Led by the second place team finishes of the Varsity & JV Girls and JV Boys squads, the Eagles captured their 2nd Wingfoot Cup Trophy
By Andy Carr – Cartersville, GA/Sam Smith Park – 9/24/16
Led by the top-ranked Georgia Varsity girls runner-up finish to the #2 nationally ranked Saratoga Springs squad, Milton captured their 2nd consecutive Wingfoot Cup trophy at the Atlanta Track Club’s Wingfoot Classic Cross Country Meet held for the 2nd time at Sam Smith Park in Cartersville, GA.
Varsity Girls
The Lady Eagles (2nd-106 pts) started the meet off with a runner-up finish to #2 Nationally-ranked Saratoga Springs (1st-51 pts). Milton (ranked 1st-All-Class) topped 18 scoring schools and defeated region-foe South Forsyth (3rd-111 pts) and Landmark Christian (4th-130 pts).
Moving her way through the field, senior captain Marie Repasy (10th-18:57) led the effort for the Lady Eagles. Freshman Faith Bobak (18th-19:11) moved along with Repasy and finished in the top-20. Bobak’s personal best put her 6th on the Milton all-time performers list! Two more finishers in the top 30, freshman Abby Rindt (26th-19:31) & sophomore Taylor Cushman (28th-19:37) pushed the Lady Eagles and junior Emily Bowers (49th-20:28) closed the door on a 2nd place team finish. Senior Brooke Aumer (51st-20:37) and sophomore Faith Wagner (62nd-20:46) contributed to the team performance.
Varsity Boys
In a very evenly matched field, Milton (3rd-144 pts) bested 16 scoring schools. The 3rd-ranked Eagles were close to the top-spot the entire race but succumbed to a surprising performance by county rival Blessed Trinity (1st-134 pts) and 6A power Alexander (2nd-140 pts). As he has done all season, junior Sam Bowers (2nd-15:40) moved up through the field the entire race and down the final stretch outkicked some strong runners to garner runner-up honors. Fellow juniors Michael Malkowski (13th-16:11) & Ryan Beitzell (26th-16:34) put the Eagles in a up-front position as fellow junior Dru Milton (52nd-17:04) ran to a big personal best. Milton’s final scorer was senior Valera Stettner (59th-17:10). Also running varsity were junior Cam Harman (83rd-17:35) & senior captain Joey Brovont (84th-17:36).
JV Girls
Facing the mighty juggernaut of Saratoga Springs (1st-24 pts), the Lady Eagles (2nd-88 pts) held their own and defeated 36 scoring schools! With all 5 scoring runners in the top-27 and 4 in the top-20, Milton outdistanced Marist (3rd-114 pts) & Brookwood (4th-150 pts). Junior Jessie Barnes (8th) continued her very successful season to again lead the Lady Eagles. Fellow junior Chloe Sluss (15th), senior Capri Ligon (18th), freshman Kelly Scott (20th) & senior Fernanda Bonilla (27th) completed the Milton scoring. There were 412 recorded finishers.
JV Boys
In the final race to determine the Wingfoot Cup Champions, Milton (2nd-54 pts) used a 13-second spread between their 5-scorers to snag the 2nd-place position. Region foe South Forsyth (1st-26 pts) again bested the Eagles but by not as far as a margin as in the past 2 losses. Milton was ahead of 34 schools including Blessed Trinity (3rd-74 pts) who beat the Eagles just a week ago and Pope (4th-173 pts). Junior Andrew Blizzard (5th) led a very tight group of Eagle finishers as seniors Jake Vernon (6th) & Paul Rose (9th) put three runners in the top-10. Sophomore Will Newell (12th) and senior Pierce Baker (24th) concluded the Milton effort.
Open Girls
With 5 finishers in the top-12, the Lady Eagles (1st-40 pts) held off a big challenge from Marist (2nd-44 pts) to top 27 scoring schools! Senior Alyssa Milton (3rd) and sophomore Erin Degnan (4th) led the Milton team victory!
Open Boys
Milton (1st-26 pts) concluded their Wingfoot Cup campaign as the Eagles bested 35 scoring schools! West Forsyth (2nd-80 pts) was the next closest. The overall win by sophomore Anish Gupta (1st) followed by junior Hayden Fravel (3rd) led 5 Eagle runners finishing in the top-10 positions. In the largest race of the day, there were 507 finishers.
Wingfoot Cup
The Wingfoot Cup is awarded to the school that earns the most points for championship varsity and junior varsity teams placing in their respective races. Taking home the title for the second year was Milton High School with 392 points. Milton’s harriers once again received the championship trophy and will be featured on the November/December cover of Atlanta Track Club’s Wingfoot magazine. The team celebrated with a dance party at the awards stage with other participants.
The Milton cross country teams next race on October 8th at the Gene Mullin/Furman Invitational on the Furman University campus in Greenville, SC.
