Milford was the victor among the guys and gals at the Eagles’ own annual cross country invitational.

Among the boys, Milford tallied 20 points, St. Xavier 70, Middletown 77, McNicholas 156, Fairfield 177, Taylor 182, Mariemont 210, Madeira 217, St. Bernard 223, Cincinnati Country Day 238, Indian Hill 241, Northwest 272, Seven Hills 354, and Clark Montessori 383.

Milford senior Nathan Bullock was the individual champion over the 3.1-mile course in a time of 17-minutes, 20-seconds, Matthew Belliston was third 17:35, Aaron Ball, fourth, 17:35, Robert Dearhammer, fifth, 17:56, Austin Bever, seventh, 18:09, and Mark Bayman, eighth, 18:18.

Among the girls, Milford ran for 49 points, McNicholas 59, Fairfield 84, Indian Hill 96, Middletown 147, Taylor 165, Mariemont 176, Cincinnati Country Day 194, Madeira 234, and Northwest 298.

Burnette of Fairfield was the individual winner in 20:29. Senior Courtney Krummert was the E-Gals’ pacesetter with her third place clocking of 21:03. Her teammate’s places and times were Lacee Kurtz, fifth, 21:11, Rabekkah Randall, ninth, 21:38, Sammi Martin, 12th, 21:59, Laurin McClure, 22:25, April Myers, 31st, 23:33, and Jessica Bloomer, 32nd, 23:35.

In the open race, Eagles won both divisions. Chad Hirschauer was the male winner in 19:08 and Katie Lewis was the female winner in 24:11.

“This is the best team we’ve had in seven years,” said Eagle boys coach Dave Ackerman, himself a former distance star at MHS. “We have a great natural mix of talent combined with a good work ethic.”

The Red and White consists of three seniors, three juniors, six sophomores, and two freshmen.

Milford’s one-two punch is senior Nathan Bullock and junior Matt Belliston.

“We’ve got a good opportunity to win the conference, but we have to catch Sycamore. They’re the favorite. They have the top two runners. I hope our five guys get in before their fourth and fifth runners. If we do we can win the conference.”

Last year the Eagles placed third in the Greater Miami Conference (GMC) after several years of seventh and eighth place GMC finishes. “Our goal is to win. Second would be an improvement, but a disappointment. We also have a goal of qualifying as a team for the regionals for the first time in many years.

“As we move into the (Fort Ancient Valley Conference) we hope to be a challenge next year. There are some good programs in the FAVC.”

Amelia was the pace setter for Clermont County varsity teams in the annual Bethel-Tate Cross Country Invitational. In addition to the Barons’ success, Glen Este sophomore Stephanie Stoffel established a new Trojan record with her winning time of 19:35 over the 3.1-mile course. Her clocking broke the mark set by her coach and cousin Angie Cooper. Cooper twice recorded a time of 19:58 in 1985 at the Eastern Hills League meet and the Division I district.

“It’s neat. I got the chills when she broke the record,” said Cooper with a big smile. “Before the meet Stephanie said ‘the record was going down’ and I told her she’d have to walk home if it happened.”

“I’m pretty much proud,” said Stoffel. “It felt pretty good beating the record.”

The boys varsity final score was Oak Hills 38, Walton Verona (Ky.) 100, Georgetown 129, Amelia 134, Goshen 157, Eastern 178, Glen Este 180, Fayetteville 189, New Richmond 191, Western Brown 192, Norwood 268, and Felicity 294. The host Tigers, Batavia, Clermont Northeastern, East Clinton, Finneytown, and Reading did not fill full five-man teams.

New Richmond’s Eric Finan was once again at the head of the pack with a time of 15:56, which established a new course record. Clermont countians rounding out the top 20 were Amelia’s Adam Sprague (6) 17:10, GE’s CJ Pickelheimer (10) 17:18, Amelia’s Daniel Deweese (11) 17:29, GE’s Daniel Wulker (14) 17:52, Goshen’s Cody Monk (15) 17:59, and Amelia’s Josh Herrel (20) 18:12. Bethel-Tate’s Louie Schaljo paced his team finishing 29th in 18:42, Felicity’s Justin Keltch was 42nd in 19:08, Nathan Braswell bested Batavia in 19:43, and Tim Christie did likewise for CNE in 22:59. More than 125 harriers competed.

In the varsity girls division St. Ursula scored 35 points, Walton Verona 61, Western Brown 88, St. Ursula “B” 119, Amelia 162, Glen Este 177, Fayetteville 182, New Richmond 189, Eastern 208, and Reading 256. Batavia, Bethel-Tate, Clermont Northeastern, Finneytown, Georgetown, Goshen, and Norwood did not field complete five-person teams.

Stoffel was the individual champion. Clermont countians rounding out the first 20 were New Richmond’s Alana Kennedy (3) 20:20 and Amelia’s Kayla Wakefield (10) 20:59. Jessia Fischer was Bethel-Tate’s best finisher (47) 23:21, Savannah Sullivan was Goshen’s leader in 25:31, Lora Faris paced Batavia in 27:29, and Denise Marlar was in the forefront for CNE in 28:25. More than 110 runners competed.