The Milford Cross Country Girls team has had yet another great start to the season after returning most of their core from last season. Things are looking up for this team as they head back into the season.
They kicked off the season with Team Camp, which is hosted during the summer to help motivate and prepare the team for the upcoming season. The varsity girls team includes seniors: Macy Jenkins, Kerrigan Kennedy, and Ellie Nohovig; juniors: Lauren Bradley and Lily Hardin; sophomores: Jillian Broyles, Madison Cornett, and Addison Sokolowski.
Along with senior Payton Wertz and Freshman Reagan Bradley establishing themselves as key runners for this varsity unit.
The girls started out well at the Milford Invite, with many runners finishing nearly a minute faster than last season. From there the girls continued posting even better times at the Averill Invitational that following weekend; Lauren Bradley and Addison Sokolowski both had a personal record posting of 1 minute. Bradley said she’s “confident in our season and we’re excited for regionals.”
Reagan Bradley even beat her own personal record, running 1 minute and 30 seconds faster than her last race.
The regular season turned out to be a great one, with the Girls Cross Country Team finishing second in the LVC regular season with a 7-1 record, beating out Walled Lake Northern High School. In their first dual meet, they beat South Lyon and Walled Lake Western by a big triumph.
Feeling good about that race, they went into their next dual meet. This time they yet again beat more teams— winning against South Lyon East and Walled Lake Central.
Later, they had a big dual meet against Lakeland and Walled Lake Northern, their biggest rivals. The Cross Country team beat Walled Lake Northern by a good amount, but unfortunately fell to the Lakeland Eagles.
Shortly after, they closed out the regular season sweeping the floor with Waterford Kettering and Waterford Mott.
The team was facing some challenges going into the LVC Conference Meet, where all the teams from the LVC all race against each other at once.
This is one step below the Regional Meet, which is the meet that determines who in our region goes to states. The teams that place in the top three all qualify for the State Finals. All-Region runners (top fifteen) can qualify individually.
This season there have been many injuries inhibiting the team. “There have been many challenges throughout the season. Our team understands that there are no excuses and nothing will be given, everything must be earned. We expect to battle right down to our last meet,” says Milford Girls Cross Country Coach, Brian Salyers.
The girls showed up and competed at the meet, finishing second overall, only falling short to Lakeland. “Overall the Girls Cross Country team has done very well. Almost everyone had a personal best in the race,” said Wertz.
They finished with four All-Conference runners (Senior Kerrigan Kennedy, Junior Lauren Bradley, Sophomore Jillian Broyles, and Sophomore Addison Sokolowski) and had a better showing than they did the prior season.
The Milford Girls Cross Country Team has been battling through adversity all season, and look to overcome that adversity at the upcoming Regional Meet.