Milton Cross Country Records Best Combined Team Finishes At State Meet Seniors Annie Kelly & Nathan Riech Lead Eagles with runner-up finishes! Saturday, November 10, 2012 The Milton High School Cross Country teams concluded their 2012 campaign at the GHSA State Cross Country Championships in Carrollton, GA with the best combined (boy’s & girls) team finish in school history. Varsity Girls The Lady Eagles came into the state meet ranked 3rd and finished an agonizing 4th place, out of 32 schools (147 pts) as they concluded their very successful season. In one of the upsets of the meet, Brookwood (1st-65 pts) took advantage of Walton’s loss of one runner in the race to take the state championship. Walton (2nd-99 pts) was the 2-time defending state champions. The Lady Lions of Peachtree Ridge (3rd-144 pts) edged Milton (as they had done earlier in the season). For the Lady Eagles the podium 4th-place finish matched their 2011 result and equaled the best team finish in school history. Senior captain Annie Kelly made a bid for the individual state championship and ran a gallant effort and finished as the state runner-up (2nd-18:57) in what would be the 2nd-fastest performance of the day over all the classes that competed. Kelly’s result is the best ever recorded at Milton as the Ole Miss signee concluded her senior season losing to only 3 different runners in 10 races competed. Senior captain Maddie Butzer ran a strong and consistent race to finish in the top-30 (28th-20:57) and record her best state meet finish. Senior Blair Gelb again fought off an early side-stitch and moved up thru the last mile of the race to finish a strong 34th (21:05). The Lady Eagles had a great race from freshman sensation Riley Burr (41st-21:19) as she kept the race close matching Peachtree Ridge’s #4 runner. Although getting sick during the race, senior Jacqueline Mahoney fought back gallantly to finish 50th (21:35) to keep the Lady Eagles in the top-3 hunt. Even after falling at the start and getting spiked in the thigh, junior Abbey Jordan re-grouped and raced strong to finish 86th (22:14). Concluding Milton’s podium effort was senior Olivia Koerner (132nd). Varsity Boys Milton ran one of their best races of the season to beat back both teams in their region that had beaten them the previous weekend to finish and exciting 6th (164 pts) out of 32 schools. The Eagles finally got a big win over arch-rival Walton (7th-182 pts) and region runner-up Etowah (11th-307 pts). The Hawks of Mill Creek took the title (87 pts) with Marietta (2nd-102 pts), Brookwood (3rd-124 pts) and Norcross (4th-129 pts) joining them on the podium. In probably his best-run race of the season, senior Nate Riech bided his time, moved-up thru the lead pack and made a huge move during the last uphill section to record a 2nd place finish (16:26)! Riech finished closer to state champion Josh Brickell of Peachtree Ridge (1st-15:55) compared to the last time they raced in early September. Senior Miles Dayoub concluded his career at Milton with an outstanding effort (14th-16:58) finishing less than a second behind the region champion! Senior captain Alex Marshall made it 3 Eagle runners finishing in the top-35 with his 32nd place finish (17:23) and gave the Eagles a chance for a podium finish. Junior Kevin McGorrey fought hard the entire way and finished a solid 61st (17:56) with senior Jammer Howell, passing as many as 15 runners in the last 200 meters, coming in at 70th (18:01) just narrowly missing beating the Region 6 champion! Freshman Clay Marshall (130th) got off to a very slow start and passed many runners in his effort and concluding Milton’s best boys team finish since 2000 was senior Tom Jurgens (145th).

