Regional Champions in the 4 x 200m Relay – Austin Conn, Joey Thede, Stephan Brown and Anais Pillot. Photo by Stan Ford.

Seven boys qualifty for state meet on June 4

Lake Orion High School’s boys track and field team headed to Lapeer High School on Friday for the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Region 9-1 meet where the team finished second place overall with 106 points.

Seven Dragon athletes move on to the MHSAA Divison 1 State Meet on June 4 at Rockford High School, head coach Stan Ford said.

Stephen Brown continued his fine season with a regional championship in the 200m dash. Brown also anchored both winning relays, with Austin Conn, Joey Thede and Dorian Hill joining him in the 4 x 100m relay, Ford said.

Brown, Anais Pillot, Thede and Conn won the 4 x 200m relay.

Lake Orion’s other regional champion was Hong Bing Tang in the 3,200m run.

“On a blistering hot, windy day, Tang ran the smartest race of the group for the win,” Ford said, adding that Adam Hafeli (4th) and Clayton Kuiper (6th) led to the Dragons scoring 18 points in that one event.

Thede qualified for the state meet by virtue of his 2nd place finish in the 110m high hurdles.

Kuiper had the toughest race of the day, having to qualify for the state meet time, running a personal record in the 1,600m run “on a day when time qualification was next to impossible with the heat and wind,” Ford said.

Kuiper was just .61 seconds out of 1st place with his effort. — M.K.