The Milton Cross Country teams competed in the Coach Wood Invitational this past weekend at the Gainesville College course and came away with high team finishes and many all-time personal best efforts!

Varsity Girls
The Lady Eagles had a tough fight on their hands with all the Fulton County teams in attendance and came away with a solid 4th place finish (126 pts) out of 19 scoring teams. Milton got by Centennial (5th-127pts) but fell to Alpharetta (1st-53 pts), Northview (2nd-102 pts) and Chattahoochee (3rd-113 pts) even without their number 1 runner who failed to finish. Leading the way for the Lady Eagles was Stephanie Butzer. Her 19th place finish (20:57) was close to an all-time best and was a great rebound from her race a week ago at Furman. The freshman trio followed with all-time bests run by Heather Harman (25th-21:09), Lindsay Gruca (26th-21:15) and Amanda Lockwood (27th-21:17). But it was the running of the number 5 & 6 runners that held off Centennial as Cori Deutsch finished 34th (21:37) followed closely by senior co-captain Jamie Chandler in 35th (21:37). Also running in the varsity race and recording all-time best performances were Rachel Gravlee (21:56) and seniors Kelsey Campolong (also co-captain) (22:10) and Katie Winkel (22:34) who closed out their career at Milton with this race.

Varsity Boys
After being ranked for the first time in a few years, the Eagles showed why they are a top-10 team in the state of Georgia by winning the Varsity Division!! Their 83 points easily dispatched region foe Kell (2nd-99 pts) and AAAA power Lakeside-Dekalb (3rd-103 pts). This was a sweet win for Milton after 2 straight years of being runner-up at this meet. Leading the Eagles to victory was the front running of Tyler Tomy. Facing his rivals from the Fulton County meet 2 weeks previous, Tyler made a big move at just before 2 miles and never looked back and WON the race in an all-time best of 16:15! Tyler’s win came over Fulton County Champion Blake Kennedy of Alpharetta and 3rd-placer Spencer Carter of Northview. Milton then showed its strength with a flurry of all-time bests on the way to the team win. Senior co-captain Fraser Reade followed and broke that elusive 17 minute barrier with a fine 16:57 good for 9th place! Another all-time best was recorded and needed by senior Ryan Price (20th-17:18) as the Eagles did not run their normal #2 runner. The Alex’s continued their great season also recording all-time bests as senior Alex Keeter (24th-17:27) and sophomore Alex Salvatierra (29th-17:38) contributed heavily to the victory. Also breaking 18 was senior Travis Turner whose 17:52 was good for 38th place. 221 runners competed in the race along with 26 scoring schools. Also running varsity for Milton were senior Adam Zucker (53rd-18:06), an all-time best by senior co-captain Ryan Winkel (59th-18:08), senior Brandon Halls (67th-18:16) and freshman Anthony Machan (81st-18:23).

JV Girls
Continuing right where they left off after the Fulton County meet, the Lady Eagles continued their successful season with a 2nd place (41 pts) losing narrowly to arch-rival Northview (1st-26 pts) but besting 7 other schools including a deep and strong Marist squad (3rd-89 pts)! Leading the charge for Milton was the continually improving Samantha Rate. Her 22:17 put her up near the front (5th) the entire race. First-year runner Maddy Hassett kept close to Samantha and ran an all-time best (22:27) in finishing 8th! The Lady Eagles had a strong pack and it showed as the next Milton 6 runners finished in the next 35 seconds, many if not all in all-time best performances! Julia Campolong was next in a superb 22:39 (10th) followed by freshman sensation Lauren Schmidt (12th-22:44). Showing she is recovering from her weak ankle and from being sick Brynn Weiermiller ran her best time of the season (17th-23:04) and was followed by the outstanding effort of Allie Amos (18th-23:09) and senior Christina McLeod (20th-23:12). Also running in the JV race and recording season or all-times bests were Lisa Bluth (21st-23:14), Meredith Naylor (26th-23:26) and Shannon Moss (40th-24:28).