Milton Cross Country Teams Punch Ticket to State Meet Led by Annie Kelly’s second region title, Girls look to be a Podium Contender Boling Park, Canton, Saturday, November 3rd The varsity cross country teams of Milton High School finished 2nd and 3rd respectively for the girls and boys at the GHSA Region 5-AAAAAA championships and easily qualified for the state meet to be held Saturday, November 10th in Carrollton, GA. Varsity Girls In a tough team battle for the 2nd place spot, the Lady Eagles rallied late in the race to secure the runner-up spot (2nd-68 pts) and best Roswell (3rd-83 pts) for the 5th time this season. Walton took the title with 5 finishers in the top-9 spots (1st-32 pts) and along with Etowah (4th-115 pts) secured spots at the state meet. In a virtual repeat of 2011, senior captain Annie Kelly went out hard and never looked back! Pressing the pace from the gun the Ole Miss commitment went wire-to-wire to easily win her 2nd consecutive region title in 18:20, running 10 seconds faster than her race in mid-September on this course. Kelly has lost to only 3 competitors all season long and is a heavy favorite for the individual state title. Senior Blair Gelb fought off a bad side stitch to rally and finish 13th (19:52) and was immediately followed by fellow senior Jacqueline Mahoney (14th-19:55) in a race where she passed more than 2/3rd’s of the field. Senior captain Maddie Butzer followed (18th-20:04) and freshman Riley Burr closed out the scoring (22nd-20:13) for the state meet bound Lady Eagles. Senior Olivia Koerner (26th-20:44) and junior Abbey Jordan (27th-20:49) will also compete for Milton in Carrollton. Varsity Boys In the closest team battle of any region in the state, Milton put 3 runners in the top-9 spots to easily qualify for the state meet but finished an agonizing 3rd place (70 pts). Walton again prevailed by the closest of margins (1st-63 pts) over a well-improved and great team race by Etowah (2nd-68 pts). The Wildcats of Wheeler claimed the final spot to state (4th-77 pts). As he has done all season, senior Nate Riech ran a smart and strategic race and kicked-home strong to finish as the region runner-up (2nd-15:54) and 23 seconds faster than the September race on this course. Running in the back of the top-7 most of the race, Riech started a long push towards the finish about 500 meters out and snagged 2nd place close to the finish line. Riech will contend as well for a podium spot at the state meet as well. Seniors again led the day for Milton as Miles Dayoub (8th-16:24) ran upfront and even led for a while and captain Alex Marshall (9th-16:40) followed as Milton put in it’s case for the team win. But for Milton the gap to their next finisher was too great and with junior Kevin McGorrey (25th-17:20) and senior Jammer Howell (26th-17:20) the scoring was complete. Also running for the Eagles was freshman Brad Bannister (31st-17:40). JV Girls The Lady Eagles claimed the runner-up spot (2nd-41 pts) to a dominate Walton (1st-19 pts) performance. Even with 7 finishers in the top-14, the Lady Raiders took the top-4 positions to win easily. Milton easily dispatched Etowah (3rd-78 pts) and Roswell (4th-119 pts). Sophomore Hallie Howell (5th-20:57) came from far back to record a medal winning finish. Scorers for the Lady Eagles included junior Rachel Cronin (7th-21:02), senior Taela Dudley (8th-21:08), sophomore Juanita Pardo (10th-21:11) and the all-time best of Izzy Brown (11th-21:11) in her last race in a Milton uniform. JV Boys In basically a two-team race, Milton kept it close the entire way and eventually was runner-ups to Walton (30-38 pts) as both schools accounted for 10 runners in the top-12 spots. Etowah was a distant 3rd (68 pts) with Roswell even farther back (4th-128 pts). The Eagles kept it close as senior Justin Thornsberry, running his finest race of the season, closed very well to garner runner-up honors (2nd-17:18) in a season and close to all-time best. Also finishing well were seniors Tom Jurgens (7th-17:29) and Bobby Ashcom (8th-17:34). The final scorers for Milton included senior Ben Blizzard & freshman Clay Marshall in a finish very close to call (both timed in 17:36) in 10th & 11th place.

The Milton Cross Country teams travelled to Tallahassee, Florida for their annual team overnight trip & meet at the Florida State University XC Pre-State and faced their toughest competition of the season and returned with mixed results and some impressive performances. Varsity Boys The first race of the very warm and humid day was the elite invite division for the boys and included every number one ranked team in the state of Florida along with in-state rival Norcross. The Eagles put in some strong efforts but the depth and strength of the 25-team field were a big obstacle and Milton finished a disappointing 16th (379 pts). Belen Jesuit of Miami, the top-ranked 3A school in Florida (1st-100 pts) put on a show and were followed by Norcross (159 pts). Leading