TRACK: Clarkston, Walled Lake Central collect titles at Ashley-Brennen Relays
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
WATERFORD — With the championship season beginning in only a couple of weeks, track and field teams are finally starting to turn athletes loose to see what they can do on the stage.
Walled Lake Central and Clarkston displayed plenty of balance, depth, athleticism and overall team speed at Saturday’s Ashley-Brennen Relays at Waterford Mott, as both teams walked out of the grand oval with team titles.
Walled Lake Central’s boys racked up an impressive 79 points to easily out-distance injury-plagued Lake Orion by 29 points. No other team in the 16-school field scored more than 44.
Clarkston’s girls held back a couple of key athletes but still out-dueled Ann Arbor Skyline (64) and Waterford Mott (53) to win the team title on the girls side.
Novi (45), Walled Lake Northern (41), Lake Orion (39), Milford (39), Troy (38), Farmington (33) and Rochester Adams (31) rounded out the top 10 in the girls’ team standings.
Clarkston freshman Elizabeth Dalrymple won the 3200 (11:08.59), Megan Nicholson the high jump (5-4) and the unit of Jala Smith, Lauren Feeko, Makayla Owens and Kayla Russell had the best effort in the 800 relay (1:47.72) to pace the champion Wolves.
“We weren’t full power today,” said Clarkston coach Kevin Breen. “We backed down with Nicole Hanson, running her in just one race, and we held out Ashley Graham, one of our best sprinters. With what we put out there, we still ran well. We’ve happy with Courtney Roland having her best race in the 100 hurdles, our freshman, Liz Dalrymple, continues to get better and were excited that Megan Nicholson getting (over) 5-4 in the high jump. We’re getting ready for the upcoming championship season. We hope to contend for league and regionals (titles).”
Skyline won three events to finish second overall. The Eagles won the distance medley relay (12:49.78) with Sophie Steinberg, Chloe Foster, Gabby Peck and Camille Kukor comprising the winning foursome. Teammate Charde Madoula-Bey captured both the shot put (41-1) and discus (134-10).
Mott’s Morgan Fuerst, Katie Osika, Alexis Munley and Victoria Stachowski ran a blistering 4:02.79 to win the 1,600 relay. Fuerst, Osika, Stachowski and Mikayla Gean captured the sprint medley relay (6:45.43).
Each running a mile, Milford’s quartet of Mallory Barrett, Victoria Heiligenthal, Elizabeth Darga and Regan Lobodzinski broke the tape in the 4×1600 (21:04.59).
Novi’s Karenna Roest, Brittany Moeller, Ashley Jamison and Alexandra Pringle the shuttle hurdles relay (1:09.75), while Hannah Hood-Blaxill jumped into the wind and won the long jump (15-4.5).
Avondale’s Alexis Brown the 300 hurdles (47.40), Goodrich’s Rachel Dolan soared to 11-0 in winning the pole vault.
Walled Lake Northern’s Brandi Kroll, Katie Krumm, Grace Markey and Anna Bauer joined forces to win the 400 relay (50.65) to round out the winners in the girls meet.
In the boys meet, Walled Lake Northern’s 44 points earned the Knights third overall. Novi (41), Auburn Hills Avondale (40), Clarkston (39), Walled Lake Western (34), Waterford Mott (34), Milford (34) and Rochester Adams (27) wrapped up the top 10.
Walled Lake Central’s Sam Barrett, Lucas Mack, Logan Manning and Jared Hill had the best effort in the sprint medley relay (5:49.08). The Vikings had a multitude of top five finishes, including having three of the top five finishers in the long jump and runner-up finishes in both the 400 relay and 800 relay to help them pull away from the talented field.
“We are always geared up for the championship-style meets and this was a nice tune-up for May,” said Central coach Neb Stojkovic. “Today we had the chance to do some fun relays and overall we ran well. We’re excited for what’s coming up. We have the (Walled Lake) City Meet, then (KLAA) league meet and regionals coming up soon. We’re excited to see what we can do at those meets.”
Auburn Hills Avondale’s Noah Burton posted the state’s top performance in the 300 hurdles, clocking 38.28 to win by nearly a second. Skyline’s Anthony Giannobile pulled away from the field to win the 3,200 (9:26.49).
Mott won the 400 relay (44.80) with the unit of Elijah Crowder, Braxton Holland, Victor Laszlo and Sincere Perkins. Lake Orion’s Kevin Hansen, Jacob Hoffman, Dallas Cleary and Sheldon Drake ran a season-best 1:31.38 in topping the field in the 800 relay.
Walled Lake Western, third at the Division 1 state meet in the 1,600 relay last season, displayed another fast unit this season by winning the same relay in 3:25.58.
Rochester’s foursome of Kyle Johnson, Joey Hegger, Joe Schuler and Shane Skelcy won the day’s longest event, topping the field in the 4×1600 relay (18:24.92).
Novi won the distance medley relay (10:33.06) with the group of Scott MacPherson, Anthony D’Annibale, Joost Plaetinck and Nathaniel Wood taking the gold.
Lake Orion’s unit of Tyler Skibickil Thomas Morman, Kyle Duffy and David Yonkers won the 4×110 Shuttle Hurdles Relay (1:06.90).
Avondale’s Jerimiah Evans heaved the shot put 54-1.75, while small school rep Paxton Titus of Pinckney Livingston Christian won the discus with a throw of 156-7.
Novi’s Scott Sayer won the high jump (6-6) by seven inches, Walled Lake Northern’s Joe Albright took the pole vault (13-0) and teammate Adam Rabaut won the long jump (20-7).
Category: Auburn Hills Avondale, Clarkston, Featured Articles, High School, High School (M-Z), Lake Orion, Most Recently Updated Stories, NOS reference, Ortonville Brandon, Prep Wraps, Rochester, Rochester Adams, Sport, Top Stories, Track & Field, Troy, Uncategorized, Waterford Mott
