Pickens Proves Productive for Milton

October 10th

Roper Park
Jasper, GA

By Coach Andy Carr

The Milton cross country teams travelled just north to the Pickens & Grinnin’ Invitational for their last regular season meet & came away with 3 overall team titles & one runner-up finish.

Varsity Boys
Even though racing short-handed, the Eagles used some good up-front running & some fast finishes to take down 14 scoring schools to capture the championship division team title! Milton (1st-65 pts) easily outdistanced region foe Chattahoochee (2nd-126 pts) & 6A school Forsyth Central (3rd-143 pts). As he has done all season long, junior Will Chambers (1st-16:07) led the Eagles with the overall race win! Senior co-captain Jayin Batra (3rd-16:20) was close behind & was followed by fellow seniors Ryan Greathouse (11th-16:54) & Veer Uphadyaya (24th-17:10) & freshman Noah Jenkins (26th-17:11) who notched a personal best performance. Also figuring in the scoring were junior Boston VanBelle (42nd-17:40) & sophomore Eli Longstreth (57th-17:58). 138 finishers were recorded.

Varsity Girls
In a team battle with 3rd-ranked Johns Creek (1st-65 pts), the 4th-ranked Lady Eagles kept it close the entire race and tied for the team win! Milton (2nd-65 pts) beat back 13 schools but finished runner-up by using the 6th runner tie-breaking procedure as the Gladiators 6th runner beat the Lady Eagles 6th runner by 11 spots. Senior captain Caroline Spain (3rd-18:56) was in the lead group the entire race & was able to break 19-minutes for the 5000m race distance her 2nd time ever. Sophomore Sadie Katekovich (10th-19:33) earned a medal and was also in the front group for more than half the race. Milton kept it close while running short-handed with the pack running of junior Ava Kane (15th-20:11) & freshman sensation Sloane Robers (16th-20:18) as the fast-closing sophomore Kenley Sirras (21st-20:32) ran a all-time best to close out the Milton scoring. Juniors Aarushi Dhawan (34th-21:17) & Cara Tenhundfeld (45th-21:44) also factored in the Lady Eagle point total as there were 128 finishers.

JV Boys
By putting all 5 of their scorers in the top-15, Milton (1st-43 pts) took the team win over 13 scoring schools. Region teams Chattahoochee (2nd-61 pts) & Johns Creek (3rd-94 pts) were closest. Senior Jonathan Lynch (2nd-18:22) moved up the entire race & caught Chattahoochee’s 2nd runner right at the finish to lead the Eagle effort. Junior Jace Kasteler (6th-18:39) & senior Braxton Herndon (8th-18:43) earned well-deserved medals for placing in the top-10 overall. Milton beat back 13 teams with the help from freshman Chase VanBelle (13th-18:58) & William Gilbert (14th-19:04) as the race had 194 finishers.

JV Girls
The Lady Eagles secured the final team victory of the meet by outracing 10 schools. Milton (1st-37 pts) placed 4 of their 5 scorers in the top-10 overall spots with sophomore Libby Carnegie (5th-22:34) leading the squad. Solid pack running by the Lady Eagles helped turn back a stubborn Oconee County (2nd-48 pts) team that was the closest to Milton. Juniors Emily Chambliss (8th-22:52), Brynn Kelly (9th-22:54) & Ellery Long (10th-22:54) all came into the finish together followed by fellow junior Kennedy Manning (14th-23:14) who had a very strong finish as 159 competitors completed the race.

The Eagle cross country teams next see action at the GHSA 5A Sectional B Championship meet on Saturday, November 1st at the Chattahoochee Hills Eventing site in Fairburn, GA where the top-12 teams will qualify for the GHSA State 5A Meet to be held Friday, November 7th at Carrollton ES in Carrollton, GA.