CROSS COUNTRY: Adams wins first league title since ’93; Seaholm cruises to fifth straight conference banner
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
ROCHESTER HILLS — Ask Eric Lohr how long it has been since Rochester Adams captured a league championship in the sport of boys cross-country and he’ll quickly defer to some other veteran coaches in the area for the answer.
“I know it’s been a while — a long time,” he smiled. “I will have to ask around. I am not sure to be honest.”
Research has it that Adams last won a conference title in 1993, one year before the introduction of the Oakland Activities Association, which was officially launched as a mega conference back in the summer of 1994.
The Highlanders, by virtue of their consistency at the three OAA Red Division Jamborees, ended their 22-year drought Thursday at Bloomer Park. Adams placed in the top three at all three league events, including a runner-up finish at the conference meet, to rack up 25 total points and win the overall title.
The last league trophy was earned long before any of the current runners were born and Lohr was actually in middle school at the time in the Lake Orion district.
“We were consistent and ran well at all three jamborees — and that turned out to be the difference,” said Lohr. “We ran well at the league meet and our win at the first jamboree really turned out to be the difference because Lake Orion was fifth at that meet. We had a lot of guys PR today, which helped us, and we also stayed healthy. A lot of the other schools had injury problems. We did not.”
Five-time defending league champ Lake Orion actually won the league meet with 48 points, followed by Adams (57), Birmingham Seaholm (60), Clarkston (105), Rochester (109), Oxford (112) and Troy (194).
In the final standings, Adams edged Lake Orion by a point (25-24).Rochester was third (16), while Seaholm (15), Oxford (14), Clarkston (13) and Troy (5) followed suit.
Seaholm girls set the overall league mark on the girls side, becoming the first female team in the sport to win five straight in cross country in the league’s history. They had previously shared the title with Clarkston (2002-2005).
“We on quite a bit of a roll, and it’s rewarding knowing who we lost (to graduation),” said veteran Seaholm coach Jeff Devantier. “We lost three of our top runners but we have a group of girls this year that have worked hard and really had something to prove.”
Seaholm, which won their sixth league title in a seven-year span, amassed a perfect 28 points throughout the three-jamborees format. Lake Orion finished second with 20 total points, while Adams (19), Clakston (18), Rochester (12), Oxford (9) and Troy (6) rounded out the final standings.
Seaholm was so impressive at the league meet that the top-ranked Maples landed all eight of their varsity runners inside the top 15 to earn all-conference honors. No other team has three all-league runners.
Junior Audrey Ladd, in just her second season of cross country, blazed a 18:38.2 trail to emerge as the conference individual champ for Seaholm. Patty Giradot (second), 18:46.3), Mary Sanders (fifth, 19:!3.3), Ktie Beckeman (eighth), Rachel McCardell (ninth), Emily Rooney (10th), Jackie Brandonisio (12th) and Lily Tripp (15th) also competed for the Maples.
“I think it was definitely that we had the drive, coming into the season, that we wanted to prove to everyone that we were still a good team. A lot of people were doubting us. We even had people on our own team that were doubting us,” offered Ladd, who was 10th at last year’s league meet. “But after training over the summer and through the season, a lot of our younger girls have stepped up to the plate and helped us carry on the tradition.”
Seaholm, which counts only two seniors in its top 10 on the depth chart, collected 25 points at the league meet, with Lake Orion (80), Adams (92), Rochester (106), Clarkston (107), Troy (143), and Oxford (156) rounding out the field.
“I don’t think we’re going anywhere next year, either. We’ll still be in the hunt,” added DeVantier.
Clarkston freshman Elizabeth Dalrymple (third) and Rochester’s Lauren Kaliszewski (fourth) also had strong finishes. Lake Orion’s runner-up finish, which included three top-15 placers, was aided by Emily Fluent’s seventh-place finish.
In the boys meet, Lake Orion’s Andrew Lorant, who has battled a health problem and has dropped out of three races this season, including the first OAA-Red Jamboree in September and the recent Oakland County Championships, clocked 15:44.0 to win the individual crown.
Matt Schram of Adams was a distant second in 15:56.4, with Seaholm’s Jack Haplin (16:04.2), Oxford’s Gabe Hogan (16:09.6) and Rochester’s Kyle Johnson (16:12.0) following suit in the top five.
