Milburn and Resavage light up Lawson's Course

The Tallahassee Middle School Open Championship was the last hurrah of the 2014 middle school cross country season in Florida's Capital City. The Holy Comforter Crusaders won the girls' team title, scoring 27 points on their home course in the 23 October 2014 meet. The Crusaders were led by Katherine Resavage, who won the 3K race in 11:28. In the following boys 3K it was all Maclay, with the Marauders putting up a winning score of 18 points while their ace, Clay Milburn, crushed the field with a 9:42.


Racing opened at 4:00 PM that afternoon on Lawson's Course with the middle school girls' 3K. Holy Comforter eighth-grader Katherine Resavage went to the front early, but Emily Molen of Deerlake wasn't far behind. Five days earlier, Molen had finished just a second behind Resavage in a two-mile race at the Aucilla Christian Warrior Cross Country Rampage. Resavage glanced back over her shoulder with a kilometer to go and saw that Molen was again keeping it close; only five seconds separated the the two runners.


Over the last kilometer, though, Resavage expanded that separation. She pulled steadily away from Molen, breaking the race open on her way to an 11:28 win and a new course record. Meanwhile, Maclay runners Kenzie Mazziotta and Lindsay James were gaining on Molen. Molen stayed ahead of them though to take second in 11:46. Mazziotta was third in 11:54 and James fourth in 11:56.


Jainey Coates took fifth for Maclay in 12:13, giving the Marauders a great start on their team score. But then came a big red wave of Crusaders, as Holy Comforter took the next nine places. Resavage, Ella Thames (6th, 12:23), Hannah Hosay (7th, 12:30), Avery Smith (8th, 12:36), and Emma McGibany (9th 13:03) totaled 27 points for Holy Comforter, a mathematically unbeatable score. Maclay was a close second with 32 points, and Cornerstone placed third with 83.


With the win, Resavage and the Crusaders are done racing till the Middle School State Championships in Lakeland on 1 November 2014.


Girls' Team Standings, 2014 Tallahassee Open Middle School XC Championship

1. Holy Comforter, 27
2. Maclay, 32
3. Cornerstone, 83
4. Christ Classical, 102

Top Ten Girls, 2014 Tallahassee Open Middle School XC Championship

1. 11:27.25 ~ Katherine Resavage (Holy Comforter) 8
2. 11:45.94 ~ Emily Molen (Unattached) 7
3. 11:53.72 ~ Kenzie Mazziotta (Maclay) 8
4. 11:55.14 ~ Lindsay James (Maclay) 6
5. 12:12.33 ~ Jainey Coates (Maclay) 9
6. 12:22.11 ~ Ella Thames (Holy Comforter) 8
7. 12:29.94 ~ Hannah Hosay (Holy Comforter) 7
8. 12:35.90 ~ Avery Smith (Holy Comforter) 7
9. 13:02.27 ~ Emma McGibany (Holy Comforter) 8
10. 13:06.57 ~ Elizabeth Calabro (Holy Comforter) 7

Five days before the Tallahassee Middle School Open Championship, Clay Milford had run two races at the Aucilla Christian Warrior Cross-Country Rampage. The Maclay eighth-grader had finished 13th in the high school boys's 5K, running 18:00. Less than two hours later he won the middle school boys' two-mile in 11:24. The meet at Holy Comforter would be comparatively easy for Milford; this time he only had to run one race.


Milford was leading early. James Ford of Holy Comforter and Johnny McClure of Maclay managed to stay close through the first half of the race, but then Milford ran away from them. With a kilometer to go Milford's lead was up to half a minute and growing. He rushed home in 9:41.83, a new course record and the fastest time in Florida so far this season. McClure overtook Ford during the second half to grab second in 10:36. Ford held off a late challenge from Maclay's Kennan Milford to take third, 10:45 to 10:48. Maclay added a fifth-place 10:56 finish from Max Eastman and a sixth-place 11:05 from Jay McDuffie to score a near-perfect 18 points, winning the team title. Holy Comforter was second with 48, and the Falcon Track Club was third with 72 points.


"I'm going to focus on the [Middle School] State Championship," said Milford. "There's a guy from Miami, from Belen Jesuit, who ran the same time that I did at Pre State."


That would be Rodrigo Madiedo of Belen Jesuit Prep. Both Milford and Madiedo ran 17:40 in the Pre State Meet at the FSU Invitational. Both are eighth graders. Both have qualified for the Middle School State Championship.


Middle school cross country may be over in Tallahassee, but outside the Capital City it's not over yet.


Boys' Team Standings, 2014 Tallahassee Open Middle School XC Championship

1. Maclay, 18
2. Holy Comforter, 48
3. Falcon Track Club, 72
4. Christ Classical, 114
5. Imagine, 150

Top Ten Boys, 2014 Tallahassee Open Middle School XC Championship

1. 9:41.83 ~ Clayburn Milford (Maclay) 8
2. 10:35.53 ~ Johnny McClure (Maclay) 7
3. 10:44.52 ~ James Ford (Holy Comforter) 8
4. 10:47.18 ~ Kennan Milford (Maclay) 6
5. 10:55.62 ~ Maxwell Eastman (Maclay) 8
6. 11:04.80 ~ Jay McDuffie (Maclay) 8
7. 11:09.80 ~ Alfredo Paredes (Maclay) 8
8. 11:17.51 ~ Alexander Gilliam (Falcon Track Club) 8
9. 11:18.76 ~ Bryce Valveri (Holy Comforter) 8
10. 11:20.32 ~ Joseph Ashebo (Holy Comforter) 7

Links

• Complete results of the 2014 Tallahassee Open Middle School XC Championship
  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vMM_CYGtw6yRGmTNj_ltfRTxQLC9lhPn-9IE8ZP8PBM/pub
  
  
• More photos of the 2014 Tallahassee Open Middle School XC Championship
  
  • MS Girls 3K: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10105230040633493.1073742030.5215641&l=64bca443d1
    
  • MS Boys 3K: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10105231865027393.1073742031.5215641&l=4a1a0b8f60
    
  
  
• A tour of the 3K route at Lawson's Course via TallahasseeTrails.com
  http://www.tallahasseetrails.com/Cross-Country-Course-Maps/Holy-Comforter-3Km-Course-Tour
  
  
• Find a cross-country race to run yourself on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

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