BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
As the results showed on the screen at the Clarkston High School Natatorium, freshman Rylee Harris and her opponent, Claire Bejin, a senior from Rochester gave each other high fives.
It was a close race in the 200-yard freestyle relay and Harris finished just after Bejin as Rochester finished in the time of 1:47.27 and the Wolves took second, 1:47.33.
“It was a close meet,” said Amber Miller, head coach for Clarkston Swim and Dive about the 98-88 loss. “It was an exciting meet. We had some tremendous wins. They got us this time. We had some missed opportunities, but I am confident we can take them at the league meet and redeem ourselves there.”

She added it’s starting to feel more normal than last season and it’s good to see the team come in, smile and have fun.
“Last year felt awkward and weird so for this year to feel more normal we are starting to see them swim and compete like they used to,” Miller said. “We are excited to see that. We have some great swimmers. We have some up and coming talent which is doing well. We are excited for not only this year but what’s to come.”
For individual events: 50-yard freestyle, sophomore Lilly Kurmaniak, first place, 26.09; freshman Bayla Zarzycki, fifth, 29.18; sophomore Lucienne Lemieux, sixth, 26.65; 100-yard butterfly, Kurmaniak, second place, 1:06.18; sophomore Katie Haar, third, 1:09.16; freshman Allison Danatzo, sixth, 1:24.18; 100-yard freestyle, freshman Rylee Harris, first, 55.43; sophomore Paige Szerlong, third, 1:03.50; junior Sophia Walker, fourth, 1:07.00; 100-yard backstroke, junior Cora Randolph, first place, 1:09.55; freshman Elaina Kurmaniak, third, 1:15.75; sophomore Calida Brown, fourth, 1:24.93; 100-yard breaststroke, sophomore Olivia Zeiman, third place, 1:21.94; junior Mary Sutherland, fifth place, 1:35.54; 200-yard freestyle, Harris, first place, 2:02.62; Szerlong, fifth place, 2:22.72; 200-yard IM, Randolph, second place, 2:36.81; Elaina Kurmaniak, fifth, 2:42.66; and 500-yard freestyle, Zarzycki, fourth, 6:30.63; Lemieux, fifth, 6:34.70; Sutherland, sixth, 7:11.67.
For the relay events, in the 200-yard medley, Randolph, Zeiman, Harris and Lilly Kurmaniak finished in first place, 2:02.74; the team of Walker, Haar, Lemieux and Elaina Kurmaniak, third place, 2:13.74.
In the 200-yard freestyle relay , Randolph, Harris, Lilly Kurmaniak, Cora and freshman Caitlin McGivern finished in second place, 1:47.33; team of Zeiman, Brown, Szerlong and Elaina Kurmaniak, third place, 1:57.96. In the 400-yard freestyle relay, Haar, Szerlong, Sophia Walker, Lucienne Lemieux, third place, 4:24.81.
For 1-meter diving junior Madison Verbeke finished first place with 232.95 points; junior Alivia Walbridge, second place, 211.25; and junior Zoe Paxton, third place, 206.35.
“Diving is the new tradition with Clarkston Swim and Dive,” said Miller. “Madison, Alivia and Zoe are just dominating in everything they do. The fun part is we can only have three for points, but we’ve got underclassmen and even seniors ready to step into those roles. It’s good, healthy competition within the team fighting for those spots.”
The Wolves opened the season with a 117-69 win at West Bloomfield.
“It was great,” said Miller. “It was fun with great swims. We really got to see who practices and comes out, who is going to be the racehorse, who is solid and consistent regardless of who they are racing or what the race is. We have a lot of new people on the team this year – a lot of freshman, a lot of sophomores. It’s good to see what they can do and good to see them really dominate a meet as a group come together.”
For individual events, 50-yard freesetyle, Lilly Kurmaniak, first, 26.44; Elaina Kurmaniak, fourth, 29.55; Walker, fifth, 29.84; 100-yard butterfly, Harris, second place, 1:07.72; Haar, third, 1:09; Danatzko, fifth, 1:29.33;100-yard freestyle, Lilly Kurmaniak, first, 59.47; Szerlong, third, 1:06.16; Zarzycki, fourth, 1:06.68;100-yard backstroke, Randolph, first, 1:11.48; Elaina Kurmaniak, second, 1:14.89; Danatzo, third, 1:19.50; 100-yard breaststroke, Zeiman, second, 1:22.93; Walker, third, 1:33.69; freshman Ava Dillon, fourth, 1:42.87; 200-yard freestyle, Harris, first place, 2:06.98; Szerlong, third, 2:24.29; sophomore Claire Mazure, fourth, 2:41.93; 200-yard IM, Randolph, second, 2:29.72; Haar, third, 2:46.99; Zarzycki, fourth, 2:53.87; and 500-yard freestyle, Sutherland, third, 7:08.98; Mazure, fifth, 7:27.74.
For 1-meter diving, Verbeke finished in first place with 235 points; Walbridge, second, 217.35; and Paxton, third, 189.05.