Jenny Morgan’s personal record in the 1600 was eclipsed by Grand Blanc’s Geena Gall’s 4:45.50, but the Clarkston runner did some overshadowing of her own in the 3200 at the regional meet on May 20.
Morgan’s feet seemed unburdened by mortal constraints as she smoothly carved around the Holly High School track to finish in 10:33.70, nearly eight seconds and three fourths of a track ahead of her closest competition ? helping Clarkston capture their second regional title in three years.
‘I love the two mile, I’m glad that I got in a good time,? said Morgan ‘Team wise we had a really good effort. It’s really exciting to be a part of this team.
Clarkston won the meet with 126 points, Grand Blanc was second with 100 points, followed by Lake Orion with 78.
While Morgan and her fellow distance runners are the core of the program, Clarkston’s victory was assured by some unexpected victories in the field events from freshman Stephanie Thorstad in the long jump (15?10.5″) and freshman Taylor Rademacher in the high jump (5?02″).
‘It was a total team effort,? said Clarkston Coach John Yorke. ‘We came out of the field events a lot farther along than we thought we’d be.?
Aside from Morgan, Thorstad and Rademacher, the Wolves will be represented quite well at the state meet in Rockford on June 4.
The 3,200 relay team of junior Lyndsay Smith, senior Gillian Nordquist, junior Lisa Sickman and junior Beth Hoekstra finished in first place with a time of 9:35.90. Senior Stephanie Parkin led a long list of Wolves who also qualified for the state finals, with second place showings in the 100 hurdles (15:00), long jump (15?9.5″) and the 1600 relay (4:07.40) with senior Liz Mengyan, Smith and Morgan.
Morgan (4:51.7), Mengyan (5:01) and Sickman (5:14.40) qualified for states in the 1,600, and Nordquist (11:30.20) and senior Anne Oltman (11:34.60) qualified in the 3200.
The boys side of the track did not hold the same success for Clarkston.
‘Tenths of a second made a big difference to us,? said Clarkston Coach Walt Wyniemko.
In the 200, junior Gregg Knappe finished in third place with a time of 23.00 ? five-tenths of a second slow for a state qualifying time. Junior Nick followed just behind Knappe with a time of 23.10.
Knappe also finished one-tenth too slow to qualify in the 100 with a time of 11.2. Junior Brad Gale also missed making the cut to states with 15.4 in the 110 hurdles, four-tenths of a second too slow. Gale also finished sixth in the 300 hurdles. Senior Jake Meissnest finished sixth in shot put.
‘We accomplished our goals of running hard, enjoying competing and improving over the course of the season,? said Wyniemko.
Next up for both track teams is the league meet on May 24, which finished too late for this edition of The Clarkston News. Both teams will run in the county meet on May 27, which will also serve as the girls team’s final tuneup before the state finals.