The Lady Wolves finished in third place at the West Bloomfield/Brother Rice Invitational at Kensington Metropark on Saturday out of 15 teams.
“It was an excellent race,” said Clarkston Girls Cross Country Coach Kevin Breen. “It was a solid run by our runners. Realistically we thought third place would be a good spot. If we ran really well I thought we could take second.
Seaholm won the run with 54.Clarkston scored a 104, four points below second place Sterling Heights Stevenson and 29 more than Rochester Adams.
“Seaholm we knew would be a ways out there,” said Breen. “They are tough and didn’t graduate any of their top runners last year.”
They also knew Rochester Adams would be tough and will see them a lot this season since Clarkston and Adams are in the same league and region.
Nicole Hanson led the team, finishing in eighth in 19:47 and Lynsie Gram took 11th place, 20:13.
“Nicole turned out to be a stud,” said Breen. “Her and Lynsie are doing a great job pairing up together. They split up Adams number one and two runners. I knew we had a chance when I saw them breaking up those two runners. It was the rest of the team that really pulled us through. Sage Beauregard led the JV team and proved our JV team and our depth is really strong. They came in with the best attitudes.”
Breen added the Lady Wolves also had good times despite the tough, hilly course. Gram dropped a few minutes in time and Amanda Chamberlain dropped 6:30 from her time.
The boys team took fifth place at the invitational out of 14 teams, scoring 178. Romeo took first place with 75 with Lake Orion, Ann Arbor Pioneer and Detroit Catholic Central taking the next three spots.
Dan Billette led the team, finishing in tenth at 17:02.
Both teams ran in the OAA Jamboree on Tuesday and head to the Chesaning Invite on Thursday and Spartan Invite on Friday.
“We have done fairly well,” Breen said about the Chesaning Invite. He added he is putting in three separate varsity teams so 21 Lady Wolves will be able to run this week.
“The Spartan Invite is the best preview going into the state meet of who the top teams in Michigan are,” Breen continued. “It is a good place to see really good competition and help our team rise up. It is a little eye opener.”
The girls will also see one of the leading runners from last year’s team, Natalie Smith, as she runs her first race in her college debut for Michigan State University.