Milton Cross Country Successful at Apple Hawkins Invitational

September 19, 2020
Apalachee HS, Winder, GA
By Coach Andy Carr

The Eagle Cross Country teams raced in their first big meet of the season and came away with many top-finishes and individual race winners.

Varsity Boys
Senior Hayden Marshall (1st-16:09) has not lost a race all season and continued his successful senior campaign by going straight to the front to try and set the course record. Marshall fell just 5-seconds short but led wire-to-wire for the overall race victory and thus making him a serious contender for a podium finish at the state meet in November in Carrollton. Milton (1st-33 pts) was the run-away team winner besting 15 schools including 7th-ranked Archer (3rd-103 pts) and North Gwinnett (2nd-81 pts). The Eagles were able to put all 5 of their scorers in the top-11 to dominate the field. Senior Jack Petkash (3rd-16:34) had a furious fast finish followed by fellow senior Connor Brunson (8th-17:10), junior Dylan Bowden (10th-17:24) and sophomore Cory Chambers (11th-17:26). Senior co-captain Lorin Tady (18th-17:56) & freshman Hixon Rumph (40th-18:31) rounded out the Eagles squad. Petkash, Brunson, Chambers & Rumph all ran lifetime bests.

Varsity Girls
The Lady Eagles fought hard but fell just short to finish as runners-up while besting 12 schools. Milton (2nd-65 pts) was out paced early-on by 9th ranked North Gwinnett (1st-41 pts) but easily turned back Johns Creek (3rd-87 pts) & Archer (4th-105 pts). Freshman Ella Grace Malcom (7th-20:45) ran a personal best time to lead the Lady Eagles. Senior co-captain Audrey Nichols (8th-20:48) came from almost 15 places back to record a top-10 finish. Junior Jessica Albregts (13th-21:27) also moved through the field the entire race as sophomore Farrah Frith (19th-21:37) kept Milton in the hunt for a trophy. The solid team running of juniors Ellie Dickenson (23rd-21:48) & Megan Stechschulte (24th-21:48) help easily push back Johns Creek who the Lady Eagles only beat by a single point a week ago. After a rough fall near the 3-mile mark, junior Ella Katekovich (35th-22:41) concluded the Milton runners in the race. Malcom, Frith and Stechschulte all ran personal best performances.

JV Boys
Following last weekend’s big team race win, Milton (1st-39 pts) followed suit and absolutely dominated the race field for their second team win of the season! Archer (2nd-71 pts) & North Gwinnett (3rd-72 pts) trailed. The Eagles bested 10 scoring programs. A strong late-race surge by junior Charlie Reynolds (1st-18:42) brought him to the overall race win. Even though Milton lost two of their top-runners during the race, the young team rallied and with the strong running of sophomores Pearson Gillam (5th-18:50), Oliver Stone (9th-19:02), senior co-captain Payton Massey (11th-19:06) & the hard closing by junior Jake Youngblood (13th-19:19) closed out the team victory! All-time best personal performances were turned in by Gillam, Stone & Youngblood in leading the Eagles to the team victory.

JV Girls
In a hard-fought battle with 7A foe North Gwinnett (1st-27 pts) once the JV girls race results were merged, Milton (2nd-29 pts) settled again for runner-up honors on the girl’s side. Due to race size restrictions, the JV girls’ races were split up, so the Lady Eagles did not know their final team/individual positions until after the 2nd girl’s JV race. Milton did outdistance 8 scoring schools while finishing second. Johns Creek (3rd-107 pts) was a distant 3rd place. Freshman Calista Caccitore (1st-21:46) moved to the lead just before half-way and never looked back taking the overall race win. It was Cacciatore’s second consecutive race win in as many weeks and an all-time personal best. Senior Clare Petkash (5th-22:13) fought hard all the way to the end and was followed by sophomore Gabby Beckman (6th-22:20) and senior twins Natalie (9th-22:54) & Samantha Ventura (12th-23:07) to close out the Lady Eagle scoring.