Anyone who did not know Clarkston some of the best female distance runners in the state, found out at the State finals on June 4 in Rockford.
Clarkston’s 3200 relay team of junior Lyndsay Smith, senior Liz Mengyan, junior Lisa Sickman and junior Jenny Morgan shattered the old all-division and lower peninsula division I record of 9:13.83 by eight seconds with a time of 9:05.49.
?(Before the meet), they were excited to run. They knew they could do something special,? said Clarkston Coach John Yorke.
Yorke felt Mengyan’s effort, as she completed her leg in 2:12, was key to the overall result.
Clarkston’s next big showcase came in the 1600 as Morgan set a new lower peninsula division I record with a time of 4:48.07. The old record stood at 4:50.95.
Not only did Morgan run her way into the history books, she also exacted some revenge on Grand Blanc’s Geena Gall, who had beaten her in the 1600 at regionals on May 20.
‘I definitely wanted another shot. I absolutely did not go into the (rematch) thinking I could not win,? said Morgan. ‘I know every race is different and anything can happen.?
Mengyan gave her teammate some company at the top. She ran a 4:52.94 to finish third in the 1600, just over a second behind second-place Gall.
‘The excitement from how they ran the (1600) carried over to the other events,? said Yorke.
Somehow towards the end, Morgan mustered enough stamina to win the 3200 with a time of 10:45.56, nine seconds ahead of second place finisher, Heather Sirko from Livonia Stevenson.
Clarkston finished with 36 points as a team, good for fourth in the state behind Detroit Mumford (74), Ann Arbor Pioneer (56) and Southfield Lathrup (37).
Clarkston tied Rockford, Southfield Lathrup and Ann Arbor Pioneer for the most qualifiers with 14 apiece.
The Wolves were represented by Morgan (1600, 3200), Mengyan (1600), Sickman (1600), Smith (800), senior Gillian Nordquist (3200), senior Anne Oltman (3200), senior Stephanie Parkin (100 hurdles, long jump) freshman Stephanie Thorstad (long jump), freshman Taylor Rademacher (high jump) and freshman Autumn Touchstone (100 hurdles).
While the Wolves are losing four very talented runners in Mengyan, Oltman, Nordquist and Parkin, as well as eight other seniors, Yorke feels the team can build on this year’s success.
‘Right now our season next year will be determined by our off season workouts,? said Yorke
Yorke feels the emergence of young talent like Rademacher, Touchstone and Thorstad in the field events, coupled with the return of Morgan and other quality distance runners like Beth Hoekstra, Elle Kuhta, Smith and Sickman, will help the program a great deal.
Morgan’s younger sister, Stephanie, currently an eighth grader, should be able to make a difference for the Wolves as well next year. According to Yorke, she can already run step for step with the upper echelon of high school distance runners.