“I really wanted to finish this one. It feels great to win the league because we have had so many great runners who have won here,” said Lorant, who carries the school records on a green bracelet as a reminder of goals to reach in cross country and track and field. “It stinks that we didn’t win the league title — we lost by a single point to Adams — but we still have regionals and we want to win that. We want to finish as high as we can at the state meet, hopefully well (inside) the top 10.”
Lake Orion had four top-15 finishers for all-league status, with Seaholm landing four in the top-15 and Adams three in that group.
Boys Cross Country
OAA RED DIVISION LEAGUE MEET
(Oct. 22 at Bloomer Park)
TEAM SCORES — 1. Lake Orion, 48; 2.Rochester Adams, 57; 3. Birmingham Seaholm, 60; 4. Clarkston, 105; 5. Rochester, 109; 6. Oxford, 112; 7. Troy, 194.
FINAL STANDINGS — 1. Rochester Adams, 25 points; 2. Lake Orion, 24; 3. Rochester, 16; 4. Birmingham Seaholm, 15; 5. Oxford, 14; 6. Clarkston, 13; 7. Troy, 5.
TOP 15 FINISHERS — 1. Andrew Lorant (Lake Orion) 15:44.0; 2. Matt Schram (Rochester Adams) 15:56.4; 3. Jack Haplin (Birmingham Seaholm) 16:04.2; 4. Gabe Hogan (Oxford) 16:09.5; 5. Kyle Johnson (Rochester) 16:12.0; 6. Luke Wallace (Birmingham Seaholm) 16:!3.4; 7. Matthew Arenz (Lake Orion) 16:21.0; 8. Colin Crusoe (Rochester Adams) 16:29.5; 9. Jacob Arenz (Lake Orion) 16:30.4; 10. Matt Schiller (Rochester Adams) 16:31.4; 11. Shane Skelcy (Rochester) 16:33.1; 12. Ben Williams (Birmingham Seaholm) 16:33.7; 13. 13. Alex Skender (Birmingham Seaholm) 16:38.6; 14. Jack Everts (Lake Orion) 16:41.0; 15. Mika Juuhl (Clarkston) 16:44.6.
Girls Cross Country
OAA RED DIVISION LEAGUE MEET
(Oct. 22 at Bloomer Park)
TEAM SCORES — 1. Birmingham Seaholm, 25; 2. Lake Orion, 80; 3. Rochester Adams, 92; 4. Rochester, 106; 5. Clarkston, 107; 6. Troy, 143; 7. Oxford, 156.
FINAL STANDINGS — 1. Birmingham Seaholm, 28 points; 2. Lake Orion, 20; 3. Rochester Adams, 19; 4. Clarkston, 18; 5. Rochester, 12; 6. Oxford, 9; 7. Troy, 6.
TOP 15 FINISHERS — 1. Audrey Ladd (Birmingham Seaholm) 18:38.2; 2. Patty Giradot (Birmingham Seaholm) 18:46.3; 3. Elizabeth Dalrymple (Clarkston) 18:52.6; 4. Lauren Kaliszewski (Rochester) 19:11.5; 5. Mary Sanders (Birmingham Seaholm) 19:13.3; 6. Jordyn Houle (Rochester Adams) 19:16.6; 7. Emily Fluent (Lake Orion) 19:21.9; 8. Kati Beckeman (Birmingham Seaholm) 19:22.9; 9. Rachel McCardell (Birmingham Seaholm) 19:38.8; 10. Emily Rooney (Birmingham Seaholm) 19:40.0; 11. Bellina Gaskey (Lake Orion) 19:41.8; 12. Jackie Brandonisio (Birmingham Seaholm) 19:42.8; 13. Allison Sherman (Lake Orion) 19:44.1; 14. Malory Ferguson (Clarkston) 19:45.5; 15. Lily Tripp (Birmingham Seaholm) 19:49.7.
Category: Clarkston, Featured Articles, High School, High School (M-Z), Lake Orion, Oxford, Prep Wraps, Rochester, Rochester Adams, Rochester Stoney Creek, Sports Shorts, Troy