the Eagles was senior Nate Riech’s 16:04 performance. His 3rd-fastest time in his career netted a 17th place finish out of 216 runners. Fellow senior Miles Dayoub followed (16:36-44th) along with senior tri-captain Alex Marshall (86th-17:11), freshman Brad Bannister (102nd-17:24) and senior Tom Jurgens (153rd-17:56). Varsity Girls The Lady Eagles came into the race the 3rd seed and finished a strong 9th (263 pts) out of 24 scoring schools. Again, the top-4 all-classification ranked schools in Florida along with nationally-ranked Estero (1st-100 pts) & St Thomas Aquinas (2nd-103 pts) were the teams that dominated the race in very warm and humid conditions at the Apalachee Park course. Senior captain Annie Kelly, facing her toughest field of the season, ran a 18:13 to finish a hard-fought 3rd place out of 204 finishers. Her performance, her 2nd-fastest time of her career bested many state champion contenders from both Florida and Georgia. Maddie Butzer followed (52nd-20:08) along with fellow-senior Jacqueline Mahoney (70th-20:22). A gutsy-effort by senior Blair Gelb (79th-20:31) saw her pass many runners late in the race after stopping to get sick during the race. The surprise of the day for Milton was the performance by freshman Riley Burr. Running in her first varsity race ever, Burr was the Lady Eagles final scorer (83rd-20:38) and her effort was a personal best by close to 30 seconds! JV Boys Running in a race filled with varsity runners from many top-Florida programs, the JV Eagles finished a respectable 19th (448 pts) out of 25 scoring schools in the large school invited division race. Leading the way were the freshman trio of Clay Marshall (72nd-17:44), Jack Bluth (85th-17:59) and John Fravel (93rd-18:05) that set the pace for Milton. Running very strong races and closing out the scorers were sophomore Conner Greisinger (102nd-18:13) and junior Brendan Kemple (106th-18:15). There were 222 finishers in the varsity large school race. JV Girls In the most successful team race of the day, the JV Lady Eagles placed a surprising 5th (163 pts) out of 15 schools in the Large school division race. Even with no runners finishing in the top-25 (115 total runners) Milton had all their scoring runners (5) finish within a 30 second spread to beat 10 varsity schools squads. Leading the way was junior Addie Luxton. Her strong and powerful last mile brought her home 26th (22:36) just one-step in front of sophomore Michelle Pick (27th-22:36). Senior Izzy Brown (33rd-22:47) and freshman Victoria Wagner (35th-22:50) followed. The final scorer for the Lady Eagles was freshman Emily Velez (42nd-23:06). Milton’s cross country teams travels to McIntosh Nature Preserve in southern/western Douglas County Georgia for the ASICS/Alexander Invitation Meet on Oct 13th.

2012 Fulton County Public Schools Cross Country Championships For the first time in over 13 years the Fulton County Public Schools Cross Country Meet was not held at Web Bridge Park in Alpharetta and was hosted at Milton High School and the Eagles found that hosting can be very successful for their team’s performances. Varsity Girls In the closest team race of the day, Milton (ranked 2nd in AAAAAA & 3rd All-Class) survived a scare from the Lady Hornets of Roswell (ranked 5th in AAAAAA & 6th All-Class) by the slimmest of margins 50-56! Roswell had four finishers ahead of Milton’s 3rd BUT Milton countered with all 7 runners to finish ahead of the Lady Hornets 5th and final scoring runner to record their 3rd-straight county title. Centennial (ranked 9th in AAAAAA ) was a distant 3rd with 102 points. Individually the race for the win was a two-way battle between seniors Allie Buchalski of Johns Creek and Annie Kelly of Milton. The two ran side-by-side for over two-miles before Buchalski pulled away for the win and new course record of 19:42 (previous course record was 19:52, set in 2009 by Riverwood’s Bret McDaniel). Kelly ran the 4th-fastest time (20:08) on the course to finish as the runner-up. Roswell’s Peyton Thomas was 3rd in 20:38. Milton’s win came from strong upfront presence and a solid group that all finished in the medals! Senior Maddie Butzer (4th-21:24) gave the Lady Eagles valuable points in the front of the race besting one of the pre-race favorites in Rachel Thorne of Alpharetta (5th-21:29). Senior Jacqueline Mahoney followed in 13th (22:20) with sophomore Amy Ruiz right behind in 14th (22:21). The final scorer for Milton was senior Olivia Koerner (17th-22:39). Senior Blair Gelb (20th-22:43) and junior Abbey Jordan (21st-22:55) closed out Milton’s championship race. Varsity Boys The home course played to the likings for Milton as they were an easy winner over 10 schools with a low point total of 31. Johns Creek (2nd-65 pts) and Centennial (3rd-98 pts followed). The Eagles put 4 runners in the top-6 final positions to roll to their first title after 2 years of being 2nd place to the Raiders of Riverwood. Individually senior Nate Riech