The Lady Wolves are heading into this Friday’s OAA Red League Meet with a hunger.
They head into the meet undefeated and an opportunity to finish first in the league.
“It is going to be tough with Rochester Adam, Rochester and us,” said Clarkston Girls Track and Field Head Coach John Yorke. “We are pretty good. We are deep in all 16 events. The depth has kept us undefeated.”
He added seniors have led the way for the team with Kayle Sherwood in discus and shot put; Natalie Smith and Jill Harris in distance; and Anna Manilla in the high jump and low jump. Other boosts to the team have come from Erin Billette in distance events and Maicey Peterson in hurdles.
“We should score pretty decent in all events,” Yorke predicted. “The rest of the league has a couple of girls that are pretty good.”
The last time the Lady Wolves were undefeated in the league was 2008, in which they also won the league championship.
“Things are going well,” Yorke said. “We have to step it up individually for the league championship because we are running against five teams at once. Hopefully our depth can translate into top performances so we can get it done in the next two weeks.”
A win over Oxford on May 1, 77-51, gave them their 5-0 record. The girls took first place in nine of the events.
Sherwood took first in two events, 32’4″ in shot put and 100’11” in discus; Manilla 5’0″ in high jump; Taylor Mullins, 15’0.75″ in long jump; Peterson, 17.01 in 110-meter high hurdles; Franzi Loetzner, 50.26, 300-meter low hurdles; Billette, 2:20.59 in 800-meter run; Alyssa Spytman, Maddie Wilson, Loetzner and Mullins, 1:50.05, 800-meter relay; and Kristen Robinson, Spytman, Mullins and Wilson, 53.04, 400-meter relay.
Yorke added the 3,200-meter relay had a good day with a 9:44 finish.
“They really had a top notch day,” he said. “It was very fast for this time of year. They put us way up there. Oxford has a fast 3,200-meter relay team, too. Going against them made us run faster. By far that was the top performance for the day.”
The girls had standout performances at the Saline Invitational last Friday. In the one mile run, Billette took first, 5:14, and Smith finished in second place, 5:16. Wilson ran 26.6 in the 200-meter dash and Peterson finished with 9’0″ in the pole vault.
The boys also beat Oxford in their dual meet, 105-23. They took first in 14 events.
In first place finishes, Colin Kupper, 41’11” in shot put and 112’5″ in discus;CJ Gozdor, 6’2″ in high jump; Caine Watlington, 16.45, 110-meter hurdles, and 41.47, 300-meter hurdles; Ian Eriksen, 11.25, 100-meter dash; Mike Schwartz, 22.41, 200-meter dash; Blake Sutherland, 52.56, 400-meter dash; Sam Tanielian, 4:35.85, 1600-meter run; Austin Draving.
All four relay teams also took first 400-meter relay, 45.49; 800-meter relay, 1:33.84; 1,600-meter relay, 10:29.58; and 3,200-meter relay, 8:05.76.
For the Bay City Western Invite last week, Schwartz, 200-meter dash, and Gozdor, high jump placed in first.
The boys finished 4-1 in the dual meets and also head to the OAA Red League meet on Friday at Rochester High School, 4 p.m.