Dakota Track Wins Third Consecutive Title

The Cougars have been on track all season long to win the Macomb Area Conference Red Division Championship.

Tuesday, they did just that.

It's Dakota's third consecutive MAC Red Division title and varsity girls track coach Mike Timpa is rightly proud of his team's efforts.

"I couldn't be more proud," Timpa said. "It's not all about winning, of course, but its nice when all of their hard work pays off in the end. We knew we had a pretty good chance of winning the division again this year, but we also knew that Romeo would be a strong contender. We figured if our kids did what they needed to do, we would come out on top, and we did."

This was Romeo's first time in the MAC Red Division. The Bulldogs moved up from the White this year, and they kept on the Cougars' heels all season. The Bulldogs beat the Cougars at the dual meet earlier in the season, serving Dakota their first dual-meet loss in three seasons. Romeo was crowned the MAC Red dual-meet champion.

The three stars for the Cougars Tuesday were:

• broke the 17-year division meet record for the 400-meter dash with a time of 59.2 seconds. The speedy sophomore also helped her team to first place in the 4x400 meter relay and placed second in the 4x200 meter and 4x1800 meter relays.
• Jennifer Schornak earned 26 points for the team in field events. The Eastern Michigan-bound senior won the pole vault (10') and long jump (16'2") events, placed fifth in the shot put and fourth in the discus.
• Marah Pugh won the 3200-meter run with a time of 11:58:08 as a freshman. She was also a member of the second place 4x800 meter relay team and place third in the 1,600-meter run.

Congratulations to the Dakota Cougars girls track team!