The Milton Cross Country teams traveled to McDonough, GA and the Nash Farms Battlefield Park for the Inaugural Battle of Atlanta Meet where varsity teams from north of Interstate 20 teamed up and competed against varsity teams from south of Interstate 20 and came away with impressive results.
In the varsity girls Battle of Atlanta team competition the north held a commanding lead after the first 10 runners finished (led by Centennial’s Katie June who was the overall winner) and with 13 runners in the top-20 easily defeated the south 175-290 as the score was determined by the first 15 runners on each squad. For the boy’s it was a little closer thru the top-10 but by the 20th runner the north had 12 runners in and won 204-268.

Varsity Girls
The Lady Eagles rose to the occasion and ran strong with many ranked programs and finished an impressive 4th (133 points) out of 18 teams losing to region foes Centennial (75 pts), and Walton (82 pts). Chapel Hill was a close 3rd (123 pts). Milton again was led by junior Chelsea Weiermiller. Her 10th place finish was a season’s best time and solidified herself as a top-contender for the county and region meets. Continuing to surprise was the run by freshman Heather Harman. Her all-time best (21:37) was another 30-second improvement and placed her 24th in a field of 129. Also scoring for Milton was a season’s best by Stephanie Butzer (26th-and missing a medal by less than a second), and the strong freshman (Amanda Lockwood-38th, Lindsey Gruca-39th) and junior Cori Deutsch-41st. Senior co-captain Jamie Chandler followed (75th).

Varsity Boys
In perhaps one of the strongest field of schools put together outside of Gwinnett County, the Eagles again impressed with their 4th place finish (131 pts) out of 19 schools besting top-ranked programs from Oconee County, Blessed Trinity, Alexander and Pace Academy. Milton was very close to Greenbriar (3rd-124pts) and has closed the gap on both Chapel Hill (2nd-95pts) and winner Walton (87 pts).
In an inspiring race, Tyler Tomy battled all the way to the wire for 2nd place and was edged at the finish in a season’s best 16:32 to garner 3rd. Tyler was in the lead group the entire way and gave the state’s top runners a scare and notice that he will be there come time for region and state! Brother Seth Tomy was in the top-20 the entire race and worked up to finally finish 13th. Even after a few twisted ankles during the race, Ryan Price ran a solid effort (17:53-28th) missing a medal by less than 6 seconds. Senior Alex Keeter continued his fine season with a 34th place finish. Scorers for Milton also included Travis Turner (53rd), Adam Zucker (59th) and senior co-captain Ryan Winkel (72nd) in a near all-time best!

JV Girls
In a race dominated by Walton (1st-17 pts), the Lady Eagles hung tough and challenged the Lady Raiders the best they could. In the end Northview (2nd-69pts) snuck up on Milton (3rd-70 pts) to just edge them out. Leading the way for the Lady Eagles was the outstanding run by Rachel Gravlee. Her 23:01 placed her 8th in a field of 83 competitors. Senior Katie Winkel bided her time and passed many runners to finish a strong 12th-23:11. Julia Campolong rallied in the second half of her race and was able to team up with Maddy Hassett as they finished together (17th & 18th 23:35 and 23:36 respectively).
Rounding out the scoring for the Lady Eagles were Samantha Rate (20th) and Lauren Schmidt (28th).

JV Boys
The undefeated Eagle boy’s faced their toughest test to date and finished an impressive 2nd (62 pts) losing only to region power Walton (42 pts). Milton bested 13 schools in their runner-up finish. Leading the way was the ever-present solid pack of Eagle runners that are the cornerstone of this team. Even more amazing is that all 7 Milton runners finished in the to-25 and earned individual medals. 107 runners finished the race. Senior Brandon Halls again was the front-runner with his 7th place finish (18:42). Close behind was Alex Salvatiera (10th-18:44). What followed was nothing short of incredible: Jody Hirschi-12th, 19:00, Anthony Machan-15th, 19:04, Andrew Funari-18th, 19:11, Joe Hogg-21st, 19:18 and finally Chris Chernick-23rd, 19:24.

JV Girls B-race
Since the JV races were going to be very large, the meet decided to add JV-B races as the course could not handle the large number of entries. The Lady Eagles really hit the mark and finished a close 2nd (39 pts) to Walton (20 pts). 4 full teams competed as Milton easily defeated Alexander (95 pts) and Pope (100 pts). 90 runners finished the race. The Lady Eagles were led by freshman Rita Virtanen who worked her way through the top-10 to finish an outstanding 3rd place! Strong races were turned in by Lisa Bluth (7th), senior co-captain Kelsey Campolong (10th), Shannon Moss (13th), Natalie Derajtys (17th), senior Christina McLeod (18th) and the impressive run by Selina Chan (22nd) passing many runners throughout the entire race!