took a shot at getting the course record and fell just short (17:33) by 3 seconds! Riech led the Eagles to a 1-2-5-6 finish to easily capture the county championship. Milton senior Miles Dayoub was the races runner-up in a strong time of 18:02, a personal best for him on the course that is rated as one of the toughest in the state of Georgia. Senior captain Alex Marshall was 5th (18:37) after spending most of the nite before the meet in the hospital with a severe allergic reaction to a bee sting he got at practice the afternoon before the meet! Freshman Brad Bannister is making a strong statement as one of the best freshman in Georgia cross country with his 6th place finish (18:44). Closing out the scoring was senior Jammer Howell as he ran 19:09 for 17th. Also helping to secure the county title for Milton were senior Justin Thornsberry (25th-19:38) and junior Brendan Kemple (31st-19:44). JV Girls Just after the first 1000 meters of the race, the Lady Knights of Centennial were in complete control of the race (with 5 runners in the top-10) but the hilly next 4000 meters put a toll on their runners as Milton emerged as the dominate team to easily capture their (at least) 4th in a row JV girls county title over 10 schools! Milton eventually put 8 finishers in the top-11 spots to overwhelmingly win the meet with 26 points. Centennial held on for 2nd (60 pts) with Roswell 3rd (87 pts). Leading from the opening gun, freshman Riley Burr followed up her win at WarPath the weekend before with a victory here. Burr’s 22:35 is 5 minutes faster than her time trial effort on the same course just 4 weeks ago! Sophomore Hallie Howell moved up 10 spots from early in the race to finish 4th (23:06). The Lady Eagles then took spots 6 thru 11 to solidify the win for Milton. Junior Rachel Cronin (6th-23:46), freshman Emily Velez (7th-23:48), junior Addie Luxton (8th-23:48), senior Izzy Brown (9th-23:51) and junior Kim Toscano (10th-23:53) closed out the scoring for the title. JV Boys In the most lop-sided race of the day, the Milton Eagles dispatched 9 schools on their way to 41 point margin of victory over Centennial (19-60). With 8 runners in the top-10, the Eagles captured their 3rd-straight JV boy’s county championship. Johns Creek was 3rd (110 pts). In the largest race of the day (292 finishers), Milton senior Ben Blizzard, who was outside of the top-10 after the first 1500 meters, pushed and worked the next 2000 meters and took the lead just before 2 miles and cruised on for the overall win in 18:52! Blizzard, his first year running cross country for Milton had to contend with Cambridge’s freshman Bjorn Leicher (2nd-19-flat) until the later stages of the race and eventually pulled away. The Eagles then captured the next 7 positions to close out the win. Senior Bobby Ashcom (3rd-19:15) ran an inspired race and was followed by scoring teammates senior Tom Jurgens (4th-19:17), freshman John Fravel (5th-19:17), seniors Zach Bailey (6th-19:25) and Austin Isaac (7th-19:32) and finally the freshman tandem of Clay Marshall (8th-19:33) and Jack Bluth (9th-19:35). Overall Program Award Unique to this meet, the award is given to the school that finishes well with all their teams over the meets four races that are run. Milton was easily able to defend its Best Overall Program Award by winning all four races that were contested. Centennial was a strong 2nd in the standings with runner-ups in both JV races and 3rd place finishes in both varsity races. Johns Creek & Roswell tied for 3rd and Alpharetta was 5th. Milton’s win was their 6th title in the last 9 years (2004-05, 2008, 2010-12).

2012 WarPath Invitational The Milton Cross Country teams travelled to Canton, GA for the annual running of the WarPath Invitational at Boling Park hosted by Cherokee High School, the site of the Region 5-AAAAAA Championships in early-November and came away with 5 decisive victories and maybe one controversial one in this very fast and big early season contest. Varsity Girls The Lady Eagles last ran at Boling in 2010 and came away with an upset victory over the eventual state champion Walton Lady Raiders and 2012 was no different. Milton was the clear winner over 29 schools, including the Lady Raiders (61-85) WITH Roswell a distant 3rd (115 pts). Leading the way for the Lady Eagles was the overall win by Annie Kelly (18:30). Kelly continues to be undefeated this season and her performance was one of the fastest ever run on the Boling Park course. Senior tri-captain Maddie Butzer continued her fine season with solid 6th place (19:33) finishing in front of Walton’s first 2 finishers. Senior Jacqueline Mahoney’s all-time best (19:40) and 6th best all-time in Milton history brought her home 8th. The Lady Eagles had all seven of their finishers in the top-40 (168 runners finished) for the easy victory. Scoring for the Lady Eagles also included senior Blair Gelb (20th-20:07), sophomore Amy Ruiz (26th-20:16), junior Abbey Jordan in a all-time