Varsity girls win at Bob Blastow Invite for the first time
Foxhall Equestrian Resort | Douglasville, GA August 29th | by Andy Carr
The Milton cross country teams ventured southwest of Atlanta to the Foxhall Equestrian Resort to compete in their largest meet of the season so far, the Bob Blastow Invitational, and came away with a significant team victory and multiple top-10 team finishes.
Varsity Girls
The Lady Eagles made program history by finally winning the team title after racing in this meet for over 15 years. Milton (1st-107 pts) beat back 28 teams, including defending state champions Pace Academy (2nd-114 pts). Leading the way was junior Sadie Katekovich (9th-20:11), who helped put three Lady Eagles in the top-14. Freshman sensation Maisie Wilderspin (11th-20:22) followed, and junior Lucie Blake (14th-20:38) was next to finish. Juniors Sloane Robers (32nd-21:24) and Kenley Sirras (43rd-21:40) gained many valuable positions late in the race to help seal the team win for Milton. Senior captain Ava Kane (52nd-22:05) and fellow senior Cara Tenhundfeld (59th-22:16) were next, besting many scoring runners. Juniors Audrey Grose (66th-22:26), Liv Becker (68th-22:30) and senior captain Claire Falor (74th-22:42) also competed in the varsity race.
Varsity Boys
Facing their most formidable field of the young season, Milton (9th-265 pts) bested 28 scoring schools from all over the state. Senior captain Will Chambers (15th-16:48) led the Eagles, with sophomore Noah Jenkins (36th-17:15), fellow seniors Logan Bradway (64th-17:55) and Jace Kasteler (71st-18:00), and freshman William Brown (79th-18:07) all scoring for Milton. Also running on varsity were junior Leo Faught (87th-18:14), sophomore William Gilbert (18:24), senior captain Tyler Nix (120th-18:51) and junior Phoenix Vance (162nd-19:23).
JV Girls
Even without any finishers in the top-40, the Lady Eagles turned back 20 schools as Milton (8th-223 pts) finished all their scorers in a span of 11 seconds to finish in the top-10. Senior Brynn Kelly (42nd-24:47) led the way, with fellow seniors Briley Bell (46th-24:50) and Ellery Long (47th-24:51) right behind. Junior Sienna Perl (49th-24:52) and senior Rachela Weitzel (24:59) closed out the Lady Eagles scoring.
JV Boys
Milton (7th-253 pts) soundly beat 34 schools and was led by senior Boston VanBelle (7th-19:02), with the help of his brother Chase VanBelle (37th-19:36), along with sophomore Evan Scott (58th-19:58), senior Knox Anderson (69th-20:08) and sophomore Luc Souza (96th-20:30). This was the largest race of the day with 578 finishers.
Open Races (1.5 mile distance)
Boys – Milton (4th-102 pts) out of eight schools. Freshman Eldon Wellman (25th-10:30) led the Eagles.
Girls – Milton (4th-139 pts) out of 12 schools. Freshman Suri Patel (12th-12:33) led the Lady Eagles.
The Milton cross country teams next see action at the 13th Milton Cross Country Invitational on Saturday, September 12th, on the Eagles’ notoriously difficult home course, and will welcome 24 visiting schools in a race for the Eagle Cup.
