Many all-time bests are highlight for Milton runners
10/12/19, Whitesburg, GA – By Andy Carr
The Milton cross country teams traveled to the 17th Coach Wood Invitational and came away with many all-time personal bests & a new top-10 all-time school performance.
Varsity Boys
The Eagles were highlighted with many all-time best performances as Milton (19th-437 pts) bested 5 schools the meets championship division race. The performance of the day for the Eagles was junior Hayden Marshall’s (33rd-15:58) performance! Marshall led the Milton contingent and in doing so became the 9th best performer in school history! Senior co-captain Spencer Watry (71st-16:27) followed in also a personal best by a few seconds while fighting off illness. The Eagles team showed some major improvement as the remainder of Milton’s scorers were only separated by 18 seconds while all of them recorded personal best times on the fast Whitesburg course layout. Junior Jack Petkash (114th-16:54), senior co-captain Joe Pick (123rd-16:58) & junior Connor Brunson (146th-17:11) led the Eagles to their fastest team average time of the season. Also running varsity included sophomore Dylan Bowden (184th-17:37), senior co-captain Alex Braswell (192nd-17:43), junior Lorin Tady (201st-17:48), and sophomores Charlie Reynolds (224th-18:19) & Davis Hobbs (227th-18:40) with but Reyonolds & Hobbs recording lifetime personal bests.
Varsity Girls
Again, season & personal bests led the way as the Lady Eagles held their own with most of the top-teams in the state. Milton (7th-237 pts) bested 20 schools as they prep for another podium finish at the state meet in 3 weeks. Senior Nyah Hernandez (15th-18:43) was again the Lady Eagles top-finisher and her performance a new season’s best and sets herself up well for her race at the Area/region championship next weekend. Behind Hernandez, Milton solidified its team of scorers with senior co-captain Abby Rindt (49th-19:37), freshman Annalise Crow (50th-19:39) & junior Audrey Nichols (61st-19:56) all running season’s best with Crow & Nichols all-time bests! Junior Clare Petkash (77th-20:10) was the big surprise for the Lady Eagles as their final scorer! Petkash produced a 40-second personal best to anchor Milton’s strong team finish! Also figuring in the scoring for Milton was senior Ella Langley (124th-20:43) in a personal best and sophomore Jessica Albregts (148th-21:05). Also running varsity were junior Audrey Minton (165th-21:24), sophomore Maddie Robertson (194th-21:56) & freshman Gabby Beckman (201st-22:09) with Minton & Robertson recording personal best performances.
JV Boys
Milton (12th-322 pts) bested 10 schools as the Eagles held their own against some of the best teams in the state. Leading the way for Milton included junior Peyton Massey (65th-18:14), sophomore Andrew Baum (69th-18:17) & freshman Cory Chambers (81st-18:28) all running personal bests.
JV Girls
The Lady Eagles used their pack-running strength to best 11 schools. Milton (10th-291 pts) had no finishers in the top-50 but had an incredible 12-second spread among its scorers to grab a top-10 finish. Junior Audrey Harris (57th-22:09) along with sophomores Ellie Dickenson (60th-22:13) & Ella Katekovich (64th-22:15) led the Lady Eagles in this outstanding team performance, all in personal-best times!
Open Boys
Milton (10th-293 pts) bested 9 schools in one of the largest races of the entire meet. Junior Will Buchanan (18th-19:01) along with sophomores Jorge Fabregas (84th-20:06) & Garrett Pickett (87th-20:07) led the Eagle effort.
Open Girls
The Lady Eagles concluded the meet with the best team finish of the day! Milton (3rd-93 pts) bested 10 schools for the team’s highlighted finish! Senior Quinn Swidorski (5th-23:10) along with sophomores Megan Stechschulte (18th-23:51) & Chelsea Pozatek (19th-23:51) led 5 Lady Eagles to finish in the top-30 overall.
The Milton cross country teams next see action on Saturday, Oct 19th at Boling Park in Canton, GA at the GHSA Area/Region Championship meet which qualifies the top-6 varsity teams to the GHSA State Championship which will be held Saturday, November 2nd at Carrollton ES in Carrollton, GA.
