The Clarkston High School boys and girls cross country teams competed in the Oakland County Championships at Kensington Metropark in Milford on Oct. 7.
The girls team placed five runners in the top 50 finishers of the 40-team event. Kristen Smith finished 13th overall in 19:46.60 and Olivia Allen 19th at 20:00.06. Katie Vandette (20:11.70), Bailee Braunreuthes (20:24.61) and Jenna Leach (21:02.66) rounded out the team’s top five finishers.
The girls finished in fourth place overall with 134 points, only two points from second place. Milford, with 116 points, was the winner. Coach Jamie LaBrosse said the team ran strong, despite injuries.
‘I thought we ran great, really well’we hate losing, but we ran the best we could,? he said.
Tiffany Kincaid, whom LaBrosse said is one of the team’s strongest runners and the typical third runner, was unable to compete due to sickness. The time lost by her absence could have paced the Wolves to a sixth consecutive county championship, he said.
‘We’ll try and regroup and get ready for league meets,? LaBrosse said.
Clarkston is now in third place in the Oakland Activities Association and still within striking distance of the league championship with a victory at the upcoming league meet.
Jeff Kuhl (17:23.72), Nick LaMora (17:31.81) and Andrew Chaffee (18:19.83) were the top three finishers for the boys.
The boys team will compete in the Gabriel Richard Invitational at Hudson Mills Metropark in Dexter on Oct. 14. Both teams will run at the OAA league meet at Bloomer Park in Rochester Hills on Oct. 19.