best of 20:27 (34th) and sophomore Juanita Pardo, also in a life time best (20:29-36th). Varsity Boys Milton faced yet another strong field of teams including region foe Walton and AAA power North Hall and as of this writing the final score of the meet is still in doubt. Those 3 teams, along with 26 others, waged a spirited battle throughout the race and it was close all the way through the finish. The Eagles of Milton placed all seven of their runners in front of BOTH North Hall and Walton’s 5th and final runners. A scoring and timing issue was not resolved by the end of the meet so the top-3 teams are still in doubt. Senior Nate Riech led the way with his 5th place finish in 16:17. Taking many turns up in the front Nate was able to make a strong finish to keep him in contention. Senior Miles Dayoub had a very consistent race (16th-16:37) and was backed up by senior tri-captains Ryan Kelly (18th-16:40) and senior Alex Marshall (21st-16:48). Brad Bannister closed out the Eagles with a 16:57 good enough for 29th. The freshman was followed by senior Jammer Howell (37th-17:09) and junior Kevin McGorrey (39th-17:10). JV Girls The Lady Eagles dominated from the start and put all 10 of their runners in the top-40 (184 finishers) to easily defeat 19 schools. Their 41 points easily outdistanced Woodstock (2nd-64 pts) and St Pius (3rd-76 pts). The freshman Riley Burr took the lead from senior teammate Olivia Koerner to record the overall win in 21:02! Koerner (2nd-21:10) led a Lady Eagle scoring group that had 2 more scorers in the top-10. Senior Taela Dudley (8th-21:25), sophomore Hallie Howell (10th-21:29) and junior Addie Luxton (20th-21:51) closed out the scorers on this undefeated Milton team. JV Boys Milton was never headed in their big win here. The Eagles placed all 9 runners that were in the race in the top-20 positions (186 finishers) to record a 36 point win (30-66) over Etowah with Walton a distant 3rd (101 pts)!! Milton was led by the almost win by freshman Clay Marshall. His runner-up run in 17:37 led a slew of Eagles in the top-10! Junior Brendan Kemple (5th-17:53), Ben Blizzard (6th-17:57), senior Justin Thornesberry (8th-17:58) and freshman John Fravel (9th-17:59) followed and put Milton up top. Open Girls The most impressive win came from this race as the Lady Eagles put 5 runners in the top-11 to record a 41 point win over St Pius (28-69) with Centennial another 57 points back (116 pts). Freshman Emily Velez had yet another outstanding effort in her runner-up finish (2nd-22:47) and was followed by sophomore Hayden Estes (4th-23:07) and the surprising Sarah Hoffman (6th-23:33). Seniors Abbey Clear (8th-23:36) & Cheri Rajan (11th-23:49) closed out the scoring for the Eagles. Open Boys While results are still being finalized and scored, the boys of Milton were the resounding winners over about 15 scoring schools. The Eagles went 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 on the way to scoring 16 points (one spot off from a perfect score of 15) to easily win the race. Senior Austin Isaac was the overall winner (time just over 18 minutes) and was followed by sophomore Conner Greisinger. Also in the top-group were Mikey Newell, Preston Meade and Brock Schutt.

Milton Cross Country Teams Finish Well at Covered Bridge Invitational The Eagles of Milton travelled to the friendly confines of Garrard Landing Park in Roswell on Saturday, September 8th to compete in the 3rd Covered Bridge Invitational this past weekend along with 24 other schools including a few top-state championship programs and came away with two runner up finishes and two victories along with many impressive performances. Varsity Girls The Lady Eagles came into the meet at the #4 ranked All-Class team in Georgia (#2 ranked in AAAAAA) and were narrowly defeated by the Lady Lions of Peachtree Ridge (#5 ranked in Georgia and #3 in AAAAAA) 68-73. Host Roswell was 3rd (106 pts) followed by Lakeside-Evans in 4th (144 pts). A total of 21 teams competed. Milton was headed by the overall victory of senior tri-captain Annie Kelly who completed the course in 19:06 to win by over 17 seconds. Kelly has yet to lose a race this season. The race was a see-saw battle with Milton & Peachtree Ridge exchanging the team lead several times as the race progressed. The Lady Lions eventually prevailed but not after some strong performances turned in by the Lady Eagles. Senior tri-captain Maddie Butzer held off both of Peachtree Ridge’s top runners to record a 9th place finish (20:14) and was followed by sophomore Amy Ruiz (15th-21:01) and senior Blair Gelb (20th-21:08). Sophomore Juanita Pardo (28th-21:23) and Junior Abbey Jordan (31st-21:29) rounded out the scorers for Milton in this very close team battle. Varsity Boys The battle continued as the Lions of Peachtree Ridge (#5 ranked All-Class team in Georgia and #3 ranked in AAAAAA) pulled off the upset and defeated the Eagles of Milton (#3 ranked All-Class and #1 ranked in AAAAAA) by