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Friday, Nov. 3 – Rockbridge County High School freshman Preston Spangler and senior Deena Ludtke advanced to the Class 3 state meet, with Spangler placing fifth in the boys’ race and Ludtke finishing 10th in the girls’ race at the Region 3C meet on Wednesday at the Pleasant Grove course in Palmyra. The RC girls ended the team portion of their season, despite having several runners finish in personal-record times, placing sixth of nine teams in a tough region.
The top three teams and the top five individuals outside of those teams advanced to the state meet.
In the boys’ race, Spangler, the lone regional qualifier for the RC boys, completed the hilly 5-kilometer course in 16 minutes, 50 seconds. He was the top freshman finisher and earned all-region honors by placing in the top 15. Monticello’s Bazil Mathes won the race in 15:51, while Broadway’s Tristan Yoder placed second of 85 runners in 16:27.1.
Alleghany’s Kiera Lowman won the girls’ race in 18:31.5, while Monticello’s Ryan Davidson placed second of 72 harriers in 18:47.2. Ludtke finished in 19:28.4, about 1:22 faster than her time on the course last year.
The RC girls’ second finisher was senior Nicole Black, completed her high school cross country career by placing 25th in 21:28.3, about five seconds faster than her time last year. RC junior Brooke Eichelberger finished 29th in 21:59.6, more than a minute faster than her time last year, and sophomore Dorothy Lewis came in 30th in 21:59.9, about 15 seconds faster than her time last year.
Wildcats following Lewis were freshman Anna Nye (34th, 22:47.5) and sophomores Kate Holston (44th, 23:37.4) and Cassandra Silver (65th, 26:42).
Spotswood won the girls’ race with 44 points, Western Albemarle placed second with 64 points, and Alleghany (88) finished third. Rounding out the top seven were host Fluvanna County (110), Wilson Memorial (113), RC (118) and Turner Ashby (183).
Monticello (47) won the boys’ race, Waynesboro (67) placed second of 11 teams, and Broadway (100) finished third. Completing the top five were Fluvanna County (101) and Western Albemarle (103).
The Class 3 state meet will take place on Saturday, Nov. 11 at Green Hill Park in Salem, with the girls’ race at 10:30 a.m. and the boys’ race at 11:15 a.m. At last year’s state meet, Ludtke placed 28th to lead the RC girls to a sixth-place finish.
For the full story on the Region 3C meet, please see our Nov. 8 newspaper.
