But, overall, the Sarnian team were far too strong, both individually and in the team competition.
McGarry’s victory came despite slipping and falling in a stream on the second of the three-lap race.
And the highly promising Milner and her Jersey team mate Felicity Johnson-Deeley finished a comfortable 1-2 in front of the Guernsey opposition.
It was a performance which will stand Milner in good stead.
The Beaulieu pupil came second in the county trials last month and has now been selected to run for Hampshire in the inter-counties age group cross-country championships in Nottingham on Saturday.
There was also joy for Toby Edwards who won the under-15 boys race over three miles.
Gary Broster won the men’s vets race and his team took the title while Jersey’s super vets teams both won – although the ladies did it by default because Guernsey had an incomplete team.
Peter Le Couilliard was another winner as he eased his way across the finish line in first place for the men’s team.
However, after that, the Island was scratching around for anyone to finish high up the order and win points towards the team events.
Jersey lost both of the senior team races and, McGarry’s triumph apart, were well beaten in most age groups.
At under-17 and under-15 level the only winner was Edwards while Tom Brown’s chances of finishing in the first three in this age group weren’t helped when he ‘spiked’ his shoe early on and ran the rest of the distance with one shoe on, one off.
But, as the juniors’ manager Paul Raimbault explained afterwards: ‘Most of our team were far younger than the Guernsey runners, so I was encouraged by their performance.
‘We’re building; but we’ve still got a lot of work to do.’ The U13s ran three loops of about a mile long from Foote’s Lane; the under-15s and under-17s three laps; the ladies’ course consisted of three long laps and the senior men ran five laps in muddy conditions, especially running through the trees.
Jersey Spartan are sponsored by Royal Bank of Canada.
Nicola Milner has the support of Carey Olsen for her trip to Hampshire this weekend.
