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Rockbridge County High School freshman Preston Spangler and senior Deena Ludtke both ran well at the Class 3 state meet on Saturday morning at Green Hill Park in Salem, with Spangler placing 21st in the boys’ race and Ludtke finishing 26th in the girls’ race. There were 103 runners in each race.
Spangler, the lone RC boy to qualify for the state meet, completed the flat 5-kilometer race in 16 minutes, 23.1 seconds, passing several runners at the end to finish about five seconds shy of his personal record. He was the second freshman finisher in the race, which took place in sunny weather with temperatures in the mid-50s.
“This is a quality field out here,” said RC head coach Julie Tisone. “He started out really nice, got out near the front and passed five people at the end.”
Monticello senior Bazil Mathes won the race in a blistering time of 14:51.9, and Spangler is confident he can get closer to that time next year. “I’m definitely gonna break 16 minutes next year, which I’m excited for,” said Spangler.
Ludtke, the lone RC girl to advance to the state meet, finished in 19:48.8, improving by about 53 seconds from her time on the course last year, when she finished 28th to help the Wildcats place sixth as a team. Alleghany’s Kiera Lowman won the girls’ race in 17:39.3.
Both Spangler and Ludtke were recovering from sickness, but they pushed through with strong finishes.
Tisone said the Wildcats will miss Ludtke, who had a great career for the Wildcats.
After the race, Ludtke expressed gratitude for her coaches: Tisone, Louise Uffelman and two coaches who are also her parents, Drew and Jen Ludtke. “I’m pretty appreciative of what they’ve done for us this season,” she said.
In the team standings on Saturday, Maggie Walker won the state title in the boys’ race with 56 points, Monticello (101) placed second of 12 teams, and Lafayette (113) finished third. Rounding out the top five were Abingdon (120) and RC’s Valley District rival Broadway (136).
Western Albemarle (58) won the girls’ race, Valley District rival Spotswood (66) placed second of 12 teams, and Abingdon (82) finished third. Completing the top five were Maggie Walker (87) and Alleghany (160).
This fall was a strong season for the RC girls, who placed fourth at the Valley District meet to advance to the Region 3C meet, where they placed sixth in a very tough region. The y oung R C b oys’ t eam placed fifth in the district meet.
Many of the Wildcats, including Ludtke and Spangler, plan to continue their running with indoor track this winter and outdoor track in the spring. Ludtke will be running for the Wildcats this winter, while Spangler plans to run with a club team.
The RC girls will miss their two seniors, Ludtke and Nicole Black, while the boys will miss their three seniors: Jordan Imler, Chase Lowney and Konner Orebaugh.
Reviewing the fall, Tisone said, “It was a really good season.”
Tisone, completing her eighth year as the Wildcats’ head coach, looks forward to the future of the program and the improvement of her runners, and she expects more Wildcats to be back at the state meet next year.
