2007 Volunteer Classic
The Milton Cross Country teams traveled north to Tennessee for their annual overnight trip to compete in the 4th Annual Volunteer Classic Invitational in Knoxville. Conducted by the Knoxville Track Club, the Volunteer Classic is a very highly regarded meet with teams from Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, North & South Carolina coming to challenge the course at Victor Ashe Park.
Varsity Girls
With a much anticipated match up with #5 ranked Brookwood, the Lady Eagles rose to the occasion and challenged the Broncos and came away with a strong 4th place finish (140) behind Brentwood Academy-91 (TN), Asheville-110 (NC) and just 11 points shy of Brookwood-129. Again leading the way for Milton was freshman Lauren Jones. Her 12th place finish was an all-time best! Next for Lady Eagles were sophomores Chelsea Weiermiller (26th –also running an all-time best) and Stephanie Butzer (28th). Also scoring for Milton was a very strong effort by Jamie Chandler (36th) and Cori Deutsch (49th).
Varsity Boys
After reviewing the teams entered, the Milton boys felt their chances for a high team finish were possible and they did not disappoint. Facing strong teams from Kentucky & Tennessee, the Eagles held their own and came away with an award winning 3rd place among 25 schools! The Eagles (107) were out paced by St Xavier-49 (KY) and Maryville-83 (TN). Leading Milton was again the front-running Tyler Tomy. The sophomore was up near the front the entire race and finished 7th. Brother Seth Tomy had another outstanding race (9th) and ran most of the way with Christian Scholz (18th). The Eagles suffered without the services of Mitchell Foley but good races were turned in by Brian Parsons (44th) and Alex Keeter (46th).
JV Girls
With Brookwood in attendance, the Lady Eagles knew they were in for a tough battle. Milton ran a great “pack” race and came in an impressive third place (91) out of a small field of 5 complete schools. Brookwood’s dominance (1st-29pts) showed as they placed all-7 runners in the top-13. Finishing just ahead of Milton was Brentwood Academy-44 (TN). Running up front for the Lady Eagles was a gutsy race by Anika Scholz. Her 5th place finish paced Milton as Anika was in a position the entire race that challenged for the win! Scoring for Milton were Melissa Tillitski (21st), Kelsey Campolong (23rd), MC Durham (24th) and another great effort by Katie Winkel (28th).
JV Boys
After winning the boys varsity race easily, St Xavier (KY) did not let up and had 7 runners in the top-7 spots for most of the race. But Eagle runner Brandon Halls broke up their anticipated perfect score of 15 and in the last 400m of the race passed 3 of their runners to finish an impressive 4th place! After St Xavier’s dominate finish (17 pts), Maryville was a distance second (65). Brandon’s fine run led Milton to a well-earned 3rd place (79) among 8 scoring teams. Freshman Alex Salvatierra backed up Brandon’s 4th place with an outstanding last mile to finish 13th! Senior co-captain Max Spartz followed (19th) along with the ever-improving Ryan Winkel (20th). Rounding out the Milton scorers was Taylor Early (26th).
The Milton Cross Country teams will now prepare for their next meet which is the Fulton County Public Schools Championship, which will be held at Webb Bridge Park in Alpharetta on October 13th. After a string of 4 consecutive Best Overall Fulton County Program trophies (2002-2005), the Eagles were upset in 2006 by Northview and vow to regain the trophy in 2 weeks.
2007 Marist Class Clash
On September 22, 2007, the Milton High School Cross Country teams traveled to the Marist School to compete in the unique and different NIKE Marist Class Clash. This format pitted 3 schools, teamed together, from 3 different classifications against 3 other schools, teamed together from the same 3 different classifications. NIKE also outfitted the varsity squads of the 6 competing schools with special Red & Blue uniforms. The races were run “clash” style with two opposite starting lines where the runners would run at each other to a given point and then merge together into one race field. In the varsity races the girls started first with the boys following 4 minutes later with the scores coming from the first 15 runners (boy or girl) from each of the 2 teams (Red & Blue) that cross the finish line thus making for some exciting finishes!
In the overall varsity clash race, the combined Red team (Milton, Blessed Trinity & host Marist) easily outscored the combined Blue team (Northview-girls, Brookwood-boys, Greenbriar & West Forsyth). Separated out, the varsity boys Red team scored a 54-130 point win as Brookwood did not run their top varsity and the varsity girls Red team also easily outdistanced the Blue team, 59-121.
