Eagle Cross Country Teams Take on Top State and National Teams
Sam Smith Park | Cartersville, GA | September 21st | By Andy Carr
Milton again traveled to the night-time running of the 10th Wingfoot Cross Country Invitational on Sept 21st and under the lights the Eagles raced well to beat back many top programs from Georgia and the Southeast US.
Varsity Boys
The Eagles rose to the occasion in the last race of the meet to finish ahead of many strong programs. Milton (6th-274 pts) held its own in a race with 32 scoring teams beating programs from Tennessee, Florida and Alabama! The duo of senior captain Justin Sevel (37th-16:17) and junior Everett Lawder (38th-16:19) led the Eagle effort and was closely followed by sophomore Will Chambers (59th-16:35) and junior Jayin Batra (73rd-16:49). Senior Aviv Oshri (87th-17:05) closed very well passing many fading runners and was followed by junior Ryan Greathouse (118th-17:24) and senior captain Robert Claypool (151st-17:46).
Varsity Girls
In a race that saw the best programs in the state and the region, the Lady Eagles raced hard in the dry and dusty conditions to beat back 16 teams. Milton (15th-395 pts) bested 5A state ranked teams McIntosh (ranked 5th) and Johns Creek (ranked 2nd)! Led by the personal best performance of junior Caroline Spain (24th-19:24) the Lady Eagles topped half the total teams in the race. Senior Macy Schadt (56th-19:57) had another consistent race and was followed by freshman Sadie Katekovich (102nd-20:49) in a massive personal best time. Scorers for Milton also included senior Ella Franke (118th-21:07) and freshman Kenley Sirras (132nd-21:24) and also running varsity were sophomore Lucie Gallagher (171st-22:15) and senior Rowan Katekovich (184th-22:33).
JV Boys
Milton (5th-180 pts) outscored 20 schools in one of the largest races of the meet that saw over 400 finishers. Leading the way was senior Tomas Wilhelm (23rd-18:17) along with sophomores Tyler Nix (29th-18:27) and Christopher Chen (34th-18:33) all finishing in the top-35 overall positions.
JV Girls
In the best race of the day for the Eagles, Milton (4th-141 pts) outpaced 16 teams to just miss a podium finish. Sophomore Aarushi Dhawan (25th-22:32) led the Lady Eagle charge with sophomore Ava Kane (28th-22:35) and senior Ashley Murray (33rd-22:41) all finishing really close together in the top-35. 315 finishers were recorded.
Freshman Boys
Unique to this meet, all teams’ freshmen that are not on their varsity squads race in their own event. Milton (16th-361 pts) beat back only three schools but was led by Leo Faught (61st-20:45) in a race with close to 200 finishers.
Freshman Girls
The Lady Eagles raced some tough competition that had 135 finishers. Milton (8th-172 pts) held their own and was led by Libby Carnegie (27th-23:49) in a personal best by 40 seconds.
Milton cross country next sees action on Saturday, October 5th at the Wendy’s Classic Invitational in Charlotte, NC at the famous McAlpine Park course where many teams from GA, SC and NC will be racing.
