Eagle Cross Country Teams Qualify for State Meet

By Andy Carr

November 1st
McIntosh Nature Preserve
Carroll County, GA

The Milton cross country teams travelled to Carroll County & the McIntosh Nature Preserve for the GHSA 5A Sectional Meet and came away qualifying for the state meet & secured 3 region titles!

Varsity Boys
Coming in as the defending state, sectional & region champions from 2024 but racing shorthanded, Milton (7th-224 pts) comfortably qualified for the state meet while defending their Region 7-5A title. The Eagles beat out 20 schools in the sectional race & dominated the region race by besting 5 schools. The boys team is going to the state meet for the 24th time in the last 27 years with a opportunity to defend their state title. Leading Milton was the front running of senior captain Everett Lawder (8th-15:38) in a personal best & becomes the 8th best performer in school history & individually capturing the Region 7-5A title & individually qualifying for the state meet! Lawder was backed up by fellow senior captain Jayin Batra (30th-16:26) & then a close pack of finishers witch included senior Ryan Greathouse (56th-16:55), senior captain Veer Upadhyaya (61st-17:01) & freshman Noah Jenkins 72nd-17:07) who notched yet another personal best. Closing out the Eagle efforts were juniors Boston VanBelle (89th-17:20) & Logan Bradway (93rd-17:21), running personal bests as well. There were 190 finishers.

Varsity Girls
Milton (4th-131 pts), the two-time defending region champion ran into a stubborn Johns Creek (3rd-110 pts) squad on the way to qualifying for the GHSA state meet for the 12th consecutive year & for the 25th time in the last 27 years! The Lady Eagles finished as runner-up in the Region 7-5A scoring but put away 20 teams in the sectional field. As she has done all season long, senior captain Caroline Spain (5th-18:26) led the way for Milton as she ran to a personal best, individually qualifying for the state meet, capturing the region 7-5A title and is now the 2nd best performer in school history! Spain stayed near the front of the race for its entirety & was backed up by sophomore Sadie Katekovich (19th-19:12) individually qualifying for state, freshman Sloan Robers 25th-19:31), and junior Lucie Gallagher (38th-19:55). The Lady Eagles also had juniors Ava Kane (48th-20:12) & Aarushi Dhawan (53rd-20:21) & sophomore Kenley Sirras (57th-20:25) contribute to the 2nd place region team trophy & the state qualifying 4th place in the sectional race. Besides Spain, Katekovich, Robers, Dhawan & Sirras all ran to personal best performances. 160 finishers were recorded.

JV Boys
Milton (10th-202 pts) beat back 9 teams and were led by junior Tyler Nix (14th-17:43). Others scoring for the Eagles included sophomore Eli Longstreth (34th-18:14), senior Malin Schadt (37th-18:17), sophomore Leo Vaught (52nd-18:42), senior Jonathan Lynch (73rd-19:13) & junior Christopher Chen (86th-19:32).

JV Girls
The Lady Eagles ran a strong team race and were able to finish ahead of 6 teams. Milton (5th-141 pts) was led by juniors Cara Tenhundfeld (16th-21:44), Rachela Weitzel (22nd-21:55) & a personal best by Claire Falor (27th-22:20). Freshman Jasmine Williams (34th-22:34) was next followed by junior Brynn Kelly (49th-23:03), sophomore Libby Carnegie (58th-23:32) & junior Emily Chambliss (63rd-23:40).

Open Boys
Milton (2nd-30 pts) lost a squeaker to Clarke Central (1st-29 pts) in a 3-team affair. Freshman William Gilbert (3rd-18:42) was the Eagles top-finisher.

Open Girls
The Eagles used a strong pack to easily outdistance 3 schools. Milton (1st-30 pts) was led by sophomore Samantha Megenity (7th-23:23) & a personal best by sophomore Audrey Grose (8th-23:45).

Next up for the Eagle varsity cross country teams is the GHSA 5A State Meet this Friday, November 7th at the Carrollton Elementary School course where the team’s season will conclude. Both the boy’s & girls’ varsity teams are ranked 4th going into the state meet.