The Milton Lady Eagles ran a very strong race and kept it close for a while but in the end Blessed Trinity again showed why they are one of the top teams in the state as they easily won (32 points). Milton kept it close and finished 3rd with 73 points losing a close battle with Marist (65). The Lady Eagles easily dispatched West Forsyth (113), rival Northview (125) and AAA power Greenbriar (133). Leading the way for Milton was again freshman Lauren Jones. Her 4th place finish after falling in the first turn of the race showed she was ready to race up front. Chelsea Weiermiller followed in 14th with a strong effort after sitting out Warpath on September 8th. The Lady Eagles strong “pack” was in evidence as Cori Deutsch (16th), Susannah Hardy (19th), Jamie Chandler (20th) and Stephanie Butzer (22nd) followed and rounded out the scoring.
The Eagles showed they belonged in this meet and made their presence shown with 4 runners in the top-12. Winning his 2nd race of the season, Tyler Tomy bided his time and made a decisive move with about 500 meters to go and ran 17:30 to claim the title! Brother Seth Tomy shows he is rounding into great shape with his 6th place finish (17:40). Milton scorers also included Christian Scholz (12th), an outstanding race by Mitchell Foley (14th), Alex Keeter (21st) and Brian Parsons (25th). The Eagles finished 3rd as a team but it was close! The Eagles scored 54 points to lose to Blessed Trinity (45) and host Marist (50). Milton easily outdistanced Greenbriar (103), a depleted Brookwood squad (132) and the new West Forsyth Wolverines (259-unadjusted score).
JV Boys Race
The JV races were run in a traditional format (scoring) but still employed the “clash” start. Following in Tyler Tomy’s footsteps, first-year runner Fraser Reade made the Milton boys 2-for-2 as he triumphed and won the JV race! Senior Ryan Thurman had his best race in possibly 2 seasons with his 4th place finish to also pace the Eagles. During most of the race, Milton did not look like they could be victorious. Leading the charge very late in the race and bringing the Eagles to the front were some fantastic performances by Jody Hirschi (7th-passing as many as 10 runners in the last 600 meters), Taylor Early (14th-using his great hurdling experience and strong kick to pass many runners in the final 400 meters) and the hard-charging John Britt Easterling (18th and followed Taylor as he passed many also in the last 400 meters). Those big moves late in the race gave Milton the JV win (44 points) besting Marist, Brookwood and Blessed Trinity by a big margin!
JV Girls Race
After a slow start the Lady JV Eagles were in an uphill battle all the way and were soundly beaten by Northview and Marist. Leading Milton was first-year cross country runner Samantha Rate (10th) who ran most of the race in contention for a top-7 finish. The Lady Eagle “pack” was in force as the following runners had terrific races and scored for Milton: Olivia Tusa (15th) again ran a strong race. She was closely followed by the surprising run by Christina Bins (16th), the hard-charging Kelsey Campolong (17th) and the ever-resilient Katie Winkel (18th).
The Milton Eagles next travel to Knoxville, Tennessee for the Knoxville TC Volunteer Classic. This will be the Eagles first trip to this well-established meet in Tennessee and they look forward to a great team-building and big-meet experience
2007 Cherokee Warpath
Running without their # 2 girl, the Lady Eagles faced a tough challenge competing with teams the likes of Walton, Harrison, Etowah and Fulton County foes Roswell, Centennial and Northview. Milton hung tough but was thoroughly outmatched at this early season test of speed on a very flat course. Leading the Lady Eagles was the freshman phenom Lauren Jones whose 20:55 placed her 22nd in a field of close to 150. Stephanie Butzer followed in 36th running her best race of the season so far. Contributing strong performances for Milton were Jamie Chandler (51st), a smart running Cori Deutsch (56th) and the always dependable senior co-captain Susannah Hardy (67th).
In the first race of the day (and the coolest temperatures), the JV Lady Eagles ran some very fast and personal record times as Milton made a very strong showing among 20+ teams competing. Leading the Lady Eagles was senior Maddie Cook whose 22:21 performance is showing the senior is rounding into racing shape. An all-time best of 22:59 by senior Melissa Tillitski was followed-up by a strong pack of Milton ladies: co-captain MC Durham (23:14), Samantha Rate (23:18), Olivia Tusa (23:26) and another outstanding performance by Shannon Sevcik (23:49).