JV Boys
The Eagles again proved they are one of the top JV squads in the state with a hard fought 3rd place (87 points) falling to a very strong Marist squad (1st-30 pts-who ran their top-JV, runners #8-14) and narrowly losing to AAAA power Lakeside-Dekalb (85 pts). Milton has now only been beaten by 4 schools all season! Leading this power-house squad was senior Andrew Funari whose 13th place finish (18:25) may have been an all-time best! Jodi Hirschi closely followed (14th-18:31) along with another fine performance from Andrew Barris (15th-18:32). Very impressive finishes were run by David Hasslinger (20th-18:43), Chris Chernick (27th-18:59) and John-Britt Easterling (28th-19:00). The Milton freight-train continued with outstanding runs by Curtis Hildebrant (29th-19:04), Boyd Guttery (30th-19:05) and Ryan Guilbault (31st-19:06). Closing out the Eagle runners was freshman Matt Foley (40th-19:22) who ran some of the race with just one shoe but with help from some teammates was able to get it back on and finish with it!!

In the final race of the day, the open/JV-C race, Milton was led by Weston Hirschi & Forrest Patty on the boy’s side and Elizabeth Bunn & Rita Virtanen on the girl’s side.

Next up for the Eagles is the always fun Nike Marist Class Clash on Saturday, October 25th where Milton will run their top-JV in the main race and combine with 2 other schools in a 2 team race against 3 other schools and will rest the varsity for the region meet which will be held the following Thursday, October 30th.

The Milton High School Cross Country teams traveled to Gainesville College in Oakwood, GA to compete in the 5th annual Reebok Coach Wood Invitational hosted by Mill Creek & Dacula High Schools and came away with their most successful results of the season to date.

Varsity Girls
The Lady Eagles were looking for redemption this week after a disappointing 5th place finish the previous week at the Fulton County meet and came up with their best team race of the season. Milton dropped 30 seconds on their season best time average (21:00) and WON the varsity girls division (79 pts.) over 20 other schools! The meet win was also special for the Lady Eagles as they were able to turn the tables on both Chattahoochee (2nd-90 pts.) and Centennial (3rd-101 pts.) who had beaten them at Fulton County. As she has done all season, freshman Lauren Jones led the way for Milton. Lauren ran another all-time best (20:11) to finish 7th! Chelsea Weiermiller followed suit and also ran another all-time best (20:54) in finishing 13th. The victory for Milton came with the strong “pack” and team running of Jamie Chandler (18th), Stephanie Butzer (20th) and Cori Deutsch (21st).
Also running varsity for the Lady Eagles were:
39. Susannah Hardy
49. Anika Scholz
57. Samantha Rate
60. Monique Rollocks
91. MC Durham

Varsity Boys
Coming off a very narrow victory the previous week at Fulton County, the Eagles were fired up for stronger team and individual performances at this very fast course. As they did in 2006, Milton finished as the runner-up (71 pts.) to the very strong Alexander team (ranked 5th-AAAA) by only 10 points (61 pts.). Milton continued to best Centennial (3rd-119 pts.) and Chattahoochee (4th-124 pts.) and showed they improved from their previous meet result at Fulton County. Leading the Eagles as he has done all season was Tyler Tomy. His runner-up finish was just reward as Tyler kept it close the entire way and led during the race multiple times. Up-front presence again brought Milton a top finish with Seth Tomy (5th) and senior co-captain Christian Scholz (10th). Another incredible, come-from-behind run by Mitchell Foley (22nd), as he passed as many as 70 runners during the race and a terrific performance by Alex Keeter (34th) brought the Eagles home for 2nd. Also running varsity for Milton were:
37. Fraser Reade
39. Ryan Price
42. Brian Parsons
53. Alex Salvatierra
74. Travis Turner

JV Girls
The JV Lady Eagles bounced back after their poor performance a week ago to come away with a well-earned and trophy winning 3rd place (106 pts.) out of a field of 11 schools. The trophy was well-earned as Milton was tied with Centennial after both teams had 5 runners finish. So, to determine the 3rd place team, the finish of the team’s 6th runner would decide the outcome and Milton prevailed as Melissa Tillitski (31st adjusted) outdistanced Centennial’s #6 runner (38th)! The Lady Eagles were beaten the previous week by Centennial and this was a nice redemption for Milton. Senior Maddie Cook was the Lady Eagle’s top finisher (15th). What followed was an outstanding team effort that secured 3rd place for Milton. Katie Winkel (22nd), Audrey Grichting (23rd), Christina Bins (27th) and Rachel Gravelee (29th) were the strong “pack” that led the Lady Eagles to best Centennial. Also running the timed JV race for Milton were:
33. Kathleen Smith
38. Allison Strach
40. Selina Chan
53. Meredith Naylor

