Milton HS to Host 7th Cross Country Invitational

7th Milton Cross Country Invitational-Meet Preview

Its going to be a great day of cross country racing at Milton High School as the 7th Milton Invitational followed by the Alpha Crush/USATF GA Youth Meet will make for a all-day cross country experience this Saturday, September 14th.

1200 runners are expected to descend onto one of the toughest courses in the southern US to race for the Eagle Cup at the 7th Milton XC Invitational. Teams from a variety of classifications from over the entire state of Georgia will challenge the hilly and arduous course run entirely on the Milton school campus.

Varsity Girls Team

The team title will pit the defending 7A state runners-up South Forsyth Eagles with the home Eagles of Milton and the fellow-Fulton County team of Johns Creek all challenging for the title. Top-ranked South Forsyth (7A) is coming off a solid win at Covered Bridge in Roswell last week while the Lady Eagles of Milton knocked off two-top-ranked North Carolina teams (Cardinal Gibbons & Reagan) at the Knights Crossing Invite in Virginia last week as well in finishing 3rd. 4th ranked (6A) Johns Creek is coming off a runner-up at Covered Bridge & 6th ranked (7A) Lambert will also challenge for a team trophy spot. 8th ranked (6A) Dunwoody, who was 3rd at Covered Bridge & 1A Private Atlanta International School are outside shots to make the top-4 trophy teams.

Varsity Girls Individual

A rematch of the Covered Bridge race will ensue between Reagan Mahoney of Atlanta International & the recently Furman-committed Madelynne Cadeau of South Forsyth but throw in Milton’s Nyah Hernandez who knows this course well and it will be a tight battle upfront. Looking to be in the top-5 will be Johns Creek senior Maddie Wheatly along with Cara Joyce of Atlanta International. South Forsyth’s Sophia Baker and Milton’s Audrey Nichols will figure in the top finishers as well along with Johns Creek Agam Horowitz & Lambert’s Emily Chapman. This is one of the strongest fields to race at Milton with the course record (18:43, Lindsay Billings, 2014) in jeopardy!

Varsity Boys Team

With Pope running just their JV’s, South Forsyth’s boys look to be the odd’s on favorite especially after their big win last week at Covered Bridge. The battle for 2nd through 4th will be tight with host Milton, Denmark and Lambert & spoiler Loganville. Milton was a strong 8th last week at Knights Crossing in Virginia without their number 4 runner. 5th ranked (4A) Denmark ran a close 2nd to unranked Milton at the Apalachee HS Wildcat opener 3 weeks ago but was well within striking distance. 5th ranked (7A) Lambert will be without their number one runner but their depth will keep them close to the top-4. 3rd ranked (5A) Loganville could be the surprise of the meet and will make the team race exciting.

Varsity Boys Individual

On paper, Lakeside-Evans sophomore Sam Rich looks to be the favorite especially after his 2nd place at Battle of Atlanta and winner of the Greenbrier Invite in late-August. South Forsyth’s Brennan Bower, who was 3rd overall at Covered Bridge last week, will challenge for the title. The senior from Loganville, Athanasius Tesfaye is running well and will be a factor upfront along with the Milton duo of junior Hayden Marshall (the 7th fastest Milton runner on his home course coming off a 13th place finish at Knights Crossing in Virginia) and track specialist Spencer Watry, who has been the Eagles top-finisher at their first 2 meets of the season and winning the Apalachee Meet outright. Denmark’s Ethan Ashley & South Forsyth’s Michael Patterson will also be in the mix in this tight race for the overall victory!

Eagle Cup

Unique to this meet, the awarding of the Eagle Cup is to the team that scores the best in all 6 races being conducted. Open, JV and Varsity races all figure in the scoring for the Eagle Cup winner. Defending Champions South Forsyth edged out host Milton in 2018 by winning both JV and Varsity races while Milton won both Open races. With large teams like Lambert, Pope, Johns Creek, Milton and defending champs South Forsyth, this could be the best battle of the meet.