Milton Boys On Fire, Heritage Catoosa Girls Amaze at Pickens Preview
Varsity Boys
As the first high school race got underway Milton runners took to the front and never let go. Sean Parker after missing all of track season with Plantar Fasciitis went out with the back of the Milton group. By mile one Jack Bluth and Connor Cole of Milton were in the lead with Sean Parker of Pickens right behind. After finishing the back of the course and heading through the tunnel towards the two mile, Sean Parker had taken a slight lead, and then separated from there to take the win in 16:45. Milton’s runners were on a roll after that finishing 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 7th to win in 22 points. Zack Driscoll of Cherokee looked strong finishing between the sea of red in 5th place and 17:26. Pickens County took 2nd place with 95 points, Cherokee was 3rd without Taylor Scarborough with 102 points.
Varsity Girls
To start off the girls race, two girls took to the front, Caitlyn Farrell of Cherokee and Amy Ruiz of Milton. Ruiz was coming off a stellar victory at the Milton time trial and was wanting more. Farrell had other ideas as she separated before going back through the tunnel the second time towards Roper Park. As runners came by mile two, the spectators realized the team race had now become really close between Milton and Heritage Catoosa. Emily Poole of HC had made a move from her pack up to the top 3. After Milton’s top two, Heritage seemed to start filling in very fast, showing their depth. As the race wound down Farrell found herself trailing by a late charging Poole who took the 9 second win in 20:32. Ruiz and Juanita Pardo of Milton went 3 and 4 both under 21 minutes. After the dust had settled the Lady Generals proved too strong, with 5 in the top 15. The Eagles put their 5 in the top 20 as they finished second by 16 points behind Heritage. These two teams ran away with the race and proved to be very strong.