Girls Teams Pace Milton at Coach Wood Invite

10/17/20

Whitesburg, GA

By Coach Andy Carr

The cross country teams at Milton travelled to the 18th edition of the Coach Wood Invitational, one of the most competitive meets of the season, and came away with two race wins, two individual wins and a slew of personal bests in the last meet before the region championships.

Varsity Boys

The Eagles were once again facing some of the best teams in Georgia and Alabama and were able to beat back 4 schools in the Championship race. Milton (12th-258 pts) bested All-Class #1 Pace Academy along with #1 ranked 4-A Marist in running their fastest team average time (16:21) of the season. The Eagles were again led by the senior duo of Jack Petkash (23rd-15:43) & Hayden Marshall (25th-15:45) both tying their personal bests. The race of the day on the boy’s side came from senior Connor Brunson (41st-15:58) who’s performance made him the 11th best performer in school history! Junior Dylan Bowden (118th-17:05) and sophomore Cory Chambers (125th-17:14) concluded Milton’s scoring athletes. Senior co-captain Lorin Tady (127th-17:17) & freshman Hixon Rumph (139th-17:35) also figured in the Eagles score.

JV Boys

Milton (10th-262 pts) defeated 5 schools in an incredibly competitive field. Freshman Zach Patell (10th-17:20) led the Eagles in only his second race in a Milton uniform racing to a 94-second personal best. Juniors Davis Hobbs (60th-18:11) & Jake Youngblood (63rd-18:16) rounded out the Eagles top-3 with Youngblood’s performance a personal best.

Open Boys

The Eagles defeated three schools as Milton (6th-126 pts) had their best team finish of the day for the boys. Senior Sean Runner (6th-18:38) led the Eagles in a big personal best with fellow senior Brendan Trainor (28th-19:15) & freshman Luke Erbey (29th-19:16) rounding out Milton’s top-3 finishers.

Varsity Girls

The Lady Eagles fell short of a team trophy while besting 10 schools including region foes Roswell & Cherokee who they will race next weekend. Milton (3rd-116 pts) was in the team battle most of the race as Allatoona (1st-85 pts) & Brookwood (2nd-110 pts) finished just ahead of the Lady Eagles. Senior co-captain Audrey Nichols (16th-20:14) & freshman Ella Grace Malcom (18th-20:19) once again were Milton’s top-finishers. Incredibly consistent races came from sophomore Farrah Frith (22nd-20:37) & freshman Calista Cacciatore (24th-20:43) kept the Lady Eagles in the hunt for a trophy as junior Ellie Dickenson (36th-21:11) was the final scorer. A all-time personal best from sophomore Gabby Beckman (42nd-21:24) and a tough race effort by junior Jessica Albregts (43rd-21:24) helped Milton to its 3rd place finish.

JV Girls

Milton (1st-40 pts) eked out a 3-point win over 7A rival Brookwood (2nd-43 pts) with some late-race passes to bring home the winning trophy! Starr’s Mill (4th-103 pts) & rival Roswell (4th-105 pts) trailed as well as 6 other scoring teams. Sophomore Annalise Crow (1st-21:12) went straight to the front and was never threatened on her way to her 2nd race win of the season! A big personal best by junior Sydnie Behrmann (4th-21:48) put the Lady Eagles in a commanding position. Milton then put 5-finishers from 10th to 16th places to seal the victory over the Broncos. Senior Samantha Ventura (10th-22:24) was followed by a big personal best by sophomore Ella Butler (12th-22:25) and along with seniors Natalie Ventura (13th-22:25), Maddie Robertson (15th- 22:27) & co-captain Anne Marie Lessig (16th-22:29) beat back Brookwood to garner the win!

Open Girls

Another individual win led the Lady Eagles to an almost perfect score performance as Milton (1st 16 pts) bested 4 schools handily. Region foe Roswell (2nd-74 pts) was a distant second. Senior Kaitlyn Bowden (1st-23:22) took control of the race just past the mile-mark and went on to a 14-second victory! Hard-charging junior Ella Rindt (2nd-23:36) & senior Kate Keneck (3rd-23:38) caught & passed fellow senior Audrey Minton (4th-23:45) as surprising freshman Aubrie Cranford (6th-23:59) ran close to a 2-minute personal best to help lead the Lady Eagle contingent.

The Milton High School cross country teams next race on Saturday, October 21st at Boling Park in Canton, GA at the GHSA Region 4-7A Championships in order to qualify for the GHSA State Championships to be held November 7th in Carrollton, GA.