Oxford’s runners have had a busy couple of weeks despite unpredictable weather – with the highlight being the Oxford Wildcat Invitational on May 8.
Oxford ladies did well at the tournament with several runners taking second place finishes: Krysten Sylva in the 100 Meter with 12.68, the 800 Meter Relay team with 1:50.60, the 400 Meter Relay team with 52.54, and Deann Kujawa in the 200 Meter with 26.77. Other ladies placing for Oxford were: 800 Meter – Carly Gailey, third, 2:39.67; 1600 Meter Relay team, fifth, 4:46.99; Shot-put – Kacey Cookingham, fourth, 31???; and Kalyn Cookingham, fifth, 79?8?.
The Oxford men also did well with several first place finishes: Donnie Richmond in the 1600 meter with 4:23.78; Richmond again, this time in the 3200 meter with 9:38.17; Vince Belitsos in shot-put with 51?3?; and Belitsos again in discus with 131?. Other placings for Oxford included: 3200 Meter Relay team, third, 8:32.77; 100 Meter – Darin, fifth, 11:60; 400 Meter – Pat Streit, fifth, 53.28; and 800 Meter – Kevin Brown, fourth, 2:04.26.
On May 1, the teams competed in the Algonac Relays, with the boys taking fourth overall and the girls taking fifth. Rochester dominated the day with Rochester High School taking first for the boys and Rochester Adams topping the girls.
The highlight of the day was the men’s 3200 relay team with a season best of 8:14.54, only three seconds off a state qualifying time. The girls 400 meter relay also performed well with great exchanges and a close second place finish.
The Wildcats burned up the track next with wins against Lapeer East on May 5. The ladies defeated East 78-59, while the boys came through with their own 69-68.
The highlight runner for the ladies was Ashlee Eller who took first place in the 400 meter dash her first time out. On the field, Kacey Cookingham continues to lead the way in both shot-put and discus. The OHS junior is currently undefeated in the FML.
Placing for the ladies against East were: Shot-put – Kacey Cookingham, first, 31?8? and Kalyn Cookingham, second, 29?9??; Discus – Ashley Peterson, third, 78?2?; High Jump – Vanessa Collier, second, 4?4?; Long Jump – Jenelle Parker, first, 13?11?; 3200 Meter Relay – Lauren Cribb, Liz Hazelwood, Jaime Hoffman, Carly Gailey, first, 43:00; 110 Hurdles – Parker, second, 19.45 and Natalie Lukas, third, 19.69; 100 Meter – Krysten Sylva, first, 13.35, Teresa Miner, second, 13.7 and Tiara Tatraczuk, third, 13.94; 800 Meter Relay – Miner, Sylva, Darci Kujawa and Deann Kujawa, first, 1:49.5; 1600 Meter – Cribb, second, 6:11.3 and Lukas, third, 6:22.2; 400 Meter Relay – Tatraczuk, Kujawa, Kujawa and Sylva, first, 52.7; 400 meter – Ashlee Eller, first, 1:06.7; 300 Meter Hurdles, Parker, second, 55.61 and Lukas, third, 55.88; 800 Meter – Gailey, second, 2:35.9; 200 Meter – Deann Kujawa, first, 27.82; Eller, second, 29.35 and Megan Davis, third, 30.35; 3200 Meter – Cribb, second, 13:41.1; and 1600 Meter Relay – Miner, Hazelwood, Collier and Deann Kujawa, first, 4:31.9.
For the men, Donnie Richmond continues to show strong leadership. He set a new OHS record in the 800 meter run at 1:56.53. The old record was set at 1:57 by Sean Kurschat in 1984.
Placing for the boys were: Shot-put – Vince Beltisos, first, 52?9?; Discus – Beltisos, first, 143?1?; High Jump – Chris Schnur, third, 5?4?; 3200 Meter Relay – German Guerrero, Kevin Brown, Pat Streit and Tim Rowland, first, 8:53.4; 110 Meter Hurdles – Kam Mueller, first, 16.52, Schnur, second, 16.94 and Brad Grunewald, third, 17.1; 100 Meter Dash – Andrew Darin, second, 11.77; 1600 Meter – Guerrero, first, 4:42.2 and Adam Richmond, second, 4:49.1; 400 Meter – Streit, second, 53.51; 300 Meter Hurdles – Mueller, first, 43.83; Schnur, second, 44.74 and Tunison, third, 45.25; 800 Meter – Donnie Richmond, first, 1:56.5; Brown, second, 2:07.6 and Guerrero, third, 2:12.8; 200 Meter – Darin, first, 24.09; and 3200 Meter – Donnie Richmond, first, 10:35.3 and Rowland, second, 10:39.3.
At the Muskrat Classic Relay, both Oxford teams did well in some events, but struggled collectively in others. Results for the boys were: second place in the 8000 meter relay with a total time of 24:04.28; fifth place in discus with a total distance of 341?9?; fourth place in shot-put with a combined 121???; fourth place in the mile run with 42 points; and first place in the co-ed 800 meter field event relay with a total time of 1:53.64.
Results for the girls were: tenth place in the 8000 meter relay with 32:50; sixth place in discus with a combined 231?1?; fifth place in the shot-put with a total of 83?2?; seventh place in the Rat Relay with a combined 3:25.84; and second place in the 400 meter relay with a total time of 53.06.