JV Boys B-race
Milton finally got the best of the competition with an impressive team victory (22 pts) besting Walton (37 pts), Northview (96 pts) and Chapel Hill (135 pts). The win was anchored by the senior front running of Fraser Reade who pulled away from teammate Mitchell Foley to win the race (18:16)!! Mitchell stayed with Fraser for most of the race and was a strong 2nd (18:36). Milton was the run-away winner with 7 runners finishing in the top-10!! 151 runners finished the race. Other top-10 finishes for the Eagles were Curtis Hildebrandt (4th), Ryan Guilbault (7th), John Britt Easterling (8th), David Hassling (9th) and freshman Matt Foley (10th).

The Eagle cross country teams next compete at the Fulton County Public Schools Championship meet at Webb Bridge Park in Alpharetta on Saturday, October 4th in what should be a good preview of the region meet that follows in 4 weeks after the county meet.

The Milton cross country teams traveled to the friendly confines of Boling Park in Canton, GA to compete in the 14th annual Cherokee Warpath Invitational and came away with some very impressive team results and individual performances.

JV Girls
The Lady Eagles started off the meet on a very successful note by losing only to Roswell in a field of at least 15 schools. Leading Milton for the 2nd consecutive week was freshman Heather Harmon. Running with the chase pack as the leader ran away from the field, Heather made every effort and literally at the finished line snagged 3rd place (22:05- matching the 2nd fastest Milton time of the day)! Her front running led a solid Lady Eagle pack of runners that finished within a spread of just 1 minute! Rachel Gravlee followed in 7th (23:01) and then the close tight finishes of Maddie Hassett (12th), Samantha Rate (18th), Katie Winkel (20th), Brynn Weiermiller (23rd) and Olivia Tusa (29th). Milton’s strong team effort turned back Fulton County foes Centennial and Northview.

JV boys
Milton showed that their impressive run at Berry was not a surprise by placing their top-7 runners in the top-15 to score an impressive victory over 17 teams. Similar to the JV girls race, one runner dominated the individual race but the chase pack of 4 got cut to two and as the final mile was run senior Travis Turner took command and finished a strong 2nd (18:14)! What followed was nothing short as impressive as the Eagles placed their next 6 runners in the 8 spots and 16 seconds! Senior Brandon Halls led Milton with his 5th place finish (18:39) and was followed by Alex Salvatierra (7th-18:40), Joe Hogg (8th-18:41), Anthony Machan (10th-18:48), Andrew Barris (11th-18:51) and Jody Hirschi (13th-18:55). The Eagles continued to show their strong dominance by easily besting fellow Fulton County teams Roswell, Centennial & Northview.

Varsity Girls
The Lady Eagles again faced a formidable field of teams including top-10 ranked teams Roswell (6th) and Centennial (10th) and made a strong showing placing a trophy awarding 3rd to the ranked Fulton County programs. 16 teams were in the field. Milton was again led by the running of Chelsea Weiermiller. Her gutsy race effort was evident as she ran the entire race with a pack of 5 Roswell team members who put pressure on her the best they could. Chelsea finished an award-winning 11th place (21:21) to pace the Lady Eagles. Milton was able to outdistance 13 teams with the strong and tight pack running that followed Chelsea. Steph Butzer (22nd) and Cori Deutsch (23rd) ran the last 2 miles together to anchor this strong team showing. Moving constantly through the field, freshman Lindsey Gruca continues to impress and finished a strong 26th (22:18). Senior co-captain Jamie Chandler concluded the scoring for the Eagles with her 30th place finish (22:33). Also contributing to the strong team finish were freshman Amanda Lockwood (34th-22:56) and Julia Campolong (41st-23:17).

Varsity Boys
Milton continued to show they will be a team that will contend for a region championship and a top-10 finish at the state meet by thoroughly dominating the field and winning the meet over 16 schools. Milton’s win (55 points) easily outdistancing Woodstock (2nd-113), region foe Kell (3rd-118) and fellow Fulton County squad Centennial (4th-130).
Literally leading the way, Tyler Tomy battled another Tyler from Pickens County for 2 miles and then went on to win the race in a decisive manner in16:43! Making the individual win even that more impressive was the great running of his teammates to help capture the team championship. Brother Seth Tomy (8th-17:31) moved up consistently through the race to catch fellow teammate Ryan Price (9th-17:32) in the last half-mile to finish together! Senior Alex Keeter continued his strong season and is showing signs he is recovered from an early season injury to finish 12th (17:46). Concluding the scoring for the winning Eagles was the strong race by Adam Zucker (25th-18:11) who passed runners most if not all the entire race and held on at the end! Senior co-captain Ryan Winkel ran close to his all-time best in finishing 41st-18:46. Also running on the winning Eagle squad was Andrew Funari (53rd).

