The Clarkston track teams kicked off their seasons with a tri-way meet at Clarkston April 3 with Rochester Adams and Lake Orion. The Highlanders defeated the boys 77-51 and escaped a much closer meet with the girls, 69-59. The boys lost to the Dragons also, 72-56, while the girls won decidedly, 90-37.
‘It was a solid start to the season, we had some good times,? Girls coach John Yorke said.
Against Adams, the Wolves forced the meet down to the last event, the 1600-meter relay. A team of Kristen Smith, Jenna Manilla, Alyssa Swindlehurst and Annie Castillo came up just 1.5 seconds short in the scorebook, but each member’s time was a personal best for the season.
‘They ran a pretty good time. They were happy because they competed and did everything they could to win,? Yorke said.
Autumn Touchstone, a 2006 state qualifier, won the 100-meter high hurdles (16.1) and the 300-meter low hurdles (48.4) against both opponents.
‘Her 300-meter hurdles was a good start to the season,? Yorke said.
‘She and I are expecting more things this year.
‘There will be meets where she’ll stand out more.?
The Wolves won 14 of 16 events against the Dragons, including a 5-foot-3-inch high jump by Manilla and a 16-foot-7-inch long jump from Stephanie Thorstad.
Against Lake Orion, the boys took six events. Thomas Follis took 100-meter hurdles (16.6) and 300-meter hurdles (44.1), and Erik Thompson high-jumped 19-feet 10-?-inches to win their events. Matt Alexander (53.0) won the 400-meter dash. The Wolves? 3200-meter relay team (8:34.7) of Phil Voorheis, Zachary Peers, Alexander and Nick LaMora took first, as did the 1600-meter relay team (3:34.0) with Alexander, LaMora, Kyle Rivenburgh and Giovan McDougal.
Thompson’s long and Follis? high jump (5-feet 8-inch) both bested Adams.
Both squads were set to travel to West Bloomfield Tuesday for another tri-meet.
Check online at www.clarkstonnews.com for the results or read the April 25 print edition of The Clarkston News.