Clarkston’s varsity girls cross country team placed six runners in the top ten of the regional meet, on Oct. 30, at Clintonwood Park. The team finished first overall as a team and are now poised to capture a second straight State title.
The Clarkston girls? dominance was expected though. The big surprise of the day was the boys team as they ran better than they had all season and qualified for the State finals by finishing third in the region.
‘Our record (1-6) was misleading. This just shows how tough our league was,? said Clarkston boys Coach Mike Taylor.
Taylor added that the regional race was the first time this season the Wolves have not been hindered by injury or sickness, but did admit his teams lofty finish surprised him somewhat.
Lake Orion and Troy Athens finished ahead of the Wolves in the regional at Clintonwood, and elsewhere in the State Rochester, Seaholm and Lahser all qualified for the State finals as well.
Junior Hazen Brennan posted a personal best time of 16:44 and finished eighth overall. Junior Chris Anderson also helped the cause by finishing 17th.
Earlier in the morning the girls continued their dominating run at another state title, waxing their closest competition by 58 points, registering only 17 points.
‘We want the lowest score possible,? said Jenny Morgan, whose first place time of 17:36 was a personal best.
Liz Mengyan and Lyndsay Smith finished second and third, Gillian Nordquist, Ann Oltman and Jenna Leach finished fifth, sixth and eighth respectively.
‘They are running really well. I knew the girls would be up there,? said Coach Jamie Labrosse. ‘Hopefully they will run even better next week.?
The State finals are Nov. 6 at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.