By Wendi Reardon Price
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Clarkston Girls and Boys Track teams ran, jumped and threw their way into the spring season as they competed against OAA Red foe Rochester Adams last Wednesday.
“They did really well,” said Kevin Breen, head coach. “We knew it was going to be a tough meet especially on the boys side. Adams was in contention for the number one team in the state last year. They have some solid athletes in just about every event including some of the state’s very best athletes. We knew it was going to tough, but we also had some confidence we would be able to compete with those athletes as a team because of depth, strength and the improvement we have had from last year to this year.”
The boys team lost to the Highlanders, 83-45, but Breen saw a lot of highlights from the meet.

“Our sprint program is really developing,” he said. “They are top in speed. Their explosiveness at the starting line is coming along. In the last several years the sprinters have really grown. In just about every spring event we have done better.”
Individual athletes standing out were senior Mark Palmeter in the 400-meter dash; sophomore Cayden DeGrendel, 1,600-meter run; junior Andrew Floros, 3,200-meter run; senior Colin Bastuba, hurdle events; junior Nick Waszczenko, discus; and freshman Cameron Love, high jump and long jump.
“Mark was one of the highlights,” Breen said, adding he is only a couple tenths of a second away from breaking the current record in the 400-meter dash at 49.5 held by Adam Gebus since 2001. “He is really close in the school record. Cayden pulled off a win which was very impressive. Andrew had a good performance. Colin had a really high level performance in both hurdles.
“Cameron won the high jump which is the second highest jump by a freshman in Clarkston history and second farthest long jump by a freshman,” Breen added. “He is showing some impressive jumps. He’s fast, too. He’s one of the fastest freshmen 100-meter runners in Clarkston history as well.”
He added the 400-meter, 800-meter, and 1,600-meter relay teams made the top five times ever run by a Clarkston team.
Finishing in the top three places to score points for the Wolves in the track events were: in the 100-meter dash, junior Keehan LaVell finished in third place in the time of 11.73; 400-meter dash, Palmeter, second, 50.24; 1,600-meter run, DeGrendel, first, 4:42.57; Floros, second, 4:44.26; 3,200-meter run, Floros, first, 10:30.74; sophomore Sam King, third, 11:36.86; 110-meter hurdles, Bastuba, first, 15.90; and 300-meter hurdles, Bastuba, 44.58.
The 400-meter relay team of LaVell, senior Dominic Collins, sophomores Leon-Fountain Rence and Cooper Collins finished second place at 46.21.
The 800-meter relay team of LaVell, Collins, Palmeter and sophomore Micah Chaney finished in second place, 1:32.29.
The 1,600-meter relay team of Palmeter, Bastuba, Chaney and sophomore Gabe Van Goor finished in second place in the time of 3:29.66.
The 3,200-meter relay team of Floros, DeGrendel, junior Bryce Nowik and sophomore Jaxson Nowik finished in second place in the time of 9:02.82.
The top finishes in the field events were: in the shot put, Waszczenko in second place with the distance of 40-06; senior Gauge Heikkinen, third, 37-04; discus, Waszczenko, first, 126-11; high jump, Love, first, 5-10; sophomore Thomas Schafer, second, 5-08; long jump, Chaney, second, 20-06.75; and Rence, third, 19-05.75;
“The distance team on the boys side should be a little more solid in the next weeks to come,” Breen said, looking ahead. “We just had a lot of sickness on the team. A lot of upper respiratory problems this week. Next week against Rochester we should be a little bit more healthy.”
The girls team won their meet against Rochester Adams, 73-55.
“It was more of a team effort on the girls side,” Breen said. “They were able to score in every single event. It allowed us to squeeze out the win against Adams. We were able in the 200-meter to put the meet to bed by scoring the last couple points we needed to win. Then, we swept the 3,200-meter run. Because we ran the kids so hard we were able to relax in the 4×400.”
Individual performances which stood out were sophomore Keira Zorski, in multiple events and winning the 400-meter dash; sophomore Athena Tedder, junior Sammie Carpentier and sophomore Carsey Collins, sweeping the 300-meter hurdles; sophomore Scarlett Keenan, senior Jurney Harris, senior Nicole McCowery, discus, and Collins in high jump and long jump.
Breen added it was a good night for sprints for the girls team as well.
“I have to give a lot of the success we have had to our sprint coaches. Between Coach (Thomas) Franz, Coach (Keith) Van Goor and Coach (Tim) Roland, they are really making our sprinters more explosive at the starting line and increasing their top ending speed,” he said. “It’s really showing across the board, both on the boys side and the girls side. We were really doing some amazing stuff in the 100-meter and 200-meter. Our kids are running times that are competitive across the state. Many of our kids are showing up in the top 20 and top 50 on the top times in the state.”
Finishing in the top three places to score points for the Wolves in the track events : in the 100-meter dash, Harris in first place in the time of 13.06; Keenan, second, 13:43; 200-meter dash, junior Cassandra King, second, 28.81; Keenan, third, 28.84; 400-meter dash, Zorski, first, 1:03.74; senior Rain Lemieux, third, 1:05.39; 800-meter run, senior Cate Cotter, third, 2:39.41; 1,600-meter run, senior Rebekah Wilson, second, 5:58.65; 3,200-meter run, freshman Ava Danielson, first, 14:02.36; junior Claire Walker, second, 14:31.25; Wilson, third, 14:31.37; 100-meter hurdles, Carpentier, second, 18.97; 300-meter hurdles, Tedder, first, 52.90; Carpentier, second, 53.71; and Collins, third, 54.07.
The 400-meter relay team of Keenan, Harris, sophomore Brooke Ratliff and freshman Skylar Drinkard finished in first place in the time of 52.24.
The 800-meter relay team of Keenan, Zorski, Ratliff and Drinkard finished in first place, 1:51.87.
The 1,600-meter relay team of Zorski, Ratliff, junior Emily Valencia and sophomore Lily Prainito finished in second place, 4:40.49.
The 3,200-meter relay team of Cotter, Valencia, Wilson and junior Alexandra Brigham finished in second place, 10:18.19.
The top finished in field events were: in shot put, McCowey in second place with the distance of 25-10.75; senior Emma Larkins, third, 25-10.25; discus, McCowey, first, 80-09; junior Allie Danatzko, second, 79-07; high jump, Collins, first, 5-00; long jump, Collins, first, 16-00; and junior Genna Golab, second, 15-01.
The Wolves host Rochester this Wednesday.
“I feel like with the way we organized the schedule this year as long as the weather holds up we will see consistent progress in our times and our finishes,” said Breen. “On the girls side, Rochester is going to be really tough. Really just looking forward to the competition. The sickness running through the team right now hopefully will subside, and we can score a little bit more in those events we struggled in this past week.”

  Clarkston Boys and Girls Track and Field, Track and Field