Eyeing league titles, Rochester, Lake Orion run to split
FURIOUS FINISH: Lake Orion's Nick Balavich (right) fights off Rochester's Eric Perez during the final straightaway of the 400 meters during Wednesday's dual meet. Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
ROCHESTER HILLS — Even in its first state championship season for girls and track, Rochester did not win a league championship. The Falcons are trying to make amends to that blip.
Rochester moved to 3-0 on the season, topping visiting Lake Orion Wednesday in a 81-47 victory.
“This year we hope to win the league. We should have won it last year,” reminded Rochester coach Larry Adams, who team dropped the league meet to Troy by one point last May.
Meanwhile, Lake Orion’s boys team also finished second in the OAA Red Division last season, and are eying the prize this season. The Dragons are also 3-0 on the year, holding off Rochester, 70-58, and getting a bulk of its point production from non-seniors.
Only five 12th graders scored on the night for Lake Orion.
“We are very young,” said veteran Lake Orion boys coach Stan Ford. “I have quite a few sophomores and freshmen that give us some depth in the sprints and they help with the relays, and the distance, too, they are scoring points. I like the way they are progressing. We had a lot of PRs tonight.”
Lake Orion was able to pull ahead by winning all four relays, while TJ Carey snuck out a pair of wins in the final meters in both the 1,600 and 3,200 runs.
BLAZING SPEED: Rochester's Teanna Murray won the 100 and 200 dashes and ran on two winning relays in the Falcons' 81-47 win. Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt
In the 1,600, Carey won in 4:32.7, edging Rochester’s Brian Beecher (4:33.3) and Blake Pozolo (4:33.8) in the final 10 meters. Carey did the same thing in the 3,200, overpowering a tight pack of four runners down the final straightaway to win in 10:24.0. Pozolo came in at 10:24.6 and Orion’s Jake Lauka clocked 10:24.8.
“I’m not disappointed at all because we had guys that came to compete and we had some very good performances,” said Rochester boys coach Gary Cousino. “We are getting better.”
Lake Orion’s Nick Balavich won the 400, edging Rochester’s Eric Perez 52.1 to 52.2.
Alex Roberts won both hurdles races, taking the 100 hurdles (15.3) and 300 hurdles (41.1). Danny Ney also won the 100 (11.3) and Tyler Eschendal the discus (124-4) for the Dragons.
“We have a lot of hard-working kids and a lot of young talent,” said Ford. “Having this many young kids scoring like this, that doesn’t happen too often, especially in this league. But I know there are a lot of young kids in this league.”
Lake Orion also won the 3,200 relay (8:51.7), 800 relay (1:34.3), 400 relay (45.7) and 1,600 (3:32.5), good for a 20-point swing.
HOLDING ON: Lake Orion's TJ Carey edged Rochester's Brian Beecher (back, right) and Blake Pozolo (left) in the 1,600 meters. Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt
Rochester’s Beecher won the 800 (2:04.6), Luca Catraro the 200 (23.3), Dan Nguyen the high jump (5-6), Elive Likine the long jump (18-11.5) and Marcel Johnson the shot put (45-8.25).
Rochester’s girls, which rang up 65 points at the Division 1 state meet, still has several holdovers from that squad, but are reloading with several freshmen and first-year sophomores who did not compete last season.
“We’re looking forward to warm weather finally, some good training weather,” said Adams. “We had some good performances. We had some young kids step up today and I’m excited about that.”
STRIDE FOR STRIDE: LAke Orion's (l-r) Ashley Barteau, Amy Wells and Patty Babich fight for position during the 1,600 meters. Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt
Rochester swept the relays, earning wins in the 3,200 relay (10:13.1), 800 relay (1:47.2), 400 relay (53.2) and 1,600 relay (4:14.4).
Brook Handler won the 800 (2:21.1) and 1,600 (5:25.2), Teanna Murray the 100 (12.3) and 200 (25.3), the latter a school record, and Emily Leppek the 300 hurdles (49.9) and long jump (15-11 ) for the Falcons.
Jessica Goethals added a win in the 3,200 (12:17.7), Mairi Van Dyke took the 400 (1:04.0) and Ally Stanjones the shot put (30-5.5) for Rochester.
Alexandria Johnson won the 100 hurdles (15.5) before leaving the meet with an injury. Maddie Stringfellow won the high jump (4-6) and Linnea Berriman the discus (104-0).
SPLIT SECOND: Lake Orion's Danny Ney had enough to edge Rochester's Luca Catraro during the 100 meters at Wednesday's OAA Red Division dual meet. Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt
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Category: Lake Orion, Prep Wraps, Rochester
