typically to buildings like this is they fall by the wayside,” he said.

In response, Zupan stated that he does not want his legacy to be that he “ruined the Gothic Cottage.”

The supervisor also assured Schappell and Anderson that once the town has determined its town hall requirements, the board plans to hold public meetings to gather input from the community and gradually refine its plan.

“We are thrilled to hear it will be something people will be able to speak to,” said Anderson.

in other news

The board adopted the 2023 Final Budget for the fiscal year beginning Jan. 1, 2023

Prior to adopting the budget, the board held a public hearing regarding the 2023 Preliminary Budget. No comments were made.

The board then adopted final adjustments to the preliminary budget prior to adoption.

The adjustments to were made to the General Fund A Appropriations, General Fund B Appropriations, General Fund B Revenues, Water Pollution Control Facility Appropriations, Cazenovia Fire Protection Appropriations, Route 20 Joint Water District Appropriations, and CAVAC Ambulance District Appropriations.

Zupan stated that the town did not exceed New York State’s two percent property tax levy growth cap.

“We’ve stayed $20,514.99 under the two percent cap,” he said.

The final budget will be posted and available for viewing on the town website.

The board approved the use of Ridge Road, Ten Eyck Ave., Lincklaen Road, and Syosset Drive for the 18th Annual Chilly Chili Run 5K Run/Walk scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 22, 2023 starting at 1 p.m.

During his report, Councilor Kyle Reger announced that the Cazenovia Zoning Board of Appeals and the Cazenovia Planning Board are both actively looking for additional members.

“For those who haven’t been to any of [those meetings], there really are fascinating details that they get into and they’re really vital for our community,” Reger said.

The Cazenovia Town Board typically meets on the second Monday of every month at 7:30 p.m. For more information, visit townofcazenovia.digitaltowpath.org or call the town office at 315655-9213.