the slimmest of margins, 46-49!! Considering the field included 23 scoring teams, this race looked more like a dual meet than a big invitational! The Lions, led by their 1-2 finish (Josh Brickell-15:48 & Kevin Mills-16:30) were the big factor in getting Peachtree Ridge the win. Milton countered by finishing all 5 of its scoring runners first (and in the top-17, out of 210 runners in the field) but it just was not enough. Lakeside-Evans was a distant 3rd (88 pts) and way further back was North Cobb (4th-199 pts)!! The Eagles were led by senior Nathan Riech who kept close to the lions top-2 and eventually held on for 3rd (16:48). Senior Miles Dayoub continued his strong season with 17:21 good for 6th place. Senior tri-captain Ryan Kelly led Milton’s strong pack as he was 10th (17:31). Anchoring the Eagles were freshman sensation Brad Bannister (13th-17:36) and senior tri-captain Alex Marshall (17th-17:41). JV Girls The Lady Eagles continued their Junior Varsity race dominance this season and recorded a convincing 23-point win over the Lions of Peachtree Ridge and 20 other schools to win the race! Milton put its top-3 runners in the top-5 positions overall to secure the win. Freshman Riley Burr contended for the overall win and eventually settled for 3rd in a personal best of 22:41. Juniors Rachel Cronin (4th-22:43) and Addie Luxton (5th-22:44) followed and were supported by sophomore Michelle Pick (11th-23:13) and junior Katie Robinson (16th-23:49) who completed the victory for the Lady Eagles. JV Boys Milton’s depth showed again as the junior varsity boys won convincingly by placing 9 finishers in the top-16 places to record a low point total of 35 in defeating 22 schools! Peachtree Ridge was a distant second (88 pts). Leading the charge for the Eagles was freshman John Fravel’s near win (2nd-18:18) losing the overall race by less than a second! Backing up Fravel was junior Brendan Kemple who led numerous times during the race and eventually finished 6th out of 319 runners in the race. Kemple’s 18:33 led a flurry of Eagle finishers that locked up the meet win as Milton runners took the next 5 finishing positions!! Senior’s Zach Bailey (12th-18:55), Justin Thornsberry (11th-19:09) and Adam Jackson (12th-19:09) bookended freshman Matt McGorrey (9th-19:00) and Jack Bluth (10th-19:07)! Open Girls The Lady Eagles garnered a strong 3rd place out of 8 scoring schools. Milton (74 pts) was led by a trio of sophomores with Mackensey Skouson (9th), Sarah Lesley (13th) and Laurie Xiao (15th) leading the charge as Johns Creek (1st-40 pts) and Pope (2nd-55 pts) just bested the Lady Eagles. Open Boys Milton (2nd-49 pts) lost a close team race with the Greyhounds of Pope (1st-37 pts) even though the Eagles placed 3 finishers in the top-10! 11 teams scored in the race. Brock Schutt led the charge and led a few times in the race to record a solid 4th place finish (20:51) out of 181 finishers. Evan Neenan followed (8th-21:26) along with John Jurgens (10th-21:30).

http://www.northfulton.com/Articles-TOP-STORIES-c-2012-08-31-194882.114126-sub24323.114126-Milton-cross-country-opens-season-with-records-victories.html

Milton Cross Country Opens Their Season with School Records and Team Victories The Eagles of Milton began their 2012 campaign with a tripto Clinton Farms Nature Preserve in Douglasville, GA for the Bob Blastow/EarlyBird Invitational and came away with 4 team victories and a pair of new schoolrecords. Varsity Girls Milton entered the meet as the pre-season #4 rankedAll-Class and #2 ranked AAAAAA team and proved their metal by easilydispatching 14 schools on the way to a dominate victory. The Lady Eagles (64 pts)beat back #5 ranked All-Class Landmark Christian (#1 ranked A-Private, Fairburn)by 39 points. Cross-town rival Centennial finished a distant 3rd (151pts). Senior tri-captain Annie Kelly led the way in big-time fashion. Heroverall win in 17:55 was a new school record by one minute and is one of thefastest times run in the last few years in the entire state of Georgia! Her teammates also ran fast and close tosecure the 1st-place trophy. Senior tri-captain Maddie Butzer (13th-19:30),sophomore Amy Ruiz (14th-19:47) and senior Jacqueline Mahoney (17th-19:56)followed with new top-10 Milton all-time performances and solidified the winfor Milton. Varsity Boys The Eagles also came into the meet highly ranked (4thAll-Class and #2 in AAAAAA) and took on the #1 ranked All-Class team fromMcIntosh (Peachtree City) and came up short by just 15 pts (53-68)! Milton’srunner-up finish out of 16 schools also included an 18 point margin over 7thranked All-Class Woodward Academy (College Park). Leading the way for theEagles was the new school record by Nate Riech. Riech’s 15:46 broke the oldrecord by 30 seconds and was good for 3rd in the race. No Miltonrunner had run a sub-16 minute since 2000! The Eagles then brought home 3runners with top-10 all time performances in school history to snarl the 2nd-placetrophy. Senior