By Wendi Reardon Price
Staff Writer
wprice@mihomepaper.com
INDEPENDENCE TWP. — Clarkston Boys and Girls Track and Field teams defeated OAA Red foe Rochester Adams at the Clarkston High School Stadium, April 24.
“I was ecstatic,” said Kevin Breen, head coach. “I was very happy. They had a phenomenal day – both on the boys and the girls side. They have always been a tough competitor and it’s been consistent over the course of the last 20-30 years. To be able to beat them is always a treasured moment. It makes it extra sweet the Adams coach was my roommate from college, so that’s always fun.”
He added he and the coaching staff were proud of the student-athletes.
“It was really cold,” Breen said. “We mentioned to all of our athletes is just how proud we are about having warm ups and doing the right things before we race because we have not had any real issues of muscle pulls or anything like that. It goes to show how serious this team is taking the track season and preparation for meets.”
The girls team defeated Rochester Adams, 76-48.
“On the sprint side for both boys and girls, I was real happy with the teams,” Breen said. “For the varsity and JV set season records for all of our kids.”
Finishing in the top three in track event to score points were: in the 100-meter, Scarlett Keenan in third place in the time of 13.09; 200-meter, Skylar Drinkard, first, 26.72; 400-meter dash, Avery DeGrendel, first, 1:04.53; Lauren Williams, third, 1:08.48; 800-meter run, Alexandra Brigham, first, 2:30.94; 1,600-meter run, Brigham, second, 5:23.92; Addison Brigham, third, 5:48.42; 100-meter hurdles, Caitlin Poterek, second, 16.86; Sammie Carpentier, third, 17.13; 300-meter hurdles, Poterek, first, 48.96; Keira Zorski, second, 49.19; and Emily Valencia, third, 50.96.
Breen added there were no competitors for the girls in the 3,200-meter run.
“We had already won the meet by then,” he said. “In our meet you can see the line up and how we are going to do against a team. Our girls team didn’t go in with the same goals as the boys team. The girls team went in to get work in, to treat it like a training opportunity. A lot of the distance runners ended up running shorter events to better prepare them for the end of the season.”
He added a big contribution in points came from throwers Abby Hasenfratz, Allie Danatzko and Aydia Bartz.
“They swept the shot put and discus giving us 18 unanswered points,” Breen said. “Every meet is a race to 65 points so to have a sweep on the shot put side and discus side just makes the job on the track that much easier.”
Finishing in the top three in field events to score points were: in shot put, Hasenfratz in first place with 34-10; Danatzko, second, 29-09; Bartz, third, 29-00; discus, Hasenfratz, first, 111-04; Bartz, second, 86-08; Danatzko, third, 83-01; high jump, Carsey Collins, first, 4-08; Taylor Edmonds, third, 4-06; and long jump, Lauren Williams, 14-09.
“The boys more had a war on their hands,” Breen added. “Everyone had to run and in the events they are best at. We had to match up and go toe to toe in almost every single event that luckily we pulled out some wins in the 100-meter. Another pivotal moment in the meet was Mason Sidaway who scored third place point in the 200-meter, and Mason taking away a point from Adams for third place.”
The boys team for the Wolves had a close battle against the Highlanders, but prevailed with a 66-62 win.
Finishing in the top three in track events to score points were: in the 100-meter dash, Micah Chaney in first place in the time of 11.01; Gabe Van Goor, second, 11.15; 200-meter dash, Chaney, first, 22.71; Mason Sidaway, third, 23.74; 400-meter dash, Wendell Childs, first, 49.74; 800-meter run, Bryce Nowik, first, 1:59.78; Joshua Ellingsworth, third, 2:04.77; 1,600-meter run, Ryan Barnes, second, 4:31.52; Jaxson Nowik, third, 4:40.09; 3,200-meter run, Andrew Floros, first, 9:43.49; and Barnes, second, 9:46.76.
“We have a pretty young crew,” said Breen. “We are going to graduate a group of distance runners in Bryce and Andrew. One, Bryce, being a school record holder in the 800-meter. We have added a lot of strength in our young guys. One tenth grader who really stood out was Ryan Barnes, who ended up battling Adams No. 1 distance runner in the 1,600-meter, right down to the finish line. That push contributed to our win in the 800-meter and able to come back in the 3,200-meter run where Andrew was able to win in the 2-mile. Ryan ended up taking second and that was one of the pivotal moments in the meet that allowed the meet to come down to the 1,600-meter relay and for us to win the relay and the meet.”
Finishing in the top three in field events to score points were: in shot put, Nick Waszczenko in first place with 42-01; discus, Waszczenko, first, 142-05; Benjamin Ankrom, third, 119-01; high jump, Cameron Love, second, 5-08; Elijah Chaney, third, 5-06; long jump, Rence Leon-Fountain, second, 19-06; and Love, third, 18-08.5.
“Elijah in the high jump was another necessary point for us to stay alive,” said Breen.
The 1,600-meter relay team with M. Chaney, Nowik, Childs and Van Goor finished in first place in the time of 3:24.62. The 3,200-meter relay team of B. Nowik, J. Nowik, Floros and Cayden DeGrendel finished in first place, 8:18.82.
The 400-meter relay team with Leon-Fountain, Van Goor, Love and Pierce Peruski, second, 45.30. The 800-meter relay team with M. Chaney, Love, Van Goor and Childs, second, 1:31.57.
The Wolves finished in first place in three relay events. The team of Drinkard, Keenan, Cassandra King and Emma Garner finished in the time of 51.55 for first in the 400-meter relay. The team of Keenan, Zorski, Poterek and Lily Prainito finished in 1:49.43 in the 800-meter relay. The team of Zorski, Valencia, DeGrendel and Drinkard finished in the time of 4:15.02 in the 1,600-meter.
The team of DeGrendel, Ava Danielson, Addison Brigham and Alexandra Brigham finished in second place in the 3,200-meter relay, 10:28.96.
The Wolves competed in the Steve Johnson Relays at Warren Mott on Saturday. The girls team finished in first place out of 16 teams with 101 points. The boys team finished in second place out of 16 teams with 77 points.
Clarkston heads to Rochester to compete against the Falcons in an OAA Red dual meet today, May 1.
“The girls team is tough,” said Breen. “They not only have four stand out athletes but four of the best in the state athletes on their team. Then, they have a pretty good supporting on the girls team. The girls team is going to be going in with different goals. We are going to be thinking about, some athletes will try to go in to have personal bests in each race where some girls are looking ahead to OAA championships, regional and county and states. The girls team has their eyes on the end of the season and what they can do there. The boys are trying to win the battle for first place in the OAA.”
The Wolves compete in the Farmington Invitational on Saturday and then prep for the OAA Red-White Championships at Rochester Adams on May 10.

  Clarkston Athletics, Track and Field