Going the distance

The Clarkston Track & Field teams went for another win – this time against Rochester on April 17.
“They are always going to be tough,” said John Bennink, head coach for the Clarkston Boys Track & Field team. “The last couple years we are more experienced. Rochester has really good sprinters and distance kids. We know we will have to run.?
The boys team beat Rochester, 96-32, and took first place in 11 events.
They are as follows: Colin Kupper, 44’9″ in shot put; Matt Wright, 125′ 5 1/2″ in discus; CJ Gozdor, 6’5″ in high jump; Caine Watlington, 16.84 in 110 hurdles; Mike McCord, 44.17, 300 hurdles; Adam Bruderick 51.88 in the 400-meter dash; Sam Tanielian, 2:00.98 in the 800-meter run; 3,200-meter relay team, 8:51.51; 1,600-meter relay team, 3:38.3; 800-meter relay team, 1:34.76; and the 400-meter relay team, 45.02.
“We have some young guys contributing,” added Bennink. “The toughest part of our team is definitely our distance kids ? Adam Bruderick, SpenserPawlik, Sam Tanielian, Daniel Byrne, Austin Draving ? they are all big contributing. They have been around four years and have scored points since. They made this year nice because I know I can count on these guys to get points and to score in a meet no matter who we go against.?
The team remains undefeated after three matches as they went against Lake Orion on Tuesday.
“There hasn’t been a whole lot of guessing,” Bennink added. “We know what we’ve got. We know what we can do.”
The girls team beat Rochester, 79- 49, taking first place in 11 events. They are as follows: Kayle Sherwood, 32’2″ in shot put and 85′ in discus; Tessa Manilla, 5’2″ in high jump; Maicey Peterson, 16.74 in 100 hurdles; Maddie Wilson, 12.76 in the 100-meter dash and 27.06 in the 200-meter dash; Natalie Smith, 11:46.21 in the 3,200-meter run and 5:12 in the 1,600-meter run; Jill Harris, 2:26 in the 800-meter run; the 3,200-meter relay, 10:19.27; and 1,600-meter relay, 4:21.81.
The Lady Wolves also improved their record to 3-0.
The teams head to the Titan Relays on Saturday at Stevenson High School in Sterling Heights. They head to Oxford next Tuesday, 745 North Oxford Road, 4:30 p.m.
“We are going to have to come and run everytime we got on the track,” Bennink said “We are strong all the way around.”

Young athletes have a new summer camp to look forward to for years to come.
Girls track coach John Yorke began his track and field camp last week.
The camp was open to kids entering grades 3-7 and they learned all of the track and field events.
‘The kids had a great time,? said Yorke. ‘It went really well for the first year.?
A total of 23 kids participated in the first camp.
Many of the campers have participated in track, while others were new to all of the events.
‘It looks like fun,? said Grace Hamann on why she joined.
Hamann was joined by her friend Madison Wilson who has been a member of track for four years.
‘It’s fun,? said Wilson.
They learned all of the techniques to the events and were given the opportunity to give them a try and see which ones they performed the best in and see what they liked the most.
They learned hurdling, shot put, discus, high jumping, long jumping, relays, sprints, and long distance running.
Campers were rewarded for their efforts on the hot days during the week with trip to the high school pool.