Miles Dayoub (8th-16:15), senior tri-captain AlexMarshall (12th-16:25) and freshman Brad Bannister (21st-16:37)all ran personal bests to secure the runner-up spot. JV Girls The Lady Eagles put their 5 scoring runners in the top-15places to easily capture the victory over 20 scoring schools. Milton’s 66 pointmargin of victory (51 pts) easily out-paced John’s Creek (2nd-117pts) and Lassiter (3rd-133 pts). Leading the way for the Lady Eagleswas sophomore Juanita Pardo (3rd-21:07) and was followed bysophomore Hallie Howell (9th-21:32) and senior Olivia Koerner (10th-21:34).Junior’s Kim Toscano (14th-22:09) and Addie Luxton (15th-22:12)rounded out the victory. JV Boys Milton scored a low-point total of 26 points to easily winthe race over 26 scoring schools. 8runners in the top-13 places made the Eagles the easy team champions. Leading the way to a 3,4,5,6 place finish wassenior Jammer Howell in a personal best (17:08). Freshman Clay Marshall foughtoff a serious challenger that was eventually disqualified to capture 4th(17:14). Seniors Tom Jurgens (17:23) and Ben Blizzard (17:30) followed andsenior Bobby Ashcom rounded out the scoring in 8th (17:38). Open Girls/Open Boys The Lady Eagles faced a stiff challenge from John’s Creek inthe girls open race and came up short (47-61) to the Gladiators. 14 scoringteams competed. Leading the way for Milton were freshman Riley Burr (8th-23:20)and junior Katie Robinson (9th-23:36). Milton rebounded and easily won the boy’s open race with a65 point win over runner-up Lakeside-Dekalb (25-90). The Eagles put 6 runners in the top-8 placeswith sophomore Conner Greisinger (3rd-18:14) and freshman Jack Bluth(4th-18:16) at the front.

2011 Milton XC State Meet PRESS PELEASE The 2011 Milton Cross Country teams concluded their season Saturday at the GHSA State Cross Country Championships with some thrilling and school record breaking results. Varsity Boys After a region title last week, their first since 1999, the Eagles had high hopes for a podium finish at the state meet but settled for a solid 8th place finish among 32 qualifying schools. Milton’s 225 pts placed them ahead of all their region rivals and put them close to Collins Hill, Marietta and Peachtree Ridge when all was said and done. In the first podium finish since 2008 and only the 2nd since 2000, Nate Riech led the Eagles with his all time best effort (16:16) and his 7th place finish. Only a junior, Nate’s time missed tying the “new” Milton school record by just 1 second! Asserting themselves early in the race and with a goal to finish in the top-30, junior Ryan Kelly (23rd-16:42) and senior Kegan Baird (30th-16:50) led a tremendous Eagle team that ended up improving 10 spots from the 2010 team finish of 18th! Junior Alex Marshall was next in with a strong last half of the race (55th-17:18). After a big pile-up at the approx 150-200m mark, where almost 40 runners went down or were slowed considerably, Eagle runners were majorly affected and were unable to recover. Finishing 5th for Milton, senior co-captain Chris Blauvelt (118th-18:10) and was followed by junior Justin Thornsberry (136th-18:34) and senior Anthony Machan (190th). The Eagles finish their season as winners of 3 meets, including a region championship, the Coach Wood Invitational and the Bobcat Classic in Gainesville, FL. Varsity Girls A second consecutive region title was just the springboard for the Lady Eagles as they became the first Fulton County girls school/program to grace the podium at the state meet in the AAAAA classification with their well-earned 4th place finish (153 pts). Ranked in the top-10 all season long, Milton was able to reach their season goal with strong front running and having all their scorers finish in the top-50. Making more school history, junior Annie Kelly finished 6th place (19:17) to become the first Lady Eagle EVER to finish in the top-10 at the state meet! Annie finishes her season with a region title and no finishes outside of the top-10 in all her races! Next for Milton was junior Jacqueline Mahoney (30th-20:14) who’s moves in the 2nd half of the race pushed Milton to the podium. Junior Olivia Koerner ran her strongest and most aggressive race of the season with her 34th place finish (20:26). Junior Blair Gelb overcame a mid-race slump and finished strong, passing many Parkview and Lassiter runners to finish 43rd (20:38). Rounding out the scoring for this junior-led team was Maddie Butzer, who’s 20:44 was good for 48th place. Also running for this history-making team were the only senior and lacrosse state champion Amanda Lockwood. Amanda’s 68th place finish in 21:08 was her second fastest time ever run. Freshman Juanita Pardo concluded for the Lady Eagles in finishing 98th in 21:40. The Milton Lady Eagles conclude their season with team wins at the Volunteer Classic, Milton Invite, Fulton County, Coach Wood and Region to go with their history making 4th place podium finish at the state meet.

