Milton Cross Country Teams Shine at Coach Wood Invitational

October 18, 2014

Gainesville, GA

By Coach Andy Carr

The Milton High School Cross Country teams faced their strongest and deepest field of schools and programs in this 12th annual meet which is considered the best meet in Georgia outside the state meet and came away with great team performances all-around!

Varsity Girls

Even with no finishers in the top-25, the Lady Eagles (3rd-152 pts) used a strong pack and ran together most of the race to record the last team podium spot. Milton only had a 33-second spread among their top-5 scoring runners to outscore 16 teams! Marist (1st-89 pts) just edged-out the Titans of Northview (2nd-90 pts) for the meet win. The Lady Eagles turned back many strong programs including #1 AA ranked team Lovett (4th-162 pts), host Mill Creek (5th-182 pts). Also behind Milton were Heritage-Catoosa (8th-238 pts) who had beaten Milton earlier in the season, region-foe Etowah (9th-257 pts), top-program Brookwood (16th-354 pts) & long-time region nemesis Walton (12th-297 pts). This is only the second time since 2004 that the Lady Eagles had beaten Walton & Brookwood! Milton was once again led by senior co-captain Amy Ruiz (26th-20:06), who contended for an individual medal the entire race. Ruiz’s leadership brought to the finish a freight-train of Lady Eagles securing a team trophy! Junior Riley Burr (28th-20:09) tracked Ruiz the entire race and brought with her fellow junior Charlotte Matt (30th-20:14) & senior co-captain Juanita Pardo (35th-20:30). Sophomore Marie Repasy (38th-20:37) ran most of the last mile with only one shoe as her gutsy performance closed out the scoring. Junior Victoria Wagner (52nd-20:59) ran her 2nd-best ever & freshman Emily Bowers (81st-21:43) was a big factor in the team’s 3rd place finish. Also running varsity for Milton were freshman Addy Prescott (101st-22:13), junior Emily Velez (105th-22:20) & freshman Mary Grace Coyle (111th-22:28). 170 finishers were recorded.

Varsity Boys

After a strong performance the week before at the Furman Invite, the Eagles (3rd-202 pts) were ready to take on the challenge of Georgia’s best and came away with a trophy winning team finish! Marietta (1st-51 pts) continued their stellar season as they put all their scoring runners in the top-20. AAAA top-ranked St Pius (2nd-151 pts) followed. Milton turned back host Mill Creek (4th-215 pts), and once again defeated 5-time state & defending state champions Brookwood (5th-221 pts) and region foes Etowah (6th-223 pts) & Walton (9th-235 pts). For the boys it was only the 2nd time ever besting Brookwood since 2004 and the 3rd-time being ahead of Walton in that same time period. There were 20 scoring schools in the race. Junior Jack Bluth (8th-16:24) recorded an all-time best in again leading the Milton team effort. Bluth’s performance keeps him at 5th on the school’s record board. The remainder of the Eagles had a tough start and got stuck behind a big fall of runners in the field which forced Milton to play catch-up the entire race. Leading this group were senior co-captains Preston Meade (32nd-17:04) and Connor Cole (39th-17:13) along with top-freshman in the race Sam Bowers (66th-17:39). Junior Clay Marshall (80th-17:48) survived a scary fall and regrouped to finish out the scoring for the Eagles. Solid efforts from fellow juniors John Fravel (85th-17:51) and Matt McGorrey (103rd-18:05) brought a trophy home for Milton is a very deep and competitive race. The Eagles also had juniors Jacques Du Plessis (133rd-18:31) & Brock Schutt (141st-18:38) along with senior co-captain Mikey Newell (186th) on the varsity squad. There were 189 finishers.

JV Girls

Even with 9 finishers in the top-20, the Lady Eagles (2nd-52 pts) could not overcome St Pius (1st-31 pts) as they put 5 finishers in the top-11. The two team affair was a battle throughout the race but Milton could not over come St Pius as their top-finishers put them in front at the end. Led by freshman Sophie Matt (4th-23-flat), the Lady Eagles had a very small spread between Matt & their 8th finisher (49-seconds) to be the runner-up squad. Senior Hallie Howell (9th-23:14) was Milton’s final podium finisher but what followed was a parade of Lady Eagles over the finish line! Places 12 through 17 were all Milton runners with senior Bishop Reeder (12th-23:33), senior Meagan Thistleton (13th-23:34), freshman Jesse Barnes (14th-23:40), junior Lindsey Van Etten (15th-23:47), senior Michelle Pick (16th-23:48) & freshman Annie Gallagher (17th-23:49). Fellow sophomores Sarah Brown (20th-24:01) & Kylie Noonan (26th-24:39) closed out the Lady Eagle runner-up effort! 116 finishers were recorded.

JV Boys

After a sluggish start and a scare from Kennesaw Mountain (2nd-58 pts), the Eagles (1st-44 pts) ran a strong & inspired second half of the race to record a meet win over 13 scoring schools! Sophomore Valera Stettner (2nd-18:19), as far back as 8th early on, steadily moved up the entire race to record a runner-up finish and lead Milton. Junior John Jurgens (6th-18:43) & freshman Ryan Beitzell (7th-18:44) proved to be the difference makers as they finshed ahead of Kennesaw Mountain’s number two finisher. Freshman Cam Harman (13th-18:59) & senior Nolan English (16th-19:02) finished in front of Kennesaw’s 4th & 5th finisher to further punctuate the Eagle victory! Milton’s race win continued an unbelievable season as the Eagles have only lost to one team through 8 meets with only the region meet remaining on the schedule.

Open Girls

The Lady Eagles (257 pts) finished a respectable 9th out of 31 scoring schools in a race that had 542 finishers! Leading the effort for Milton was the all-time best & medal winning performance of sophomore Madison Sutton (24th-24:03) & a strong race effort from junior Julianna Butzer (40th-24:29).

Open Boys

Milton (3rd-147 pts) beat back 30 other schools in the biggest race of the day. There were 573 finishers in a race that saw the Eagles get two medal-winning efforts from junior Matt Clinton (14th-19:20) & senior Hunter Knapp (15th-19:20) and a tough race from senior Christian Kirkup (26th-19:33) to lead the Milton team.

Next up in two weeks (November 1st) for the Eagle Cross Country teams is the region 5-AAAAAA championship meet at Boling Park in Canton, GA. The top-6 individuals in the varsity races and the top-4 teams will qualify for the GHSA State Cross Country Championships at Carrollton Elementary School on November 8th.