The Wildcat cross country teams had a good showing at the Knights Crossing Invitational in Salem Saturday, Sept. 9. The girls finished 11th out of 44 teams, and the boys finished 29th out of 56 teams.
Senior Deena Ludke led the Wildcats with a 22nd place finish.
“I think we had fun together,” said Ludke, “We ran a great race, and I’m really excited for the rest of the season because everyone is ready to improve.”
Behind Ludke, sophomore Dorothy Lewis finished 79th, senior Nicky Black finished 82nd, and freshman Anna Nye finished 85th. In a race with 368 other runners, all of these finishes were impressive.
The team score, which is calculated based on the times and scores of the top five runners, was a solid 351. This put the team in 11th place. The only district team they finished behind was Spotswood high school who placed third.
As for the boys team, they were led by freshman Preston Spangler who placed 27th.
“This was a very fast and flat course,” said Spangler, “There was an insane amount of competition, and everyone was ready to run their hardest. We came home with some proud, smiling faces.”
Junior Alexander Miller and freshman Tyler Ludke were the other leaders for the Wildcats, respectively placing 198th and 204th out of 454 runners.
The boys’ team score was 861, which put them in 29th place. The team was within reach of district competitors Turner Ashby (23rd), Harrisonburg (16th), and Broadway (14th).
Both teams had a strong start to the season, and showed their potential to grow as the season progresses.
Their next meet is Saturday, Sept. 23 at Alleghany High School.
