Wolves harries looking to hound down a state finals berth
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
CLARKSTON — For years Clarkston has fielded quality boys cross country programs. At the state-meet level, it hasn’t always been the case.
Clarkston has qualified only five times in the past 15 seasons, with an all-time best of fourth at the Class A meet back in 1999. The Wolves were also 23rd in Division 1 in 2000, 25th in 2004, 20th in 2005 and 21st in 2008.
“I think that we’ll have a shot at qualifying this season,” beamed veteran Clarkston boys boys cross country coach Mike Taylor. “We have a good group this season.”
This season the Wolves have won three invitationals with top-10 finishes at several others. They were fifth out of over 40 schools at the recent Oakland County Championships and finished second last week at the OAA Red Division league championships. Clarkston won the second OAA-Red jamboree in late September after finishing third at the first jamboree and wound up second overall in the final conference standings.
“We had to beat Lake Orion at the league meet in order to win the league,” said Taylor.”We had already beaten them and finished ahead of them at the county, so we knew we could beat them.”
In the final league standings, Clarkston trailed only Lake Orion but seek some revenge on the Dragons. The Wolves should be amongst the mix of top teams at Saturday’s Division 1 regional at Goodells Park west of Port Huron.
Clarkston is expected to challenge Romeo and longtime nemesis Lake Orion for the regional trophy and state qualifying berths. Rochester Adams, Oxford and Rochester Stoney Creek should also be among the top teams.
The top three boys and girls teams, plus the top 15 individual finishers, from each regional all advance to the Lower Peninsula state finals. This year’s state meet will be at Michigan Speedway near Brooklyn, Mich., on Nov. 5.
FURIOUS FINISH: Austin Draving and Clarkston hopes to have a fine showing at Saturday's Division 1 regional with a top-three team finish and a pass to the state finals. File Photo | Dan Stickradt
Clarkston had several misses at the regional level in the 1990s and early 2000s, finishing fourth or fifth on several occasions to go along with their five state-meet berths. This season the Wolves have been aided by a talented group, mostly seniors and juniors, with some depth.
Senior Daniel Byrne came back recently from an injury suffered before the season, and senior Adam Bruderick, who missed three weeks with an ankle injury that kept him out of the county meet, are both back in the pack and the Wolves are a legitimate team to make it out of the regional. Junior Sam Tanielian has emerged as the team’s top runner this season, while junior Austin Draving, senior Michael Culver, junior Nick Moore, senior Ian Brennan and freshman Dan Billette have all been key contributors.
“I like to think that we have a chance,” said Taylor. “We have kind of been building for this all season. This is the best group we’ve had here in a while. We just need to put it all together at the regional.”
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Category: Clarkston, High School, Prep Wraps
