Both Lake Orion cross country teams will lace up for the state finals at Michigan International Speedway next weekend.
Oct. 30, the girls competed in the MHSAA Regional Meet and took second place.
Running in the state finals will be Anna Dietz, Ashley Bartreau, Casey Stribbell, Amy Wells, Molly Emerick, Patty Babich, andSarah Daly.
This came as a big surprise to Coach McDonald.
‘I had let the girls believe we had a chance but it would not come easy. I
knew we had a good chance at qualifying one or two individuals but for the
team to go it would take all seven girls to have a great race on the same
day,? she said, nothing that this time around, the team beat opponents they could not concquor earlier in the season.
This is only the second time in school history a girls team has qualified for the state finals. The first time was in 2007.
The boys? team will also head to the speedway after their second place finish at regionals.
T.J. Carey led the way for the Dragons with his second place finish, followed by Jake Lauka, Tom Reilly, and Brad Cross, all finishing under 17:00 minutes for the 5k course.
The Dragons actually finished in a tie with Waterford Mott with 89 points, but the tie breaker is who has the fastest sixth man. Ryan Singles, as Lake Orion’s sixth man was faster, breaking the tie and allowing Lake Orion to finish move on.
On the path to states, both teams headed to the OAA Red division meeting, Oct. 21
The girls took fourth place in the race but finished in fifth place for the overall season.
Finishing in the top 15 was Anna Dietz in ninth, Ashley Bartreau in 12th and Casey Stribbell in 15th.
The girls have been making steady improvements from last year when they finished last in the league and had no girls in the top 15.
The boys offered up a solid performance at the Red division championships, completing the jamboree sweep by winning the third race and giving them the league title.
Carey was the individual champion, earning All-League honors, along with Lauka, Cross and Reilly.