BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
It was a boost into the post season as the Wolves claimed the OAA Red title after winning the league championship race last Thursday at Bloomer Park in Rochester Hills.
“We were very excited,” said Clarkston Boys Cross Country Coach Larry Adams. “We did it with a team effort. All eight guys were all a pretty big part of us being successful. Everybody played a part in our victory which is nice we didn’t just count on a couple of kids who run up front.
They finished with 61 points at the championship as Birmingham Seaholm finished in second, 62; Lake Orion, third, 84; Rochester Adams, fourth, 86; Oxford, fifth, 96; Rochester, sixth, 146; and Troy, seventh, 153.
They had four runners finish as All-League with Gavin Eisert leading the way in eighth place at 16:33.7; Mika Juuhl, 11th, 16:46.1; Brendan Favazza, 12th, 16:53.6; and Shawn Slater, 14th, 17:00.9.
Favazza was the only freshman to finish in top 15 and to be named All-League.
Finishing the top eight for Clarkston was Jacob Dolan in 16th place, 17:04.7; Nickolas Favazza, 23rd, 17:14.3; Nate Sesti, 33rd, 17:27.3; and Timothy Dalrymple, 42nd, 18:01.4.
They finished in first place in the previous two league Jamborees, putting them in first place for the final league standings with 28 points.
The Wolves finished in second place during the boys JV race with 59 points as Lake Orion finished in first with 29 points.
Christian Collis led the pack as he finished in second place at 18:11.6. Also finishing in the top eight were Grant Schreiber, fifth, 18:16.5; Jeremy Cavallo, 14th, 18:27.9; Ryan Nicosia, 19th, 18:36.1; Mark Sprague, 18:38.6; James Rothwell, 18:56.1; Ben Allen, 19:07.7; and Noah Juuhl, 19:21.7.
The Lady Wolves finished in second place at the championship race with 59 points as Birmingham Seaholm continued to hold onto the first place spot with 23 points.
“It was spot on with what we planned on accomplishing,” said Kevin Breen, head coach for Clarkston Girls Cross Country. “We knew Troy was going to be tough, but if we went in there and ran like we normally do even if we didn’t run our best race we would beat Troy.”
He added he was happy with the finish because the last few weeks were important for the girls’ training.
Troy finished in third place with 85 points with Oxford in fourth, 111; Lake Orion, fifth, 122; and Rochester Adams and Rochester tied for sixth with 146 points.
The girls had four runners place in the top 15 for All-League with Elizabeth Dalrymple leading the way in fourth place, 18:54.8. Mallory Ferguson finished in fifth, 19:20.5, with sister Emily Ferguson finishing 20 seconds later for ninth place and Mia Patria in 14th place, 19:49.3.
The rest of the top eight runners for Clarkston finished in the top 50 with Emily Gustafson in 27th place, 20:21.3; Hailey Catania, 41st, 20:53.9; Grace Nolan, 47th, 21:16.2; and Megan Ford, 49th, 21:28.6.
“Hailey’s not been 100 percent all season and she showed she is ready to run with the front group,” Breen added. “It’s good to see her back and she does well in competitions. She’s a competition racer – they bring the best out of her.”
The girls finished in third place in the final league standing with 21 points, one point below Troy who finished second. Seaholm finished first with 27 points.
“We are still a young team,” Breen added. “We are still learning. We are not a veteran team by any means. We are going into the regional meet feeling a little bit more confident.
The Lady Wolves finished sixth in the JV race with 160 points and Rochester Adams finished in first place with 28 points. The top eight runners were Alex Gladding in 21st place finishing at 22:27.1; Heather Burrum, 22:55.5; Jillian Haas, 23:10; Rebecca Snyder, 23:31.5; Olivia Thomas, 23:39.8; Madeline Forshey, 23:55; Nicole Horner, 25:01.7; and Grace Spencer, 25:48.6.
The varsity teams head to the MHSAA Regionals hosted by Anchor Bay at their home course, 6319 County Line Road in Fair Haven.
“We are in the hunt,” said Adams. “There are a couple of teams in our region we haven’t seen yet this season. It is a unknown factor. From the east side Macomb Dakota, Utica Eisenhower and Romeo have good quality programs who have posted good times. We haven’t raced them so we don’t know how we match up.”
“It looks pretty good,” Breen added. “All the teams in our region that seem will pose a bit of a threat we have beaten and fairly handedly. Being able to go into regionals feeling good, feeling strong, feeling healthy is going to play out in our favor for a chance to win it. If we can pull it off it will be our third regional in a roll. I think it is a good challenge for us.”
Breen and Adams noted the OAA Red races, as one of the toughest leagues in the state, prepares the runners.
“It gets them ready,” said Adams. “They know every time they put their spikes on for the OAA Red meets they have to run against tough competition. They feed off each other in those meets so it definitely prepares them for the regional.”
For the Lady Wolves it helps to see Seaholm, one of the top teams in the state.
“We have had our shots at them,” said Breen. “It is a good thing for the girls to see that, to know what they have to aspire to to get to that point. It’s motivation to keep our mileage up, to work hard in workouts and stay healthy. It’s a good group and a good solid group.”
They will compete against Anchor Bay, Chippewa Valley, Lake Orion, L’Anse Creuse Noth, Macomb Dakota, Oxford, Port Huron, Port Huron Northern, Rochester, Rochester Adams, Romeo, Stoney Creek, Utica, Utica Eisenhower, and Utica Ford II.
“We just have to make sure we take care of our business and do what we need to do,” said Adams. “Then, hopefully earn one of the top three spots in the regional so we can go to states as a team. We are optimistic.”
The Division 1 Boys Race is at 10 a.m. and the girls race is at 11:30 a.m. Awards are scheduled for 1:15 p.m.