MILTON XC TEAMS SWEEP 2011 REGION TITLES, HEAD TO STATE MEET!! The Milton High School cross country teams for the 2nd weekend in a row, swept all the scoring races, this time at the GHSA Region 6-AAAAA championship meet at Garrard Landing Park in Alpharetta, GA and qualified for the GHSA State Meet to be held in Carrollton, GA on Saturday, November 5th. Varsity Girls Picking up right where they left off, the Lady Eagles easily captured their 2nd consecutive region crown (33 pts) to again defeat county rivals Roswell (2nd-57 pts), Centennial (3rd-58 pts) and the Wolverines of West Forsyth (4th-110 pts) and qualify for the state meet. With 3 runners in the top-6, the first time in school history, Milton qualified 3 runners individually for the state meet. Led by the overall victory of junior Annie Kelly (19:19), the Lady Eagles will toe the line at Carrollton next weekend. Also qualifying for the state meet individually were juniors Jacqueline Mahoney (4th-19:59, matching her all-time best) and junior Blair Gelb (6th-20:06). Milton put their top-7 runners ahead of Roswell’s 5th runner to garner the repeat victory! Junior Olivia Koerner was next (8th-20:10) followed by senior Amanda Lockwood (14th-20:47, a personal best), junior Maddie Butzer (16th-20:53) and freshman Juanita Pardo (17th-20:53, missing her best by 3 seconds). The Lady Eagles are ranked 6th All-Class and 4th in AAAAA going into the state meet. Varsity Boys After losing the Fulton County Public Schools Championship by 6 points, the Eagles have been undefeated since with wins at Bobcat Classic (FL) and the Nike/Coach Wood Invite and now are region champions for the first time since 1999! With all-5 scorers in the top-8, Milton dominated the meet winning by 40 points over Centennial (24 to 64, and running their fastest team average ever at16:36 for their top-5 runners) who upset previous 8th-ranked Roswell (79 pts) and the Raiders of Alpharetta (118 pts). For the 2nd week in a row, junior Nate Riech led the way and captured the region title in a personal best of 16:22! Riech took the lead with less than 200m remaining and easily pulled away for the win over Kane Davis of Centennial (again, for the 2nd week in a row after losing to him at the Fulton County meet just a month ago). Senior Kegan Baird led the Milton onslaught as he took control early in the race and led to just past the halfway mark but again, like the Lady Eagles, was one of 4 individual state qualifiers with his top-6 finish (4th-16:35, a personal best), a first in Milton school history!! Followed by fellow senior Anthony Machan (5th-16:36, also a personal best) and junior Ryan Kelly (6th-16:38, also a personal best and the same place he finished in 2010 at this meet) the Eagles were firing on all cylinders! The 4th ranked Milton team (in AAAAA and 5th All-Class) was anchored by junior Justin Thornsberry (14th-17:19) and senior co-captain Chris Blauvelt (17th-17:25, also a personal best). The region title after an 11 year drought was sweet for the Eagles as they also head to Carrollton and the state meet as one of the favorites to grace the podium on November 5th. JV Girls Finally duplicating their JV teammates, the JV Lady Eagles pulled that miracle of the sport and PERFECT SCORED their race and defeated 6 teams in the process. Their 15 points, only the 2nd time in school history but twice in one season (the JV boys scored a perfect 15 at the Volunteer Classic in TN in early September) was a cap to a perfect season where the team was undefeated in 7 meets it contested. Soundly beaten Roswell (50 pts) followed. Freshman Amy Ruiz led the charge with the overall win (21:19) to barely edge out senior Alyssa Strom (21:19). The remainder of the scoring for Milton included freshman Meagan Thistleton (3rd-21:26), freshman Hallie Howell (4th-21:30, a personal best) and senior Sarah Williamson (5th-21:31, after being hit by a loose dog and falling 2 times). JV Boys Showing the reason they had not lost a meet all season, the JV Eagles placed their 5 scoring runners in the top-10 places, to defeat 6 other teams and scored only 36 pts to close out their campaign of excellence! As far back as 12th with a little more than a mile to go, junior Jammer Howell made a late-race charge and fell just short, losing by 1-second (2nd -17:34) while running an all-time best effort. Milton then took spots 7-10 and 12 & 13th and 15th through 17th to easily win their 4th race of the meet. Following Howell, sophomore Kevin McGorrey followed (7th-17:52), then senior Brent Neal (17:52), Junior Tom Jurgens (9th-17:55) and senior Andy Holben (10th-18-Flat). -- Andy Carr Registrar/Office Coordinator Atlanta Track Club Community XC & T&F Coach Milton High School

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