Led by the junior state champion, Milton records 3rd & 4th place team finishes

By Andy Carr, Photos by Angie Butzow – Carrollton, GA
11/4/16

BOYS

For only the fourth time in school history, a Milton student athlete is state cross country champion! Junior Sam Bowers (1st-16:06) bested a field of 171 runners to capture the state championship in a thrilling race that saw him pass Marietta’s Hayden Tullos going up the final hill and extend his lead to the finish and the state title! The last Milton individual state cross country title came in 2000 (Ian Dickinson).  Bowers also led the Eagle team to another awards podium finish. Milton (3rd-124 pts) bested 20 schools in tying the school’s best ever team finish at the state meet.  Region foe Lambert (1st-71 pts) and perennial top-finishing Brookwood (2nd-98 pts) finished ahead of the Eagles.  After Bowers, the Eagles had fellow junior Michael Malkowski (6th-16:31) join Bowers on the awards podium.  Malkowski was just outside the top-10 the majority of the race and moved into the top-10 in the last 800 meters before passing more runners in the last set of hills. Fellow junior Ryan Beitzel (31st-17:21) was in the big chase pack with many teams’ top-runners for most of the race. Senior captain Michael McCarthy (52nd-17:42) led a trio of Milton finishers to solidify their best team finish as juniors Cam Harman (56th-17:43) and Dru Milton (66th-17:59) followed. Finally senior Valera Stettner (77th-18:07) concluded the Eagle effort culminating one of the most successful seasons ever in school history.

GIRLS

Going into the meet as one of the favorites, the Lady Eagles (4th-155 pts) reached the awards podium for the 5th time in school history concluding the most successful season in the team’s history. Milton bested 19 schools that saw region-foe South Forsyth (1st-74 pts), Brookwood (2nd-128 pts) and rival Walton (3rd-143 pts) finish just ahead of the Lady Eagles. Reaching the awards podium for the second straight year and duplicating her finish from 2015, senior captain Marie Repasy (6th-19:49) led the Milton team effort as she has done all season.  Repasy was in the lead group the entire race and challenged for a top-four spot in numerous stretches of the course. Repasy closes out her Milton career as a member of three-straight awards podium teams.  Freshman Faith Bobak (11th-20:02) just missed the awards podium but was a factor in the top-10 of the race the entire contest.  Bobak’s strong effort helped pace the Lady Eagles to a top-4 team finish.  A very strong and aggressive effort by sophomore Taylor Cushman (21st-20:46) put Milton in a valid contending spot as fellow sophomore Faith Wagner (55th-21:44) rose to the occasion to support a valiant team effort. Senior Brooke Aumer (70th-22:07) concluded the scoring for the Lady Eagles as freshman Abby Rindt (86th-22:36) fought hard after falling many times to finish the race and support the team. Junior Emily Bowers (109th-23:11) was Milton’s final finisher in her third-consecutive state meet appearance.