Wins by the Varsity Boys & both JV teams lead Eagles to Overall Win
9/27/15 – By Andy Carr
The Milton High School Cross Country teams showed their depth of their program with wins in the Varsity Boys, JV Girls and JV Boys and along with a 3rd by the Varsity Girls, were able to outdistance Marist (2nd) and 29 scoring schools to capture the overall team Wingfoot Cup at the Atlanta Track Club’s Wingfoot Cross Country Classic held at Sam Smith Park in Cartersville, GA.
Varsity Girls
In a battle amongst 5 all-class ranked schools, the Lady Eagles (3rd-122 pts) were edged out for the runner-up spot by South Forsyth (2nd-119 pts) even though Milton placed all 7 of their runners in front of South’s fifth scoring finisher. The Titans of Northview (1st-67 pts) showed again why they are the team to beat as the Fulton County champions placed their 5 scoring runners in the top-21 overall places. Running without senior captain Riley Burr, Milton still had a strong team finish with great racing from freshman Taylor Cushman (6th-14th-19:53) and junior Marie Repasy (17th-20:09). On a day where conditions were muddy, sloppy and rainy, fast times were not the rule of the day. The Lady Eagles had the 2nd-best spread among their scoring runners to keep them in the hunt for the team title. Seniors Victoria Wagner (31st-21:03) and Charlotte Matt (33rd-21:06) and sophomore Emily Bowers (34th-21:08) all finished within 5 seconds of each other and were backed up by senior Emily Velez (53rd-21:45) and sophomore Annie Gallagher (54th-21:46) besting most teams 5th scoring runner. 26 schools scored and there were 176 finishers.
Varsity Boys
In their toughest test since their meet in Virginia, Milton (1st-67 pts) edged out the War Eagles of Marist (2nd-70 pts) and easily dispatched Fulton County runner-up Blessed trinity (3rd-95 pts). The Eagles had presence upfront and a strong and tight pack to win the meet that had 29 scoring schools. Senior Jack Bluth (1st-16:45) continued his undefeated season and out raced 4 state champions on his way to his biggest victory ever. Bluth, although falling on the muddy sloppy course four times, was able to keep pace with Marist’s Frank Pittman (2nd-16:48) and on the final 200 meter stretch put in one last surge to get the victory. In a very smart race, sophomore Sam Bowers (3rd-17:01) ran a more conservative race and moved up from 15th place at the mile mark to pass 12 runners over the final two miles. Besides the front runners, Milton had five finishers between 17th and 31st place to secure the team title. Senior captain Matt McGorrey (17th-17:44) kept close to Marist’s 2nd/3rd/4th runners and was followed by the amazing finish of sophomore Michael Malkowski (20th-17:50). Malkowski moved up close to 15 spots in the final mile to be the Eagles 4th scorer. Fellow seniors Clay Marshall (26th-18-flat), John Fravel (30th-18:07) and Jacques Du Plessis (31st-18:07) pushed the Eagles to the win. There were 195 finishers.
JV Girls
In a see-saw battle the entire race, the Lady Eagles of Milton (1st-31 pts) fought back a furious charge from Marist (2nd-44 pts) with South Forsyth (3rd-71 pts) trailing. 18 schools scored in a race that saw Marist surge to the front early with seven of their runners ahead of Milton’s 1st runner at the end of the first mile. Soon after junior Brooke Aumer (1st-22:03) took the lead for good and maintained it to the finish. Following Aumer’s move to the lead, sophomore Addy Prescott (2nd-22:09) did the same and went past the Marist group. As the race progressed, the Lady Eagles moved up and passed more of the Marist group. Fellow freshman Faith Wagner (6th-22:27) and Samantha Lenox (8th-22:39) helped put four Milton runners ahead of Marist’s 3rd runner and then freshman Claire Buchanan (14th-23:01) closed the door to secure the Lady Eagles team win. 404 finishers were recorded.
JV Boys
The biggest (and muddiest and sloppiest) race of the day saw another duel between Milton (1st-28 pts) and Marist (2nd-36 pts) with Blessed Trinity (3rd-62 pts) trailing. 23 schools scored in the race with 544 finishers as Milton put their five scoring runners in the top-13 to hold off a determined War Eagle squad. Up front the Eagles were led by the 1-2-3 sweep by sophomore Ryan Beitzell (1st-18:12), and juniors Michael McCarthy (2nd-18:17) and Valera Stettner (3rd-18:20) to set the tone for the race as they stayed in the top-3 the entire race. Sophomore Cam Harman (9th-18:54) kept close to Marist’s 4th runner which helped as junior Joey Brovont (13th-19:10) bested Marist’s 5th runner to secure the team victory.
The Eagle cross country teams next see action at the Gene Mullin Invitational at Furman University in Greenville, SC on Oct 10th.
For pictures from the event, courtesy of TKE Photography, please see http://www.tkephotography.com/Running/2015-Wingfoot-XC-Classic/
