Milton cross country qualifies both girls and boys teams.
Foxhall Equestrian Resort | Douglasville, GA | By Coach Andy Carr
This past Saturday, the Eagles once again headed to the GHSA 6A Sectionals meet and came away with another region title, with both boys and girls squads again qualifying for the state championship meet.
Varsity Boys
Not expected to be in the top-eight finishing teams in the sectionals, Milton (5th-192 pts) dispatched 23 scoring 6A schools to once again qualify for the state championship meet. In doing so, the Eagles captured their 3rd consecutive region championship (Milton 1st-57 pts)! This will be the Eagles’ 21st trip to the state championship in the last 24 years! And as he has done all season long, senior captain Will Chambers (11th-16:06), in a season’s best, led Milton as he individually qualified for the state meet while finishing just outside the top-10, and was the 2nd region finisher. Strong finishes by sophomore Noah Jenkins (34th-16:36) and senior Jace Kasteler (38th-16:43) pushed the Eagles, along with the tight placing of Milton freshman William Brown (56th-17:03) and sophomore William Gilbert (57th-17:05), to the region title and top-five team finish. Also figuring in the scoring were fellow seniors Logan Bradway (62nd-17:16) and Boston Van Belle (83rd-17:37). Brown, Gilbert and Bradway all recorded personal best performances.
Varsity Girls
In a close race with region foe Johns Creek (1st-59 pts), the Eagles raced to a runner-up finish, beating 22 schools. Milton (2nd-104 pts) was in contention the entire way and in doing so also finished as runners-up in the region (33-49), falling only to the Lady Gladiators. The Lady Eagles have been region champions or runners-up the last four years in a row! By placing 2nd in the sectional, Milton has now qualified for the state meet for the last 13 straight years and 22 of the last 24 years! Junior Sadie Katekovich (8th-19:21) again qualified individually for the state meet to lead the Lady Eagles as she has done all season. Freshman Maisie Wilderspin (9th-19:24) recorded a personal best in also individually qualifying for the state meet. Junior Lucie Blake (25th-20:03) and sophomore Sloane Robers (28th-20:07) supported Milton’s top-two finishers, and then junior Kenley Sirras (34th-20:20) recorded a personal best in closing out the scoring for the Lady Eagles. Senior captain Ava Kane (41st-20:33) and junior Audrey Grose (46th-20:42) were Milton’s final finishers, besting many schools’ top-five scoring runners.
JV Boys
In a close battle with Lakeside-DeKalb (2nd-67 pts), the Eagles were able to turn back 14 schools to take the meet victory! Milton (1st-59 pts) put their top-four finishers in the top-11 to get the meet win. Senior captain Tyler Nix (4th-17:49) used a strong kick at the finish to just beat out Lakeside’s #3 runner and lead the Eagles. Scorers included juniors Leo Faught (8th-18:00), Ryder Fogle (9th-18:06), in a personal best, and Phoenix Vance (12th-18:14), also in a personal best, along with freshman Grayson Free (31st-18:45) in another personal best. Also running were senior Christopher Chen (38th-18:58) and early leader sophomore Chase VanBelle (59th-19:24).
JV Girls
In a “de facto” state JV meet (both sections of JV girls merged into one race), Milton (3rd-70 pts) was able to outdistance 18 scoring schools. Senior Cara Tenhundfeld (2nd-20:48) ran to a huge personal best and led numerous times in the last mile to finish as the runner-up. In another personal best, junior Liv Becker (7th-21:35) moved up steadily the entire race and was followed by senior captain Claire Falor (15th-22:03) to score valuable team points for the Lady Eagles. Closing out her career at Milton, senior Rachela Weitzel (19th-22:26) was next, and fellow senior Brynn Kelley (28th-22:33) closed out the team scoring in an all-time personal best to finish her career as a Lady Eagle. Juniors Ava Walker (38th-22:42) and Sienna Perl (54th-23:27) were Milton’s final two finishers, with Perl notching a personal best performance.
Next up for the Milton cross country teams is the GHSA 6A State Meet on Saturday, November 7th at Carrollton Elementary School in Carrollton, GA, where the Eagles will face 23 schools with the top-four finishing teams earning a state trophy.
