Cross Country teams win four of six races to start off the season
August 17th | Apalachee HS, Winder, GA | By Andy Carr
The Milton cross country teams traveled to their first invitational this past weekend and were the dominant program over the 6 races contested at the meet.
Varsity Boys
The second-ranked Eagles wasted no time making their presence known as Milton (1st-26 pts) dispatched 18 schools with four finishers in the top-5 overall places in the race. Old region rival South Forsyth (2nd-83 pts) & fellow-5A school Lakeside-Evans (3rd-135 pts) were way in arrears. Senior captain Justin Sevel (1st-16:11) continued his undefeated season with junior Everett Lawder (2nd-16:24) keeping it close for much of the race. The Eagles locked down the race win with sophomore Will Chambers (4th-16:36) & junior Jayin Batra (5th-16:44) all finishing in the top-5. Senior Aviv Oshri (14th-17:28) ran a stellar race and along with junior Ryan Greathouse (18th-17:36) & senior captain Robert Claypool (23rd-17:40), Milton put all their finishers in the top-20 percent of the race. There were 126 finishers.
Varsity Girls
Milton (3rd-111 pts) turned back 14 scoring schools to earn the final team trophy. Region foe Johns Creek (1st-86 pts) & former rival South Forsyth (2nd95 pts) were just ahead of the Lady Eagles even though Milton had all their runners in the race finish before any other teams! A huge race and 30-second personal best by senior Macy Schadt (2nd-19:27) put the Lady Eagles in a commanding team position. Fellow senior Ella Franke (17th-20:52) steadily moved up into the top-20 and was closely followed by junior Caroline Spain (22nd-22:16). Milton then put their next 4 finishers in only a span of 8-seconds to help push the Lady Eagles to a trophy-winning position. Sophomore Lucie Gallagher (34th-22:13) led this group that included freshman Kenley Sirras (35th-22:14) & fellow sophomores Aarushi Dhawan (36th-22:17) & Rachela Weitzel (39th-22:21). 117 finishers were recorded.
JV Boys
The Eagles faced a tough challenge from South Forsyth (1st-29 pts) but were able to turn back 13 other scoring schools. Milton (2nd-39 pts) kept it close the entire race with the War Eagles. Milton had 3 finishers in the top-10 and all scorers in the top-15 but fell just short of the team win. Leading the Eagle effort was sophomore Tyler Nix (2nd-18:11), senior Tomas Wilhelm (3rd-18:13) & sophomore Logan Bradway (9th-18:44).
JV Girls
Milton (1st-36 pts) took down 11 schools in their come-from-behind team win. Through 1.5 miles, the Lady Eagles were trailing both Johns Creek & Buford but as the race progressed, Milton passed more and more runners to secure the team victory! The Lady Eagles had all their scorers in the top-11 overall places. Freshman sensation Ava Walker (2nd-21:55) was leading most of the race and was passed just at the finish line. Seniors Ashley Murray (6th-22:54), Rowan Katekovich (8th-23:35) & captain Grace Lochman (9th-23:51) along with junior Kaeli Lawder (11th-24:06) passed many runners the entire 2nd half of the race. There were 113 recorded finishers.
Open Races
Girls-Milton (1st-15 pts) scored a perfect 15 points to easily win the race. Sophomore Medhya Sivagenesh (1st-24:34) led the entire race, her first since last-November.
Boys-Milton (1st-36 pts) put 5 finishers in the top-12 to turn back 6 scoring schools. The Eagles were led by junior Braxton Herndon (3rd-19:55).
The Eagles next see action this Saturday at the annual Early Bird/Bob Blastow Invitational in Whitesburg, GA.
