When
Chris Kenton was just a freshmen in high school, he went before the Milford
School Board to request that the high school start a cross country program.
The following year the high school had an opening for a social studies
teacher, and Joe MacDonald was hired provided that he coach cross country.
And thus, in 1984, Milford High School’s cross country program was restarted;
Milford did not have a program since the late 1970’s. The first season
was somewhat of a success with the limited number of runners who had come
out. The team did not have a home course that first year, so all
of the meets had to be scheduled away. Nevertheless, the team defeated
Seaford, Laurel, and Sussex Central to finish the season with a record
of three wins, six loses.
Among
the runners to come out the first year was freshmen Chris Ayres who quickly
became a Milford cross country legend. His first season was highlighted
by tenth place finishes at the Salisbury and Salesianum Invitationals and
an incredible seventh place finish at the Henlopen Conference meet after
pulling his hamstring ten yards from the finish. Chris still holds
the school record for a 5K performance: 16:34 recorded on November 8, 1986
at Killens’ Pond State Park for the Henlopen Conference meet. This
time was recorded when Chris was a junior; he did not run his senior year.
Milford
made a dramatic improvement in its second year. They captured six
wins and suffered only three loses. They found a home course in Woodshaven,
which was just across the highway from the school. Many runners thought
the course was a little repetitious, but at least it was home. It
would remain the home course until the infamous Icestorm of 1995 made the
trails unrunable. In 1996 the team was forced to make a course around
the other sports fields of the high school, and every year since then the
team has had to redesign a course around the ever changing high school
campus.
Many
may remember Milford’s third year, 1986, the year that Milford won the
Division II State Title. Chris Ayres was state champion. Unfortunately,
the team could only celebrate for about an hour. Delaware Secondary
School Athletic Association (DSSAA) rules state clearly that each team
is permitted only seven runners in the state meet, and Milford ran eight
runners that day. Several coaches from other schools formed an impromptu
committee; Lake Forest coach Jim Blades abstained even though he was running
the state meet that day. After a few minutes of discussion,
Lake Forest was crowned Division II State Champions. That was
the closest Milford had ever come to winning a state championship.
The
only runner to come close to Chris Ayres’ school record was Pat O’Boyle.
He ran a 16:57 his sophomore year (1988) at Silver Lake. He must
have been an excellent runner and an excellent leader though because he
was a team captain of the cross country squad all four years of his high
school career. In 1989 he led the team to the Henlopen Conference
Title.
In
1992 girls’ cross country was introduced for the first time in the school’s
history. Within two years they won the Henlopen Conference
Title and placed second in the state meet. The girls’ team had many
talented runners that year which included freshmen Melody Rudd. A
girl who seemed born to run, Melody quickly became Delaware’s running sensation.
Melody graduated in 1998 and she still has virtually every girls’ distance
record both in cross country and spring track. Her personal best
in cross country was a 19:42 recorded her sophomore year (1995) at the
Kent County Meet held at Smyrna High School. As much as we all love
Melody Rudd, Milford now has a new runner who has broken just about all
of her records, both in cross country and track. Her name is Jessi
Rivera and she will be a junior this coming cross country season (1999).
She has continued to improve every season, and she should continue to her
own records.
Past Coaches
Richard Douglas
1970s
Joe MacDonald
1984-1994
Gus Walker
1995-1997
Czar Bloom
1998+