The cross country team competed in the 48th Annual Metro Cross Country Championships hosted by and held at Blacksburg High School on Oct. 18. The Lady ‘Cats placed second out of twelve teams with a score of 82. Senior Deena Ludtke had another stand-out performance for the Lady ‘Cats, placing second individual with a time of 20:14.6. On the men’s side, the ‘Cats also performed well, placing fifth out of fifteen teams with a score of 167. Leading the men’s team was Freshman up-and-comer Preston Spangler who placed second individual with a time of 16:38.0.
Coach Julie Tisone, head coach of the cross country team, said, “The weather was perfect… [but] the course was very hilly.”
Addressing the team’s goals for this meet, Tisone said the ladies were hoping to repeat the girl’s first place finish from last year. For the boys, Tisone said, “[They were hoping for] just a good, strong meet.”
Concerning their performance, Ludtke said, “The girl’s team did really well, especially considering we lost a lot of seniors last year.”
Alex Miller, who had a strong race with a time of 18:40.1, said, “[The boy’s team] had an average performance: it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t crazy [good].” Tisone noted she was impressed with the team’s strong performance on this really hilly course.
Moving forward, the team is preparing for their district meet Oct. 25.
