Milton HS XC Preview 2013

Milton XC Preview 2013

The Eagles enter this season with great optimism as 59 seniors departed the team from last year. Gone are the likes of Annie Kelly & Nate Riech so finding possible front runners looms big for the Eagles. Taking that aside, the bulk of the team and pack mentality is strong in North Fulton and eventhough neighboring Cambridge has made the Milton Eagles smaller in numbers, the remaining squad is young and full of energy and wants to prove the class of 2013 was not the engine that drove this successful program!

Girls

The Lady Eagles lost 5 of their top-8 from last year’s state 4th place effort (that placing is the best in school history) but return only two seniors in the top-12! A return trip to the state meet and a top-10 finish seem to be the motivation for this very young squad. Top-returner sophomore Riley Burr will lead a young but experienced group of Lady Eagles who will need to work as a team in order to advance from the “region of death” and get to Carrollton. With teams from Walton, Roswell, Woodstock & Etowah, Region 5 will again leave home a possible top-10 state scoring team (in 2012 Woodstock did not qualify after being ranked 6th in the state heading into the region meet).  Along with Burr, senior Abbey Jordan also returns from the state squad with a renewed vigor and solid summer of training. State alternate, junior Hallie Howell will need to step up her aggressive running and lead a team pack that should include fellow juniors Amy Ruiz & Juanita Pardo (with Pardo running in the state meet as a freshman in 2011). Senior co-captain Rachel Cronin and sophomore Victoria Wagner will be expected as well to be with this young group and make the team aspect more dominate as Milton tries to discover it’s front-runner in 2013.

Boys

Milton’s best finish at the state meet since 2000 was last fall but with the departure of 6 of the top-8 from that squad, the Eagles will need to rely on old-fashioned team work and bulk finishes to replace those departed along with discovering their new front runner. Region 5 again boasts strong teams and individual contenders with an always strong Walton team but Etowah looks to be the strongest along with Wheeler. Milton & Roswell look to be the teams fighting for the final state spot. Leading the Eagles will be senior co-captain Kevin McGorrey. After a very successful track season and logging in some good summer miles he is ready to lead this very youthful team. Also returning from the state squad is sophomore Clay Marshall. A very long but successful summer triathlon season has put him in a leadership role with much more experience and the drive to make this team successful. Youth is the theme with this group as the rest of the team is made up of mostly sophomores. Jack Bluth & Matt McGorrey will be in the mix along with John Fravel and finally senior Brendan Kemple, who saw limited action on the top-7  in 2012, but will also be a major contributor to the success of this young Milton squad.

Both squads open their season this Saturday at home in their time trial with BOTH Cambridge & Pinecrest also competing.

Milton will be at full strength on 8/24 at the Pickens County Preview XC Meet, at Roper Park in Jasper, GA.