By Wendi Reardon Price
Clarkston News Sports Writer
 Waterford — The Wolves ruled the MHSAA Division 1 Region 8 meet at Hess Hathaway Park last Saturday with the boys and girls teams qualifying for the state championship.
The Clarkston Boys Varsity Cross Country team finished in first place out of 17 teams with 52 points.
Coach Larry Adams shared the goal was to qualify for the state championship for this Saturday.
“They knew they weren’t done,” Adams added.
Senior Henry Poploskie led the boys, finishing in fourth place in the time of 16:24.33. Junior Bryce Nowik finished in sixth place in the time of 16:39.25; junior Andrew Floros, 13th, 16:50.86; sophomore Cayden DeGrendel, 14th, 16:52.74; sophomore Jaxson Nowik, 15th place, 16:54.47; sophomore Joshua Ellingsworth, 30th, 17:23.91; and sophomore Braden Waechter, 41st, 17:47.12.

“They did a nice job,” Adams said. “They like working together. Cayden continues to improve. He was our number four on Saturday. He has been number five. The boys finished the regular season winning the OAA Red League. Adams shared it helped to win the final meet on Oct. 20.
“It showed we could do it,” said. “We haven’t really been together. A couple of big races earlier in the year we weren’t at full strength. The league meet was our first meet at full strength for our top seven. We knew we could do it, we just hadn’t yet like we wanted to. They did a good job. We knew we were going to have a battle – Troy is solid, Oxford runs well. They were excited to run together for the first time and the success went from there.”
Utica finished in second place during the race with 63 points and Troy finished in third place with 75 points. Both move on to the state championship.
The girls team also qualified for state championship out of 13 teams, finishing in third place with 91 points.
Junior Alexandra Brigham led the team, finishing in third place in the time of 19:04.24. Freshman Sydney Fischer finished in 18th place in the time of 20:34.88; senior Rebekah Wilson, 22nd, 20:50.65; junior Anna Reineck, 23rd, 20:54.18; senior Cate Cotter, 25th, 20:56.80; sophomore Lily Miles, 34th, 21:17.60; and freshman Ava Danielson, 77th, 24:45.08.
Oxford finished as regional champion with 55 points and Troy finished second with 68 points.
The MHSAA Division 1 Cross Country State Championship is Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.

  Clarkston Cross Country, cross country