The Milton Cross country teams next travel to McDonough and the Nash Farms Battlefield Park for the 2nd running of the Battle of Atlanta Meet hosted by Eagles Landing, Luella & Union Grove high schools. The race format for the varsity will be similar to last year’s Marist Class Clash where Milton will team up with 9 other schools (current rankings noted), all located north of Interstate 20 (Walton-6th AAAAA boys, 8th AAAAA girls, Centennial-10th AAAAA girls, Blessed Trinity-3rd AA boys & girls, West Forsyth-6th AAA girls, Pace Academy-4th A boys, 2nd A girls, Greenbriar, Pope, Oconee County-3rd AAA boys, 5th AAA girls and Northview) and run against 10 teams (current rankings noted) located south of Interstate 20 (Alexander-2nd AAAA boys, 5th AAAA girls, Chapel Hill-4th AAAAA boys, Eagles Landing-1st AAA boys, 7th AAA girls, Eagles Landing Christian, Luella, Union Grove, Spalding, Woodland, Whitewater and Pike County-7th AA boys, 8th AA girls). This will be a fun event for both runners and spectators and a chance to see some of the best teams in Georgia compete in a different race format.

The Milton Cross country teams opened up their 2008 season at the Berry College Cross Country Invitational in Rome, GA hosted by Berry College. The meet is the traditional opening contest for many Georgia high schools cross country programs and a good preview of many of these teams. The 2008 edition saw a major course change and a new meet race schedule which made for mixed results for the Eagle squads.

Varsity Girls
The Lady Eagles started things off with a solid 22nd place finish among 50 teams. The race featured most of Milton’s region foes along with top team Mountain Brook of Alabama (featuring the 2007 Nike Team Nationals Individual Champion). Chelsea Weiermiller led the Lady Eagles with her 52nd place (21:22) which was 26 seconds faster than 2007. Large gaps hurt Milton as Stephanie Butzer’s 22:18 was a 13 second improvement over 2007 but her place (117th) was the Lady Eagles second scorer. Milton did show a strong team presence with a great pack of close finishes. Freshman Lindsey Gruca (146th), senior co-captain Jamie Chandler (147th), Cori Deutsch (154th), Julia Campolong (160th) and Freshman Amanda Lockwood (165th) all finished within a 13-second span which shows great promise as the season progresses. Also competing in the varsity race for the Lady Eagles were the much improved Katie Winkel (205th-23:12), Samantha Rate (246th-23:52) and first year runner Maddie Hassett (262nd-24:08). Close to 460 runners finished.

Varsity Boys
The Eagles stepped to the line with some of the strongest teams in the state and region and came away with a hard fought 17th place out of 60 teams competing. Mountain Brook continued its winning ways as out of state teams took 3 of the top-4 team spots. Getting a first look at region and Fulton County foes the Eagles finished with mixed results. Tyler Tomy continues to impress with his front running as the junior ran to a 19th place finish (16:51). With no solid pack of Milton runners, the Eagles score suffered but many on the team ran solid performances they know they can improve on. Running a very strong race and showing all that summer mileage was worth the effort, senior Ryan Price followed in 66th (17:44). Seth Tomy ran with Ryan most of the way but was unable to stay with him in the later stages of the race and finished 86th (17:58). Also figuring in the scoring for Milton were Alex Keeter (145th), Adam Zucker (181st), Andrew Funari (191st) and senior co-captain Ryan Winkel (195th). Also competing in the varsity race for the Eagles were Travis Turner (234th), Joe Hogg (247th) and Mitchell Foley (286th). There were 541 finishers.

JV Girls
The Lady Eagles showed great promise for a successful season by placing 4 runners in the top-40 for a solid showing. Even though no team scores were kept, Milton would have finished in the top-5 teams that did compete. Close to 400 runners completed the race. The Lady Eagles were led by Freshman Heather Harmon whose 12th place finish (23:32) was impressive as she went out with the leaders and never fell back! Milton’s top-40 finishers also included Rachel Gravlee (21st-23:59), Brynn Weiermiller (24th-24:06) and Olivia Tusa (39th-24:44).

JV Boys
The Milton Eagles made a big statement by placing its top-5 runners all in the top-25 for an impressive team showing. If team scores were kept Milton would have been the run-away winner. Close to 600 runners finished the race. Milton was led by the recovered Alex Salvatiera (17th-19:00) who brought with him a very close pack of Eagle finishers. Following Alex were Anthony Machan (18th-19:00) who moved up the entire race passing 24 runners in the last 2 miles alone! Right behind was the incredible runs by Brandon Halls (19th-19:01) and the much improved Andrew Barris (20th-19:02). Finishing just a few seconds back of this group was Jody Hirschi (22nd-19:07).

Next stop for the Milton Cross country team is the flat and very fast course at Boling Park in Canton, GA at the Warpath Invitational hosted by Cherokee High School on Saturday, September 13th. The Eagle teams look forward to this traditional and much smaller meet on one of the fastest courses they will run all year.