Milton Wins 5th Consecutive Eagle Cup
Eagle cross country teams rally at home invitational
Milton, GA | September 12th | By Coach Andy Carr
On a rainy and muddy home course, the Milton cross country teams hosted 24 schools in the 13th edition of their home invitational and again captured the Eagle Cup trophy.
Varsity Boys
In the last race of the day, Milton (2nd-91 pts) was able to defeat 11 schools to help capture the overall meet title. The Eagles were led by sophomore Noah Jenkins (5th-17:39), who ran an inspiring race to stay near the front for the entire contest. Jenkins ran to a 90-second course personal best! Freshman William Brown (13th-18:51) led a group of Milton finishers that included senior Jace Kasteler (16th-19:04), sophomore William Gilbert (25th-19:24) and senior Logan Bradway (32nd-19:37). Also running for the Eagles were senior Boston VanBelle (48th-20:12), junior Phoenix Vance (49th-20:16), sophomore Chase VanBelle (52nd-20:18) and senior captain Tyler Nix (55th-20:27).
Varsity Girls
Continuing their undefeated season, the Lady Eagles easily dispatched 10 schools to cruise to the easy victory. Milton (1st-41 pts) was the clear winner ahead of Lakeside-Dekalb (2nd-80 pts) and 6A rival Chamblee (3rd-109 pts). The Lady Eagles put their five scoring runners in the top-12 overall finishing positions to help lead Milton to the Eagle Cup victory. Freshman Maisie Wilderspin (4th-21:47) led the charge as junior Lucie Blake (5th-22:16) closely followed. Milton then had three finishers in the next 11 seconds (junior Sadie Katekovich 9th-22:39, senior captain Ava Kane 11th-22:45 and junior Kenley Sirras 12th-22:50) to secure the title! Impressive runs by senior Cara Tenhundfeld (24th-23:45), junior Audrey Grose (26th-23:56) and junior Liv Becker (35th-24:51) closed out the victorious team effort.
JV Boys
Milton (3rd-82 pts) was in a close team race the entire way with eventual winners Cambridge (1st-66 pts) and Chamblee (2nd-66 pts) while besting nine schools. The team place proved vital towards the Eagle Cup win. The Eagles were led by sophomore Luc Souza (11th-20:58), freshman Evan Scott (13th-21:01), junior Brayden Walker (18th-21:11), sophomore Philip Jakubecy (20th-21:20) and senior Knox Anderson (26th-21:33).
JV Girls
The Lady Eagles employed a “go out slow and work your way up” strategy to garner runner-up honors in the nine-team field. Milton (2nd-77 pts) was led by junior Ava Walker (5th-24:53), who moved up 25 spots over the course of the race after the first mile. Senior Brynn Kelly (13th-26:02) followed and was supported by junior Sienna Perl (17th-26:45), senior Rachela Weitzel (21st-27:10) and freshman Mia Stauffer (25th-27:41).
Open Races
Boys: Milton (1st-30 pts) started off the meet with the overall win over six schools. Zorain Malik (3rd-21:43) led the Eagles.
Girls: Milton (3rd-71 pts) beat back two teams and was led by senior Emily Chambliss (3rd-26:21).
Eagle Cup
Unique to this meet, the Eagle Cup is awarded to the school that performs well in all the races in the entire meet. Milton (1st-13 pts) retained the Cup for the 5th consecutive year, edging out 7A power Lakeside-Dekalb (2nd-11 pts) and Chamblee (3rd-7 pts).
The Milton cross country teams next see action at the 12th Wingfoot Cross Country Classic meet at Sam Smith Park in Carterville, GA, on Saturday, September 19th. Milton is the only program to win this meet three times and is one of only three schools to have attended all the editions of this meet that have been held.
