Lady Eagles Podium at State Meet

November 7th
Carrollton, GA
By Coach Andy Carr

The Milton cross country teams concluded their season at the GHSA State Cross Country Championships in Carrollton, GA where both the girl’s & boy’s teams once again finished in the top-10 in the 6A classification.

GIRLS
Coming into the state meet, the Lady Eagles were tabbed as a potential trophy-winning team and came through to finish on the podium for the 9th time in the last 16 years & in the top-10 at the state meet for the last 13 consecutive years! Milton (4th-181 pts) just edged out Lakeside-Evans (5th-182 pts) to garner the final podium & trophy-winning spot and in the process defeated 20 schools. The Lady Eagles were once again led by junior Sadie Katekovich (15th-20:10) in a 40-second course personal best! She was accompanied by freshman Maisie Wilderspin (17th-20:15) to give Milton a big 1-2 punch in the top-20. Another vital performance came from junior Kenley Sirras (44th-21:21) whose finishing place helped to keep pace with Lakeside-Evans in the team scoring. A solid & consistent run from senior captain Ava Kane (55th-21:31) laid the foundation for the Lady Eagles push to the podium as junior Lucie Blake (62nd-21:41) was next & fought off a tough race & lingering injury to outkick Lakeside-Evans 4th finisher! Closing out the trophy-winning effort was a fast-closing finish from fellow junior Audrey Grose (79th-22:00) & a gutsy effort from sophomore Sloane Robers (98th-22:37). Milton’s 9th-ever podium finish ties them for the Lady Eagles 2nd best team finish (4th place/7-times) at the state meet.

BOYS
Region champions Milton (10th-292 pts) led all the teams from Region 7-6A to place in the top-10 and beat back 14 schools. This is the Eagles 3rd-consecutive top-10 finish at the state meet & 10th in the last 13 trips to Carrollton (which includes state titles in 2017 & 2024). Senior captain Will Chambers (12th-16:51) had one of his finest efforts at the state meet & this season to once again lead the Eagles. Chambers was only two spots & 4-seconds from a podium finish individually to close out his career at Milton. Running a truly inspiring race in the 2nd half, sophomore Noah Jenkins (25th-17:13) made the most of his 2nd trip to the state meet running a 38-second course personal best and moving up 20 places from last year’s state meet. Senior Jace Kasteler (58th-17:40) finished ahead of Gainesville’s 2nd & 3rd finishers to push the Eagles to a top-10 overall & top-region finish. Freshman William Brown (109th-18:27) & sophomore William Gilbert (113th-18:31) recovered well after a rough start & a fall early in the race as senior captain Tyler Nix (122nd-18:39) & fellow senior Logan Bradway (127th-18:43) closed out their careers at Milton at the state meet.