Five of the top 10 finishers in the regional cross country meet Saturday, Oct. 25 were from Clarkston High School, and the entire team earned a berth at the state competition Saturday, Nov. 2.
The Division I, Region 7 team results showed Clarkston with 25 points, well ahead of Milford’s 54 and Brighton’s 75. It was an overcast, wet race day at Clintonwood Township Park, but the Clarkston crew was up for the challenge.
“It was a pretty good race,” according to Lyndsay Smith, who came in first with a time of 18:46, a full two seconds ahead of the second place Milford runner. Clarkston’s Liz Mengyan finished fourth at 18:51.8, followed by Mo Kuhta, fifth, 18.58.6; Anne Oltman, seventh, 19:09.3; and Gillian Nordquist, eighth, 19:09.7.
Other Clarkston finishers included Jenna Leach, 14th, 19:16.0; and Beth Hoekstra, 20th, 19:57.0.
Smith, Mengyan and Kuhta spent much of the race in their own pack, helping each other keep a good pace.
“That felt pretty good,” Smith said. “Coach [Jamie LaBrosse] told me a couple days before the race that I had a chance to win, and I really wanted to win.”
According to the Michigan High School Athletic Association, the Division I girls race will begin at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
In the boys regional race, Clarkston finished 11th in the team scoring with 274. Hazen Brennan was the fastest Wolves runner, finishing 39th with a time of 17:12.2. Other Clarkston finishers included Thomas Fick, 54th, 17:27.7; Edward Brennan, 55th, 17:28.1; Joseph Seibert, 60th, 17:39.2; Scott Linville, 77th, 18:10.4; and Travis Hughes, 87th, 18:36.2.