Following impressive performances all season long including a regional championship for Clarkston, three of its members took home All-State honors at the state finals in East Kentwood June 2.
As a team, the Wolves finished with 13 points, tied for 14th position. Clarkston took second place in 2006 behind state champion Ann Arbor Pioneer.
Autumn Touchstone took sixth in the 100-meter hurdles, finishing in 15.31. Distance specialist Kristen Smith took third (11:11.25) in the 3200-meter run and Stephanie Thorstad was fifth in the high jump, going 5-feet, 4-inches.
Clarkston coach John Yorke couldn’t remember the last time the Wolves had three All-State athletes in the same season.
‘That’s right where I thought they could do,? he said.
‘Autumn and Kristen were going to have to step up. Five-four is a solid jump.?
Smith, affected like her competitors by the day’s heat, ran a slower time than usual, but turned it up a notch in the final laps to reclaim a couple positions, Yorke said.
For Touchstone, making it to the finals was just as difficult a task as the final heat itself, Yorke said.
‘The last 18 girls were all capable of making the finals. She out-competed 10 or 11 girls,? he said.
‘Head to head, she competed at an extreme level.?
Pole-vaulter Dana Johns saved her best performance for the state’s grand finale. Johns set her personal best mark at 9-feet, 10-inches.
‘It goes to show she rises to the challenge to have her very best day at the state championship,? Yorke said.
Clarkston should be right back in contention next season after losing only one senior to graduation. Clarkston will be in the thick of the Oakland Activities Association championship, have a chance at winning the county meet, and a higher place in the state finals next season, Yorke said.