Top-ranked boys team are easy winners as girls are runners-up
10/21/17 – Canton, GA – By Andy Carr (Photos by Angie Butzow)
The Milton Cross Country teams are headed back to the state championship meet with the boys team capturing their third title in the last four years and the girls team finishing second to the defending state champions.
VARSITY BOYS
Milton (1st-22 pts) wasted little time in taking command of the race as the Eagles (ranked 9th in USA) bested 11 schools in winning their third title in the last four years. Walton (2nd-90 pts) and defending state champions Lambert (3rd-99 pts) trailed. Seniors Sam Bowers (1st-15:10) and Nicholas Yanek (2nd-15:15) took control of the race early and were never challenged, as the duo broke the known course record on the Boling Park layout that has seen many top-level meets at this historic venue. Bowers separated from Yanek in the 3rd mile to defend his Area/region title. Milton was able to put their top-6 runners in the top-11 to automatically qualify for the state meet as seniors Michael Malkowski (4th-15:30), Dru Milton (7th-15:51) and Ryan Beitzell (8th-16:02) closed out the team scoring. Junior Luke Bonneville (11th-16:10) was also a auto-qualifier for the state meet and the final Eagle runner, freshman Hayden Marshall (15th-16:14) ran to a personal best for one of the top teams in the country.
VARSITY GIRLS
The three-time defending champion Lady Eagles of Milton (2nd-60 pts) ran up against a tough squad from South Forsyth (1st-30 pts), but still dispatched ten schools to qualify for the state meet championships. Walton (3rd-92 pts) & Lambert (4th-131 pts) followed. Running in the top ten the entire race, junior Taylor Cushman (7th-18:56) ran a personal best to become a three-time state qualifier. Milton used a strong pack of three that all finished in the top-12 and qualify individually for the state meet to garner runner-up honors to the defending state champions. This group included sophomore Abby Rindt (10th-19:08), senior Annie Gallagher (11th-19:09) and junior Faith Wagner (12th-19:10). Senior captain Emily Bowers (20th-19:43) concluded the scoring for the Lady Eagles fellow senior Adriana Christensen (23rd-19:46) ran to close to a 50-second personal best! Gallagher and Wagner now become the 8th and 9th fastest performers in Milton history.
JV BOYS
Milton (1st-17 pts) used a big upfront presence in their race to overwhelm 10 scoring schools and recapture the title. Walton (2nd-53 pts) & defending champions South Forsyth (3rd-56 pts) were far in arears. By putting all five scorers in the top six overall positions, the Eagles were the dominant team. Going 1-2-3 in the race were overall champion junior Gary Halverson (1st-16:28), senior Camden Harman (2nd-16:43) and senior captain Andrew Blizzard (3rd-16:46) followed by junior Anish Gupta (5th-16:50) and senior Austin Mueller (5th-16:53).
JV GIRLS
The Lady Eagles fought hard against their region rivals and Milton (3rd-73 pts) finished tied for 2nd but lost the tie-breaker on the better 6th runner from each school. South Forsyth (1st-44 pts) and West Forsyth (2nd-73 pts) led the Lady Eagles as Milton still dispatched 7 scoring schools. Leading the Lady Eagle effort were juniors Maddie Erbey (6th-20:33) & Samantha Lenox (8th-20:48), sophomore Maggie Gibson (11th-20:58) & freshman Audrey Nichols (15th-21:04).
OPEN BOYS
Milton (2nd-58 pts) held their own with all 5 scorers finishing in the top-20. South Forsyth (1st-27 pts) bested the Eagles with Milton beating 9 schools. Senior Eric Franklin (3rd-18:13) was Milton’s top-finisher in the 247-finisher race.
OPEN GIRLS
The Lady Eagles again garnered another runner-up finish as Milton (2nd-45 pts) dispatched 6 scoring programs. West Forsyth (1st-20 pts) was the team winner. Sophomore Katy Dickinson (4th-21:56) ran a outstanding race to achieve a medal-winning spot. Junior Claire Buchanan (7th-22:26) & sophomore Claire Chojnacki (10th-22:28) as were podium finishers for the Lady Eagles.
