TRACK: Oak Park sweeps Oakland County titles
State’s best prepare for state finals with fine performances; Clarkston girls nab runner-up, Lake Orion boys fourth
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
CLARKSTON — On a day where Oak Park was nearly perfect, the Knights collectively are still searching for ways of improvement.
“We have a lot of things to work on,” said freshman Chloe Vines, who ran a leg on the meet ending 1,600-meter really victory.
“We can go faster,” said Jayla Jones. “Our coach thinks we can go a lot faster.”
Oak Park was fast enough at 59th Annual Oakland County’s Track & Field Championships, winning its sixth straight team title at Clarkston High School
Oak Park rolled up an impressive 107 points despite the chilly and at times rainy conditions in one final tune up for the upcoming Division 1 state finals.
“This is still an important meet, one of the biggest besides the state meet,” said Oak Park girls coach Brandon Jiles. “There’s some of the best athletes in the state here and some of the best coaches in the state here. A lot of the kids here will be at the state meet and a lot of them will (Score) at the state meet. It’s still important to do well here.”
Host Clarkston was a distant second with 46.5 points, while West Bloomfield (38), Birmingham Seaholm (33), Rochester Adams (31), Lake Orion (30), Farmington (30), White Lake Lakeland (29), Rochester Stoney Creek (23.5) and Troy (21) followed in the top 10 of the team standings.
Not to be outdone, Oak Park also won its fourth straight title in the boys meet, as the Knights collected 83 points, 33 points ahead of runner-up Novi (50). Walled Lake Northern (44.5), Lake Orion (44), Walled Lake Central (43), Clarkston (35), Oxford (32), Rochester Adams (28), Farmington (27) and Waterford Kettering (25) rounded out the top 10.
“We figured that we would win, but not by this much,” said Oak Park boys head coach Robert Lynch. “We knew that Novi and Lake Orion were really tough. Overall, we ran really well. We scored in a lot of events
Mitchell Bowens won the 200 (22.67) and joined Phillip Steward, Corion Montgomery and Devonta Twymon on the winning 400 relay (42.81).
Bowens, Montgomery and Steward joined up with William Daniels to win the 800 relay (1:30.00), while Oak Park’s Jason Flake, Josh Flake, Corey Kennard and Javonne Kirksey pulled away from Rochester Adams in the final lap to win the 1,600 (3:22.59).
Jaelyne Barnett also won the shot put (52-2.75) and Montgomery the long jump (21-9.25) for Oak Park, which won six of the 17 events.
Novi captured three events on the day to lead to its second-place finish. Sophomore Miles Brown won the 400 (48.85) and senior Blake Maday the 1,600 (4:19.35). The top seed for a D-1 state finals, the foursome of Matthew Whyte, Matthew Gustitus, Maday and Brown pulled away to win the 3,200 relay (7:46.66) in sibling fashion.
“We ran 7:44 at the regional and we know the state record is (7:39), so on a good day we’re hoping that is possible,” smiled Maday. “We want to win it, but going after the record is possible.”
Rochester Adams senior Parker Raymond, who did not win a regional a week ago in the 800, made for it by roaring past the leaders with 200 meters to go to clock a career-best 1:53.62.
“I knew I could go faster. I made my move with 200 to go and took the lead,” said Raymond, third at the state meet last year. “The goal is to win it. This gives me some confidence because I did not win last week. I needed the to refocus.”
Lake Orion’s Andrew Nolan captured the 3,200 (9:32.51) and teammate Thomas Moreman remained unbeaten in the 110 hurdles (14.49).
Oxford’s Shane Ross captured the 300 hurdles (38.5) and was second to Moreman in the 110s. Moreman scratched from the 300 hurdles after being the top seed.
“I didn’t have (Moreman) here to push me. He scratched. It does feel good to win it here and hopefully I can run down near 37.5 next week and win it there,” said Ross.
Birmingham Brother Rice’s Dodi Onwuzurike blazed a swift trail in the 100 (10.98). South Lyon East’s Donovan Wright captured the discus (157-0), Kettering’s Andre Daniels the high jump (6-4) and Walled Lake Central’s Jake Perry the pole vault (14-0)
Oak Park’s girls will challenge Rockford and Ann Arbor Pioneer for team honors at the D-1 state meet June 1 at East Kentwood. The Knights demonstrated just why on the grand oval at Clarkston.
Jayla Jones, Tamyra Todd, Kourtney Kennard and Chloe Vines captured the 1,600 relay by nearly 13 seconds (3:49.81). Vines, Kennard, Aasia Laurencin and N’Stajah Banks won the 800 relay (1:40.85), while Kennard and Laurencin teamed up with Nysha Jordan and Morgan Atlas to win the 400 relay (48.52).
Laurencin captured both the 100 hurdles (14.15) and 200 (24.89), and Vines, a freshman, earned the county gold in the 400 (57.18).
“We plan on being right there in the race at the state meet,” said Jiles, whose team has won four of the last five D-1 state crowns. “We have some things to work on. We’re a little tired right now after our regional, so we backed down with the training this week. But we still performed well here today. We’ll be ready next week.”
The girls long jump was partly contested in the rain that left the pit in somewhat disarray. Most competitors were off slightly, although Stoney Creek senior soccer-transplant Zoe Pritchard won the event (16-3) in her first county-meet performance.
Farmington’s Valadian Pallett became a double winner in the throws by taking the discus (134-8) and shot put (40-1.5) crowns.
Lake Orion’s Sarah Griffin the pole vault (12-0) and Walled Lake Western’s Kennedy Jackson the high jump (5-5) to wrap up the field events.
Marian’s foursome of Isabella Agrusso, Ainslie Vanneste, Isabella Prezzato and Erin Siver opened the meet with a victory in the 3,200 relay (9:45.47).
Troy’s Grace Johnson lowered her best in the 300 hurdles, as the junior clocked 43.68. She’s in a loaded fast heat at the D-1 state meet.
“The goal is to place this year, but the ultimate goal (before graduation) is to break the state record,” said Johnson.
Lake Orion’s Sophie Novak won the 1,600 (4:51.43) and 800 (2:12.76). She’s a contender for top three finishes in both events at the upcoming D-1 state meet.
“I really picked it up (in the third lap) and nobody really went with me,” said Novak following the 1,600. “It’s kind of hard to run in the lead alone, but I pushed myself.”
Lakeland’s Grace Stark, one of the nation’s top performers in the 100 hurdles, did not run her signature event but won her third straight county crown in the 100 meters (12.12).
Rochester’s Liz Bulat did not run the 3,200 much this season, but the Northwestern-bound senior did continue her school’s strong showing in the event by breaking the tape in 11:20.75.
“Once I saw a lot of of the top seeds scratched, I knew that this was possible,” said Bulat, who will be in the fast heat at the D-1 finals in the 1,600 and 3,200 relay.. “I didn’t want to (lead) the whole race, but no one else took the lead.”
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