Boys top Adams in OAA Red league match-up

BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
The Wolves competed their way to their first win of the season as the Clarkston Boys Track and Field team defeated Rochester Adams last Wednesday, 71-57.
“It was a good win,” said Kevin Breen, head coach. “We fixed some mistakes we made in the previous meet and ironed some things out. It worked out in our favor. Adams is a very tough team and it was good to get a win against them.”
The boys finished six events in first place.
For field events, Jayden Hutchons finished first in the high jump at six feet and teammate Josh Kelley finished in second.
Grant Telfer finished in first place in the 100-meter dash, 11.16; and the 200-meter dash, 23.2. He was also on the two relay teams to take first for the Wolves. Telfer, Max Salter, Mike Meir and Dalton Sampson finished the 800-meter relay in 1:35.26. Telfer, Salter, Meir and Gino Paese finished the 400-meter relay in 44.78.
For distance, Nick Favazza finished the 1,600-meter run in 4:42 for first and Shawn Slater Slater finished the 3,200-meter run in 10:14 for first place.
Breen added with the boys team everybody come out to compete.

Junior Josh Kelley leaps during one of his tries in the long jump in Clarkston's win  against Rochester Adams last week at home. Photo by Wendi Reardon Price
Junior Josh Kelley leaps during one of his tries in the long jump in Clarkston’s win against Rochester Adams last week at home. Photo by Wendi Reardon Price

“Everyone does what we expect out of them,” he explained. “We get the third place points when we need third place points. We don’t just try to take one event. We try to spread it out. As far as the team goes, we have someone in every event who is going to score so we don’t leave events open for another team to sweep.”
For the Lady Wolves it came down to the 1,600-meter relay deciding the outcome as they lost the meet to Adams, 66-62.
“We ran well, but we definitely made some mistakes,” Breen said. “It’s been two straight seasons of perfect seasons since our last loss. Our runners took it for granted- they were just going to come in and beat them. As far as going into the meet, we have a team who is as competitive as Adams is. I don’t think our runners were 100 percent completely ready to race at the level they would need to to beat Adams. I think too we made some mistakes towards the end of the meet on the coaches end. If we had moved two runners at the end it could have been a different meet during the last two events.”
He added they also didn’t account for the 800-meter relay team to be disqualified for running outside the exchange zone.
“That was the difference right there,” he said. “We had the strength to beat them, but we just didn’t make the adjustments to change the outcome.”
The Lady Wolves finished first in eight events.
Jala Smith finished in first place in the 100-meter dash, 13.11; and the 200-meter dash, 27.19.
Elizabeth Dalrymple finished in first in the 1,600-meter run, 5:16.8 as Mia Patria finished in first in the 3,200-meter run, 12:13.12. Mallory Ferguson finished the 800-meter run at 2.22.7. All three, along with Emily Ferguson, finished the 3,200-meter relay in first at 9:42.9. The 400-meter relay team finished in 52.96.
Shae Harbaugh finished the 300-meter hurdles at 52.77.
The teams head to Lake Orion this Wednesday for their next dual meet.
“This is a must win for us against Lake Orion if we want a league title,” Breen said for the boys team. “They will have to be better – our distance runners need to perform a little bit better. Lake Orion’s distance crew has always been tough. Our sprinters will get the job done. It will be a matter of us doing well in high jump, long jump and throws. Picking up those extra points where we can. As far as relays go, we have a really good shot of winning a bunch of relays. It all depends on roll of the dice in the events. If everyone shows up and is ready, I think we will do well. We can’t afford too many mistakes.”
He added for the Lady Dragons the sprint and mid-distance crews are strong while the Lady Wolves have better chance to beat them in the 1-mile and 2-mile events.
“Scoring as many points as we can in the distance is going to be huge,” Breen said. “Pulling up the relays will be something we’ve got to do. Losing Courtney Roland and Megan Nicholson last year we have been struggling in high jump. We are trying out new jumpers. We are working in long jump, too. We have to earn as many points as possible.”
The meet begins at 4:30 p.m.

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