Cross Country Teams qualify both girls and boys’ squads
Boling Park, Canton, GA – October 23rd, By Andy Carr
Milton’s cross-country teams again qualified for the GHSA State Cross Country Championships with their successful races today at the Region 5-7A Meet at Boling Park in Canton, GA.
Varsity Girls
For the 8th consecutive year and the 18th time in the last 20 years, the sixth-ranked Lady Eagles are headed to the state championship meet in Carrollton with a runner-up finish. Milton (2nd-44 pts) bested 4 schools and was narrowly beaten by cross-town rival Roswell (1st-35 pts). The Lady Eagles easily outdistanced Etowah (3rd-76 pts), Woodstock (4th-114 pts), Alpharetta (5th-126 pts) and host Cherokee (144 pts) to advance to the state meet. Running in the lead pack the entire way, both junior Farrah Frith (4th-19:29) and sophomore Ella Grace Malcom (7th-19:55) were in contention for the overall victory to lead Milton as they have all season long. Frith’s 4th place finish and all-time personal best was an individual auto-qualifier for the state meet. Continuing to impress all season, senior Genevieve Trainor (10th-20:23) posted a 32-second personal best and was closely followed by fellow senior Megan Stechschulte (11th-20:24) in a huge personal best! Sophomore Calista Cacciatore (12th-20:28) helped put five finishers ahead of every team to secure the state bid. All-time bests were also turned in by senior captain Jessica Albregts (18th-20:43) and sophomore Leelah Dennis (21st-21:01) to close out the Lady Eagle runners.
Varsity Boys
Milton (4th-84 pts) secured their 12th consecutive trip to the state meet and like the girls, their 18th visit to Carrollton in the last 20 years by besting two teams. Roswell (1st-45 pts) was the clear winner with Etowah (2nd-51 pts) a close runner-up. The Eagles were bested by Woodstock (3rd-83 pts) by just a single point but were comfortably ahead of host Cherokee (5th-123 pts) and Alpharetta (6th-143 pts). As he has done all season, junior Cory Chambers (6th-16:30) led the Eagles with his state auto-qualifying finish. Chambers was in the lead group for the first 2/3rds of the race before falling off. A big race was turned in by sophomore Zach Patell (13th-16:53) in a 22-second personal best performance. Junior Oliver Stone (18th-17:21) continued his fine season with a 6-second personal best and a top-20 finish. Seniors Dylan Bowden (23rd-17:38) and captain Charlie Reynolds (24th-17:40) closed out the scoring for the state bound Eagles. Juniors Pearson Gillam (26th-18:01) and Jack Rea (32nd-18:47) were the final Milton runners in the varsity race.
JV Girls
Closing out a very successful season, the Lady Eagles again dominated the competition to take the overall team win. Milton (1st-35 pts) bested 4 schools to conclude their season. Roswell (2nd-43 pts) and Etowah (3rd-66 pts) were closest to the Lady Eagles. Milton put 7 finishers in the top-13 overall places to secure the team title. Freshman Ivy Rindt (4th-21:26) led the Lady Eagles again for the 2nd week in a row as senior captain Ellie Dickenson (6th-21:36), freshman Macy Schadt (7th-21:36) and senior Shelby Howerton (8th-21:36) followed with Schadt and Howerton running over 30-second personal bests! Sisters Rowan Katekovich (10th-21:49, a personal best by over 1-minute) and Ella Katekovich (11th-21:51) along with junior Gabby Beckman (13th-21:58) closed out the scorers for the Lady Eagles.
JV Boys
Against the formidable Hornets of Roswell (1st-15 pts), Milton (2nd-49 pts) easily outdistanced 4 schools to garner runner-up honors and conclude their season. The Eagles easily outdistanced Etowah (3rd-91 pts) and Woodstock (4th-109 pts) along with Cherokee and Alpharetta. Freshman Justin Sevel (6th-17:56) was once again the junior varsity leader in a big personal best performance. Junior Keller Wilson (7th-18-flat) also ran to a personal best while fellow sophomores Martin Sand (11th-18:29) and Joe Petkash (12th-18:31) ran personal bests as well. Strong scoring efforts were turned in by senior captain Jorge Fabregas (13th-18:36), sophomore Luke Erbey (14th-18:40) and junior Benji Watry (15th-18:43), all personal bests for the distance.
Open Girls
The Lady Eagles picked up another team victory as Milton (1st-19 pts) easily bested 4 schools with Roswell (2nd-45 pts) and Alpharetta (3rd-84 pts) closest. The Lady Eagles had 6 finishers in the top-10 overall positions and were led by freshman Gabby Koagel (1st-22:02) who snagged the overall win with senior Ella Rindt (2nd-22:19) as the race runner-up. Milton scorers included freshman Ashley Murray (3rd-22:34), freshman Grace Lochman (5th-23-flat), sophomore Aubrie Cranford (8th-23:56) and freshman Rylan Pranger (9th-23:56) and Layla Marcum (11th-23:59).
Open Boys
Milton (2nd-41 pts) bested 2 schools while falling to Roswell (1st-19 pts). Sophomore Chris Murray (2nd-19:33) broke up a Hornet’s perfect score with his runner-up finish after falling midway through the race and working his way back up to the front. The Eagles had 3 more finishers in the top-10 and they included seniors Luke Ortwein (8th-20:03) and Nolan Thompson (9th-20:28) and junior Pierce Counter (10th-20:30).
The Eagles will next travel to Carrollton Elementary School in Carrollton, GA for the GHSA State Championship Meet on Saturday, November 6th where they will conclude their 2021 campaign.
