Varsity teams place 3rd at Class 7A Area meet to qualify
October 20, Boling Park, Canton, GA
The Eagle Cross Country teams will again head to Carrollton, GA to compete in the GHSA State Cross Country Championship meet after qualifying today at the Class 7A Area meet.
Varsity Girls
The Lady Eagles challenged for the top-spot and showed they are ready to be a top-finishing team at the state meet with their impressive showing. Milton (3rd-79 pts) bested 9 schools to qualify for the GHSA championship. Region rival South Forsyth (1st-51 pts) and Walton (2nd-73 pts) took advantage of a strong and closer group of runners after their top-finishers to beat the Eagles by only a small margin.
Again leading Milton was junior Nyah Hernandez (4th-18:44) running her 3rd-best performance of the season. Hernandez led many times throughout the race and contended for the overall win through the 3rd and final mile. Senior Taylor Cushman (5th-18:48) ran a impressive personal best and became the first Milton cross country athlete to individually qualify for the GHSA state meet as an individual (top-12 finishers in the Area meet) for four consecutive years! Junior Abby Rindt (10th-19:09) just missed out on a personal best but also qualified as an individual for the state meet. The Lady Eagles strength came from its next 3 finishers as senior co-captain Faith Wagner (27th-19:56) bested many teams 2nd/3rd/4th finishers to push Milton to the state meet and along with sophomore Audrey Nichols (33rd-20:19) and senior co-captain Samantha Lenox (35th-20:21) who both set personal bests, the Lady Eagles challenged for the runner-up spot. Senior Maddie Erbey (65th-21:56) closed out the Milton runners headed to the state meet.
Varsity Boys
Evening running without their number 4 runner, Milton (3rd-105 pts) bested 9 schools and qualified for the GHSA state meet. The Eagles fought off a strong Lambert (4th-105 pts) team that lost to Milton on the 6th-man tiebreaker with the Eagles going 42nd versus the Longhorns going 51st. South Forsyth (1st-71 pts) continued their very successful season followed by the surprise Wolverine squad from West Forsyth (2nd-75 pts). Milton is the defending boys state 7A Champions in Cross Country and even though the team lost its top-5 runners from the squad, the Eagles will again head to Carrollton with a chance to defend their title. Sophomore Hayden Marshall (7th-16:12) matched his personal best and challenged for the runner-up spot the entire race to lead Milton. Senior co-captain Luke Bonneville (12th-16:23) individually qualified for state for the 2nd year in a row as fellow senior Gary Halverson (13th-16:24) just missed but ran his 2nd best personal performance. The Eagles countered many teams with a strong group of scorers as junior Joe Pick (34th-17:05), senior co-captain Ben Reilly (39th-17:13) and junior Spencer Watry (42nd-17:15) finished within 10-seconds of each other to propel Milton to the state meet. Senior Gavin Roman (67th-17:58) closed out this team that heads to the state meet in 2 weeks.
JV Girls
Milton (4th-119 pts) bested 7 schools with no finishers in the top-10! Freshman Jessica Albregts (15th-20:52) ran to close to a 45-second personal best to lead the Lady Eagles.
JV Boys
With no finishers in the top-25, Milton (6th-198 pts) still bested 6 schools. Freshman Davis Hobbs (28th-17:57) ran to a big personal best while starting conservatively and moving steadily through the field as the race progressed.
Girls Open
With the front running of junior Quinn Swidorski (3rd-22:05) posting a personal best, the Lady Eagles of Milton (2nd-41 pts) ran to one of their best team finishes of the meet.
Boys Open
Milton (2nd-45 pts) bested 8 schools to narrowly lose to West Forsyth (1st-39 pts) in the concluding race of the day. Sophomore Connor Brunson (2nd-18:05) challenged for the overall race win but was narrowly defeated by less than a second to lead the Eagle effort.
The varsity teams of Milton will next compete at the GHSA State Meet on Saturday, November 3rd at Carrollton Elementary School in Carrollton, GA to conclude their 2018 campaign.
