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Rockbridge County High School freshman Preston Spangler and senior Deena Ludtke advanced to the Class 3 state cross country meet, with Spangler placing fifth in the boys’ race and Ludtke finishing 10th in the girls’ race at the Region 3C meet last 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.
RC head coach Julie Tisone said that Region 3C is “a tough region which will closely reflect how states turn out.”
Proud of Spangler and Ludtke, Tisone said, “Deena and Preston ran great races.”
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, who 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).
“The girls team ran well,” said Tisone, with some of the Wildcats running their best race of the season, but other teams were faster.
Tisone said it was “a fun race” for the girls who finished their season. “We are all super happy with our season.”
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 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 sixthplace finish. Looking ahead to the state meet, Tisone said she hopes for a top 10 finish for Ludtke and a top 20 finish for Spangler, whom she’s hoping will be the top freshman in the boys’ race.
