Tying its best finish in program history, the Rockbridge County High School boys cross country team placed second of 12 teams at the Class 3 state meet on Saturday morning at Green Hill Park in Salem.
The Wildcats scored 89 points to trail only state champion Western Albemarle (50). After the first kilometer, the Wildcats were in seventh place, but their top runners gradually passed other harriers to move up in the standings. RC also placed second to WA in the Region 3C meet, when the Warriors won by a slightly smaller margin of 36 points.
At the state meet, Lord Botetourt (84) placed third, while Christiansburg (64) and Abingdon (55) rounded out the top five. This was the RC boys’ first state meet appearance as a team since 2014, when they placed 12th under then-head coach Molly Keltner The Wildcats last had a team advance to the state meet was when the RC girls placed sixth at the Class 3 state meet three years ago.
The last time the RC boys placed second at the state meet was in 2002, with individual state champion and RC Athletic Hall of Famer John Crews leading them. RC also placed second in 2001.
On Saturday, with sunny weather and temperatures in the 60s, Lord Botetourt senior Ethan Thorne won the boys’ race, completing the flat 5-kilometer race in 15 minutes, 8.8 seconds. Senior teammate Eric Duncan placed second of 101 harriers in 15:29.
Leading the Wildcats was junior Sammy Eastwood. He was RC’s third runner after the first mile but passed harriers throughout the last two miles and just missed all-state (top 15) honors by placing 16th in 16:23.4. RC’s second runner was junior Tyler Ludtke, finishing 27th in 16:35.1, and junior teammate Oscar McClung finished 28th in 16:36.9. Also cracking the top 30 was RC sophomore Leif Guse (30th, 16:42.1). RC’s lone senior competing was Trent Cash (31st, 16:44.2).
The Wildcats’ final two runners were sophomore Grant Swenty (45th, 17:10.2) and junior Lincoln Steele (62nd, 17:49.5).
In addition to their runner-up finishes at the Region 1C meet and the Class 3 state meets, the Wildcats won the Shenandoah District championship last month, their first district title in recent history.
For the full story and photos from the state meet, with comments from RC head coach Julie Tisone and several of the RC boys, please see our Nov. 12 newspaper.
