Milton Cross Country Successful At Opening Meet
Team wins by the Varsity boys and JV squads lead Eagle effort
Douglasville, GA – 8/20/16 – By Andy Carr
The Milton High School Cross Country teams opened up their season today at the Atlanta Classic Invitational at Clinton Farms and came away with 3 team titles, 2 individual overall wins and a runner-up finish.
Girls Varsity
In a tough early-season battle with top-ranked Landmark Christian (#1 in 1-A), (1st-37 pts) the Lady Eagles (2nd-41 pts) & ranked 7th in AAAAAAA lost a close race to one of their county rivals. Milton’s strong 2nd-half of the race kept the team battle tight but Landmark’s upfront superiority proved the difference. The Raiders of Alpharetta (3rd-93 pts) & the Eagles of Etowah (4th-95 pts) trailed. 10 schools scored.
Senior captain Marie Repasy (3rd-18:44) led the Lady Eagle effort with the freshman duo of Faith Bobak (7th-19:18) & Abby Rindt (8th-19:32) also finishing in the medals. Sophomore Taylor Cushman (10th-19:51) & senior Brooke Aumer (13th-20:04) closed out the scoring for Milton. Junior Emily Bowers (16th-20:25) and sophomore Faith Wagner (19th-20:33) finished strong for Milton. There were 85 finishers.
Boys Varsity
The 2nd-ranked All-Class Eagles of Milton (1st-41 pts) placed 6 runners in the top-17 to easily win the meet over 12 scoring schools. Alpharetta (2nd-75 pts) & Etowah (3rd-89 pts) trailed. With 3 finishers in the top-7, Milton controlled the race and the team outcome from the gun to the finish. Leading the way for the Eagles was junior Sam Bowers (1st-15:38). Bowers moved past Wilson Moore of Chapel Hill (2nd-15:54) just before 2-miles and went on to the overall win. Fellow juniors Michael Malkowski (4th-16:12) & Ryan Beitzell (6th-16:22) put 3 finishers for Milton on the awards stand. A very strong effort by senior Valera Stettner (14th-16:56) was followed by junior Cam Harman (16th-17:11) & senior captain Joey Brovont (17th-17:12). Senior captain Michael McCarthy (21st-17:26) concluded the Eagle runners. 97 runners completed the race.
Girls JV
The Lady Eagles were easy winners over 5 scoring schools as Milton (1st-18 pts) put 11 runners in the top-12 finishing positions! Junior Jessie Barnes (1st-21:27) took the lead about 800 meters into the race and was never headed. Sophomore Sam Lenox (2nd-22:09) followed as the Lady Eagles had freshman Kelly Scott (4th-22:19), senior Fernanda Bonilla (5th-22:44) & freshman Katy Dickenson (6th-23:02) close out the scoring.
Boys JV
Milton (1st-20 pts) again put 11 finishers in the top-12 spots for the overwhelming team victory! In a tight battle for the overall win, junior Dru Milton (2nd-17:43) led mid-race but was overtaken near the end to lead the Eagle gauntlet of finishers! Senior Jake Vernon (3rd-17:56) surprised many in only his 2nd cross country race ever! Also scoring for Milton were junior Andrew Blizzard (4th-18:04), along with seniors Paul Rose (5th-18:11) & Pierce Baker (6th-18:12).