JV Boys
After a disappointing 3rd place at Fulton County a week ago, the JV Eagles were also out for a better team finish and some redemption on the teams that bested them a week ago. Milton did not leave anything for chance and dominated the race by WINNING the JV race (47 pts.) easily outdistancing Marist (66 pts.), Centennial (73 pts, who won Fulton County a week ago) and the always strong Parkview squad (107 pts.)!! The Eagles triumphed over a field of 16 schools. Junior Brandon Halls (5th) and sophomore Joe Hogg (6th) were up front the entire race and set the tone for a high Milton finish. Backing them up was the continued great “pack” of Eagle runners (Jody Hirschi-10th, Bryan Pike-12th, John-Britt Easterling-14th and David Hasslinger-17th).
Also running the timed JV race for Milton were:
25. Ryan Thurman
28. Ryan Winkel
34. John Greenwood
35. Travis Schmidt

JV/Open Race
Due to the large amount of entrants in the JV races the meet has a JV/open race at the end of the day for all teams that have more runners that can be accommodated in the earlier races that are contested. No team scores were kept or official results tabulated. Many strong individual performances were recorded by Milton runners and the Eagle top-finishers are listed below:

Boys:
Open Boys
Andrew Funari 19:01
Taylor Earley 19:31
Adam Zucker 19:34
Will Anderson 19:39
Jordan Cleare 19:40
Ryan Guilbault 19:41
Hari Masoor 19:50

Girls:
Open Girls
Mariana Hernandez 24:50
Talie Watzman 24:54
Shannon Sevcik 25:07
Megan Monahan 25:11
Linda Ladaga 25:12
Hannah Coyle 25:18

Milton’s cross country teams experienced huge success and season best performances at this year’s Reebok Coach Wood Invitational. The meet, being run on the region course, was a great chance for the team to run a fast race, in a relaxed setting and get a chance to experience the region course before the meet which will be held Nov 4th. The Gainesville College course is known as a fast one and with the exceptional weather, the Eagle cross country teams took advantage of the conditions and ran to personal and seasonal bests!

The varsity girl’s, led by race WINNER Megan Hirschi, (who defeated the 2003 AA state champion) finished a strong 3rd place out of 26 scoring teams. Contributing to the trophy winning team finish were Sarah Foreman (9th) and Jamie Chandler, running a all-time best in 14th. Also running all-time bests were Laura Randall (36th), Steph Butzer (39th) and the amazing Lauren Newman (21:41 for 45th). Lauren’s time is a now 9 minutes faster than her first meet performance this season!

The varsity boys ran one of their strongest team races of the season and finished 2nd out of 29 scoring teams. Milton’s varsity finished only 3 points from champion Athens Christian, who, earlier in the season had defeated Milton by some 60 points at Berry/Clara Bowl. Christian Scholz again led the Eagles with his 7th place finished followed closely by Tyler Tomy (11th) and the surprising Brian Parsons (14th-and all-time best of 17:32).

The JV Lady Eagles faced a very strong field that included all the Fulton County schools and some strong teams from Gwinnett and finished a respectable 8th place out of 19 teams. Chelsea Weirmiller led Milton with her 29th place finish. She was followed closely by Kelsey Capalong (30th) running an all-time best of 23:06! In one of the more exciting races of the day, a big PR was run by Rachel Graham (23:39) finishing in 49th place. Our top-5 JV girls had an incredible 42 second spread between our first and fifth Milton runners.

The JV boys ran an outstanding team race and backed up their Fulton County Championship with a solid 3rd place out of 27 schools. The JV Eagles defeated strong programs from Lassiter and Parkview on their way to a trophy awarding performance. Brandon Halls led the way with his very strong 7th place finish. An incredible effort was run by Daniel McCormick. Daniel ran an all-time best by about 1 minute to finish 25th and lead a 25th, 27th, 28th and 36th place finishes by the Eagle JV boys. Contributing to a spread of only 43 seconds from our 1st to 5th runners were Josh Witkowski (27th), Thomas Monette (28th) and Will Anderson (36th).

In the Open JV Race (any runner from any school that had not yet run) the boys were led by Jamar Jeter with his top-10 finish. For the ladies, Leslie Crews led the way followed by all-time bests by Katie Winkle and Olivia Tusa.

Next up for the Milton cross country teams is the region meet (11/4) to be held in the afternoon on this same Gainesville College course. This meet will determine the 8 team qualifiers from Region 6-AAAAA (4 boys and 4 girls schools) and any individual runners that finish in the top-6 that are NOT on any of those state qualifying teams.