Junior Varsity Girls are tops as Milton runs in their largest meet of the season
By Andy Carr – Sept 22 – Cartersville, GA
Hosted by the Atlanta Track Club, the 4th edition of the Wingfoot Cross Country Classic was the largest meet of the season for the Eagles. Held at the course at Sam Smith Park in very high heat and humid conditions, Milton came away with a mixed bag of results and some very strong performances on the girl’s side. The Eagles were the 3-time defending and only Wingfoot Cup Champions going into this year’s meet. Milton’s varsity teams were only able to score 2-points towards the Wingfoot Cup and saw South Forsyth (3rd in both the Varsity Girls and Boy’s races) War Eagles capture the Cup only one week after winning the Eagle Cup at the Milton Invitational.
Varsity Girls
The Lady Eagles finished as the 3rd 7A-class school but newly 3rd-ranked Milton (6th-235 pts) bested 28 schools to finish 6th in the field of championship division teams. The Lady Eagles were led by 3 finishers in the top-40 in a field of 244 starters. Junior Nyah Hernandez (19th-19:25), senior Taylor Cushman (26th-19:35) and junior Abby Rindt (40th-19:52) were Milton’s top-finishers. Also running varsity were senior co-captain Faith Wagner (78th-20:54), sophomore Audrey Nichols (93rd-21:07), senior co-captain Samantha Lenox (107th-21:21) and senior Maddie Erbey (172nd-22:24).
JV Girls
Milton (4th-170 pts) just missed a trophy by 16 points to finish 4th in a field of 31 schools! The Lady Eagles were the top-team of the day for Milton in all the races the Eagles competed in. Junior Maggie Gibson (21st-21:51) led the team effort and was backed-up by strong group of finishers led by first-year senior Olivia Lawson (35th-22:21), freshman Jessica Albregts (36th-22:21) and junior Katy Dickinson (37th-22:23)! Closing out the scoring was junior Payton Schuchart (65th-23:21).
Open Girls
The Lady Eagles bested 24 schools as Milton (6th-176 pts) was led by junior Aidan O’Hare (26th-23:55) and sophomores Natalie Ventura (29th-24:08) and Audrey Minton (32nd-24:12).
Varsity Boys
Milton (13th-376 pts) finished as the 3rd 7A class school but large gaps among the Eagles 4th and 5th finishers regulated the team to a outside of the top-10 finish. The Eagles still bested 23 scoring programs in the team’s largest race of the season where there were 247 finishers. Sophomore Hayden Marshall (35th-16:52) again led the team as senior co-captain Luke Bonneville (41st-17:02) and fellow seniors Anish Gupta (71st-17:28) and Gary Halverson (95th-17:42) were the Eagles top-4 finishers. Also running on varsity were junior Spencer Watry (152nd-18:07), senior Ben Reilly (166th-18:14) and junior Joe Pick (180th-18:22).
JV Boys
Milton (15th-381 pts) bested 17 schools and was led by senior Gavin Roman (44th-18:47) and freshman Dylan Bowden (78th-19:06).
Open Boys
The Eagles bested 14 schools on their way to a top-5 finish! Milton (5th-156 pts) was narrowly beaten for 4th by just 2 points to Veterans (4th-154 pts). A huge race by senior Nick Butzow (16th-19:11) led the Eagle effort that saw the next 4 Eagle finishers all in the top-40.