The Eagles were very excited to finally run a flat and fast course and they did not disappoint as many ran either personal or course best times. Showing that Milton should be a strong top-10 contender at the state meet, the Eagles finished a convincing 3rd place outdistancing a very talented Harrison squad and again besting rival Centennial. Walton easily won the meet with Etowah 2nd but only 17 points ahead of Milton. Tyler Tomy ran another inspiring race and was near the front the entire distance finishing 4th in 16:43! Backing up Tyler was a strong pack that consisted of Christian Scholz (17th-17:15), Ryan Price (19th-17:19) and the continually improving Seth Tomy (21st-17:24). Alex Keeter completed the scoring for the Eagles (55th).
In a race that was easily dominated by both Walton & Harrison, the Eagles showed that strong individual efforts make for a good showing. Led by Mitchell Foley’s 10th place finish (18:01), Milton was in the mix for a top-10 finish among 20+ schools. Contributing for Milton was the steadily improving senior Brian Parsons (18:09), Joe Hogg (18:35), a personal best by co-captain Max Spartz (18:47) and Jody Hirschi (19:07).
The Eagle Cross Country Teams are off this weekend but return to action September 22nd at The Marist School for the unique running of the NIKE Class Clash where Milton will team up with the schools of Marist and Blessed Trinity to take on a squad made up from the schools of Northview (girls)/Brookwood (boys-currently ranked #1 in AAAAA), West Forsyth and Greenbriar. This exciting team format will be a great experience for Eagles to be a part of.
2007 Berry Clara Bowl
The Lady Eagles shocked everyone by WINNING the Varsity girls race besting 66 schools! Upfront running and a solid pack put Milton ahead of Girl’s Prep School (TN), Whitewater and 2 other schools from Alabama. The Lady Eagles 1st place is their best finish at this meet in recent history as the 2005 team had placed 4th. Leading the way was freshman Lauren Jones. Her 13th place finish got Milton started as she was followed by hard-charging Jamie Chandler (35th), Chelsea Weiermiller (39th), senior captain Susannah Hardy (70th) and the smart-running Cori Deutsch (73rd). Also contributing to the victory were Stephanie Butzer (82nd) and Monique Rollocks (156th). Over 560 runners finished the race. This is a SIGNIFICANT well-earned win for the Lady Eagles!
Having to run almost 2 hours later in the heat did not deter the JV Lady Eagles from some solid performances. Even though no team scores were kept, Milton finished a well-earned 2nd to perennial Hoover (AL). The JV Lady Eagles were led by a front-running race by Anika Scholz. Anika’s 9th place finish led a strong group of Milton runners all finishing in the top-20! Maddie Cook (12th), a breakout race by Shannon Sevcik (16th) and a solid group effort by Kelsey Campolong (18th) and Audrey Grichting (19th) led Milton to a runner-up finish!
The Eagles followed the girls result with an IMPRESSIVE runner-up finish besting 70 schools! Mountain Brook (AL) was the dominate team but Milton held it’s own with victories over rival Centennial (3rd), ranked teams such as Lakeside-Dekalb (4th), Eagles Landing (6th) and AA power Lovett (11th). Tyler Tomy showed he is one of the top runners in the state with his 6th place finish! In a large meet the keys to victory include having a front-runner, and a tight finish “pack” and the Eagles had both! Following Tyler’s strong individual performance, Milton secured 2nd with finishes by senior co-captain Christian Scholz (32nd ) who passed many runners after a slow start, Alex Keeter (34th), the improving Seth Tomy (54th), and Ryan Price (55th). Also contributing to Milton’s 2nd place team finish were Brandon Halls (114th) and the surprising Fraser Reade (147th).
Milton again ran a strong team race in the last race and hottest part of the day and even though no team scores were kept, the Eagles finished 2nd to Hoover (AL). Led by Jody Hirschi’s 10th place finish, Milton placed 4 runners in the top-20! Award winning performances were turned in by senior co-captain Max Spartz (15th), Bryan Pike (19th ) and Andrew Finari (20th).
The Milton Cross Country teams now head to the annual Warpath Meet at Boling Park in Canton, hosted by Cherokee High School. The Boling Park course maybe the fastest course the Eagles will run on this season and has been host to the region meet in the recent past.