Charlotte, NC | October 3rd | by Coach Andy Carr
The Eagle cross country teams traveled north to Charlotte, NC, to compete at the 51st running of the Wendy’s Classic meet at McAlpine Park, with many positive results at this multi-state competition.
Girls Varsity
The Lady Eagles faced a strong group of regionally ranked teams and came away with a top-10 team finish in the team’s annual overnight meet. Milton (10th-329 pts) defeated 22 schools, including 7A ranked West Forsyth (16th) and newly crowned Atlanta Public Schools champion Maynard Jackson (23rd).
Securing an individual medal-winning performance, junior Sadie Katekovich (22nd-19:24) once again led the Lady Eagles and was closely followed by junior Lucie Blake (30th-19:39), who raced to a 20-second personal best. Sophomore Sloane Robers (84th-20:48) followed and was backed up by senior captain Ava Kane (94th-21:06) and junior Kenley Sirras (99th-21:11), who passed many in the final stretches of the race. Also running varsity were senior Cara Tenhundfeld (119th-21:37) and junior Audrey Grose (137th-21:57) in a huge personal best.
Girls JV
In one of the largest races of the day, the Lady Eagles dispatched 16 schools as Milton (9th-247 pts) held its own in the team competition. Senior captain Claire Falor (28th-22:48) led the Lady Eagle scorers and was followed closely by the fast-closing junior Ava Walker (31st-22:53). Next to finish for Milton was senior Brynn Kelly (69th-24:18), along with a personal best by freshman Mary Catherine Case (87th-24:51) and sophomore Angelika Stauffer (94th-25:02), also running a personal best, to close out the team scoring. A total of 310 finishers were recorded.
Boys Varsity
In one of the most competitive fields of the season, Milton (18th-434 pts) beat back 11 schools in the championship division of the meet. The Eagles were once again led by senior captain Will Chambers (40th-16:49), as fellow senior Jace Kasteler (75th-17:13) followed in a personal best, finishing right with sophomore Noah Jenkins (76th-17:13)! Freshman William Brown (112th-17:39) was next in a very aggressive race as senior Logan Bradway (139th-18:10) closed out the Milton team scoring. Also running varsity were fellow seniors, including captain Tyler Nix (167th-18:36) and Boston VanBelle (168th-18:38).
Boys Freshman/Sophomore
Milton (5th-207 pts) beat back 31 schools in the meet’s largest race (408 finishers) of the day. Sophomore William Gilbert (7th-17:34) led the way for the Eagles in a medal-winning and personal best performance! Fellow sophomores Chase VanBelle (42nd-19:01) and Luc Souza (52nd-19:08) followed and were backed up by sophomore Evan Scott (59th-19:15) and freshman Zorain Malik (61st-19:18). Both Souza and Malik notched personal best times.
Boys Junior/Senior
In the final race of the meet, the Eagles duplicated their fellow freshman/sophomore teammates, with Milton (5th-135 pts) defeating 11 scoring schools. Junior Leo Faught (18th-18:27) led the Eagles and was supported by fellow juniors Phoenix Vance and Ryder Fogle. Seniors Christopher Chen (55th-19:55) and Knox Anderson (56th-19:57) closed out Milton’s scoring.
The Eagle cross country team’s next race is this Friday night in Jasper, GA, at the annual Pickens and Grinnin’ meet at Roper Park, hosted by Pickens HS.
