Milton Cross Country captures Championship Division at state meet course
By Andy Carr – September 8, 2018, Carrollton, GA
Led by the girl’s win in the Championship Division of the Carrollton Orthopedic Cross Country Invitational, the Milton teams had a successful meet on the course that is used for the state meet in November.
Varsity Girls
Not favored coming into the meet, Milton (1st-57 pts) was the clear winner over 18 scoring schools as 3A state Champions Westminster (2nd-95 pts) and Starrs Mill (3rd-95 pts) trailed. The Lady Eagles were once again led my junior Nyah Hernandez (4th-20:38) who battled for the race overall win for more than half the race. Fellow junior Abby Rindt (5th-20:42) surprised many with her performance and was followed by senior Taylor Cushman (11th-21:10) to give Milton a strong top-3 ahead of most other teams 2nd finisher. Senior co-captains Faith Wagner (19th-21:58) and Samantha Lenox (24th-22:16) closed the door on all challengers and secured the overall race win for the Lady Eagles! Fellow seniors Olivia Lawson (40th-23:20) and Maddie Erbey (54th-23:46) contributed much to the overall win with their finishes in the race.
Varsity Boys
Entered as a heavy favorite, Milton (5th-165 pts) bested 23 teams in the Championship division of the meet. 7A rivals Brookwood (1st-85 pts) and Parkview (2nd-106 pts) along with 6A powerhouse Harrison (3rd-117 pts) and 3A state champions Westminster (4th-145 pts) all bested the Eagles. Sophomore Hayden Marshall (7th-17:22) led Milton on a day of very high heat and humidity that affected all the competitors performances. Senior co-captain Luke Bonneville (10th-17:35) was the Eagles top-runner until very late in the race when Marshall moved into the top-10. Fellow senior Gary Halverson (28th-18:18) kept Milton in the race for a trophy and was followed by senior co-captain Ben Reilly (51st-18:41). Junior Joe Pick (74th-19:00) concluded the scoring for the Eagles as fellow junior Spencer Watry (86th-19:11) and senior Anish Gupta (135th-20:26) also ran on the varsity squad.
JV Girls
Milton (7th-210 pts) raced up against many varsity teams and were able to turn back 8 schools while holding their own in stifling conditions of heat and humidity. Junior Maggie Gibson(17th-23:17) led the Lady Eagle effort.
JV Boys
Following suit like the JV girls, Milton (6th-197 pts) faced-off against many top-6A schools while besting 8 programs. The Eagles were led by senior Gavin Roman (23rd-19:13) as the weather conditions continued to deteriorate as the meet went on.
The remainder (Open/JV runners) of the Milton Cross Country teams traveled to the Covered Bridge Meet hosted by Roswell High School at Garrard Landing Park and came away with some positive results. Milton (3rd-96 pts) bested 14 schools in the JV girls race and finished 8th-211 pts in the JV boys race where Milton bested another 14 scoring schools. Junior Katy Dickinson (11th-23:21) and Sophomore Payton Massey (24th-19:24) were the Eagles top-finishers.
