Milton Cross Country Makes Statement at Covered Bridge Invitational

The Milton High School cross country teams travelled to the friendly confines of Garrard Landing Park in far-eastern Roswell to take on teams that are perennial top-state programs & current & former state champions in their respective classes and came away with two big upsets and three team trophy winning performances.

9/6/14-Garrard Landing Park, Roswell, GA

Varsity Girls

The first race of the day was a literal who’s-who in top state cross country programs with state champions Blessed Trinity (AAA), Wesleyan (AA) & Northview (AAAAA), along with state runner-ups in Brookwood (AAAAAA) all taking on the Lady Eagles. The girls from Milton rose to the challenge and finished runner-ups (2nd-69 pts) to the Lady Titans of Northview (1st-40 pts). But in the process the Lady Eagles took down the Lady Broncos of Brookwood (3rd-120 pts) & Blessed Trinity (4th-130 pts)! Milton had not beaten the Lady Broncos in at least the last 11 seasons! Senior co-captain Amy Ruiz (6th-20:13) led the charge as her running in the chase pack off the 2 leaders (Emma Grace Hurley of Fellowship Christian-1st-18:01 & Lindsay Billings of Northview, the defending Fulton County champion-2nd-18:07) was Milton’s top-finisher. Fellow senior co-captain had her finest race of the season so far (11th-20:29) to edge out Cherokee’s #1 runner who beat both Ruiz & Pardo at the Pickens meet 2 weeks earlier! A strong effort from junior Riley Burr (13th-20:38) put three Milton scorers in the front of Brookwood’s #2 finisher! A big & gutsy effort from sophomore Marie Repasy (20th-21:03) was a personal best for the distance and secured the last medal winning position and put 4 Milton finishers ahead of Brookwood’s #3 finisher. Concluding the scoring for the Lady Eagles was junior Charlotte Matt (24th-21:17). Also running in the varsity race for Milton were the Emily’s (junior Emily Velez-39th-22:04 & freshman Emily Bowers-40th-22:04), junior Victoria Wagner (43rd-22:20), sophomore Courtney Hutchinson (52nd-22:32) and senior co-captain Meagan Thistleton (86th-23:43). 17 teams scored & there were 148 finishers in this race.

Varsity Boys

Not only did Milton win the overall title (1st-35 pts), history was made for the Milton cross country program (just like the football team did the night before) as the Eagles beat the 5-time state & defending AAAAAA champions Brookwood (2nd-42 pts) for the 1st time in AT LEAST the last 11 years! Milton controlled the race from the start but as the Brookwood runners move through the field, the Eagles countered every position move and put 5 runners in front of the Broncos 4th finisher to take the historic win! The team race wasa 2 team affair as Blessed Trinity (3rd-111 pts), Northview (4th-138 pts) & host Roswell (5th-142 pts) trailed. Besides Brookwood, the Eagles defeated defending AA state champions Westminster (7th-184 pts) & AA state runner-ups Wesleyan (8th-249 pts).

The Eagles had three different runners near & up front during the race but when the dust settled it was junior Jack Bluth (2nd-16:57) again leading the way. Senior co-captain Connor Cole led thru the middle part of the race but settled for 3rd (17:07). Freshman sensation Sam Bowers continues to impress many in the metro area and around the state as was the 1st freshman to finish (8th-17:23) in the meet! Securing the win for Milton was the great pack running by fellow juniors Matt McGorrey (9th-17:26) & John Fravel (13th-17:38) to put 5 Eagle finishers just ahead of Brookwood’s #4 finisher! Great back-up by senior co-captain Preston Meade (20th-17:44) & junior and early up-front leader Clay Marshall (21st-17:47) paved the way for the historic Milton victory over the undisputed top-cross country program in the state of Georgia! Other varsity runners included sophomore Michael McCarthy (31st-18:05), senior co-captain Mikey Newell (71st-19:11) & junior Brock Schutt (82nd-19:27). 20 teams scored & 180 runners completed the race.

JV Girls

The Lady Eagles (3rd-73 pts) did everything they could but came up just short of a team trophy by being bested by Brookwood (1st-46 pts) & North Gwinnett (2nd-61 pts). Milton kept it close the entire race thanks to the BIG 1-2 finish by freshman Sophie Matt (1st-22:24) & Mary Grace Coyle (2nd-22:32). Coyle took the lead just past the two-mile mark and Matt was close and eventually passed Coyle with just under 200 meters remaining to take the individual win, the first of the season for any Milton runner! Senior Hallie Howell followed (12th-23:20) to keep the Lady Eagles in the hunt but the gap back to senior Michelle Pick (25th-24:30) & junior Marley Brown (34th-24:55) was too much to overcome. Excellent efforts by senior Bishop Reeder (40th-25:14) & freshman Nicole Tanner (44th-25:25) brought home Milton in 3rd place. 16 teams scored & there were 276 finishers in the race.

JV Boys

In a tough battle with the Broncos of Brookwood (1st-15 pts), Milton held their own and finished as the runner-ups (2nd-67 pts) to secure another team trophy. After the Broncos top-5 sweep, senior Nolan English worked his way through the field and finished just outside Brookwood’s #5 finisher (6th-18:43). Sophomore Valera Stettner ran up & near the front for the majority of the race and eventually settled for 9th (18:59) to help lead the Eagle effort! A good effort from junior Jacques Du Plessis (19:04) led fellow scorers for Milton that included junior John Jurgens (13th-19:18) & freshman Cam Harman (18th-19:26). Fellow freshman Dru Milton (29th-19:56) & Will Joyner (32nd-19:59) secured a team trophy for the Eagles! 17 schools scored in the race that had 313 finishers!

Open Races

Freshman Annie Gallagher led the way (2nd-24:56) for the Lady Eagles (3rd-43 pts) as they just missed the meet win by 2 points! North Gwinnett 1st-41 pts & Brookwood 2nd-42 pts led the team scoring. 8 teams scored.

Fellow freshman Andrew Blizzard led the charge for the Eagles (2nd-65 pts) behind another strong Brookwood team race (1st-15 pts). There were 7 scoring teams in the race.

The Milton cross country teams next see action on September 13th as they travel to Salem, VA for the Knights Crossing Cross Country Invitational. The meet will feature teams from Georgia, Virginia, West Virginia, North & South Carolina & Tennessee and include a few top-ranked teams in the nation.