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CROSS-COUNTRY: Milford, Seaholm high favorites at Oakland County meet
BY DAN STICKRADT
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
MILFORD TWP. — There’s a great chance that repeat performers will be reaching the winner’s circle at Saturday’s 52nd annual Oakland County Cross Country Championships.
Both Milford and Birmingham Seaholm are expected to contend for top honors at Kensington Metropark again this season.
Milford, ranked No. 1 in Division 1, is the favorite in the boys race, with stiff challenges expected from Waterford Mott, Lake Orion and Walled Lake Northern. Seaholm, the defending girls champs which is ranked second in Division 1, is expected to run away with the title.
“I like to think we are can win again. We have a lot of depth,” offered Seaholm girls coach Jeff Devantier, whose team edged Oxford by one point last season. “I think our depth is a great problem to have. It’s a dogfight just to see who will be in our top seven for each race.”
Seaholm, which is coming off a win at the Coaching Legends Invitational, has not lost to an Oakland County school all season.
West Bloomfield’s Erin Finn is the two-time defending county champion. Also expected to contend for top 10 finishes are Oxford’s Brook Kovacic, Rochester Adams’ Jamie Morrissey, Rochester’s Jessica Goethals, Birmingham Seaholm’s foursome of Audrey Belf, Aubrey Wilberding, Tess Wilberding and Rachel Diadomo, Bloomfield Hills Lahser’s Elana Miller and Alana O’Mara, Birmingham Groves’ Jackie Feist, Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes’ Tess Fornar, Milford’s Rachel Barrett, Clarkston’s Nicole Hansen and Lynsie Graham, Mott’s Daya Wagh, Novi’s Jackie Mullins, Farmington Hills Mercy’s Allysen Eads, Adams’ Gabby Thivierge, Stoney Creek’s Nicole Kowalchick and Bloomfield Hills Andover’s Mackenzie Gammons aresome of the other top girls runners vying for medals.
While Seaholm is the heavy favorite on the girls side, Clarkston, Adams, Troy, Rochester, Walled Lake Northern, Waterford Mott, Lahser, Novi, Milford, North Farmington and Holly should all be amongst the top teams.
In the boys race, Milford’s Brian Kettle and Cody Snavely, Lake Orion’s TJ Carey and David Diaz, Royal Oak’s Ben Hill and Max Benoit, Mott’s Nathan Burnand, Dane Fahlberg and Sam Albaugh, Walled Lake Northern’s Alex Glasson, White Lake Lakeland’s Grayson Thomson, Clarkston’s Sam Tanielian, Austin Dravling and Daniel Billette, Adams’ Stephen Biebelhausen, Rochester Stoney Creek’s Chris Tisiviste, Rochester’s Blake Pozolo, Brother Rice’s John Penington, Waterford Kettering’s Chris McDonald, Bloomfield Hills Andover’s Joey Kemeny, West Bloomfield’s Bjorn Kempf, Lahser’s Michael Gawlik, Troy Athens’ a Mooney, Catholic Central’s, Nicholas Lanzetta, and Berkley’s Sebastian Betzer will also be vying for spots amongst the top 30 boys.
Clarkston, Novi Detroit Catholic Central, Lahser, Lakeland, Novi, Royal Oak, Birmingham Brother Rice, Rochester Adams, Rochester, Oxford and Troy are some of the other top boys teams who could wind up in the top 10.
“The way Milford has been running and with their top boys, they will be hard to beat,” offered Lake Orion boys coach Stan Ford. “We know that Mott and Walled Lake Northern are also very good. It’s going to be another great county meet.”
(Dan Stickradt is Senior Editor for Digital Daily www.northoaklandsports.com and The Real Deal sports and coupons magazine, as well as a freelance writer for multiple media outlets, including State Champs! High School Sports Show website. He is a 20-year veteran sports journalist based in Oakland County, Mich. He can be reached by email at [email protected]. Follow on Twitter @LocalSportsFans.)
