.jpg)
The Rockbridge County High School girls’ 4 X 800-meter relay team placed 12th at the Class 3 state track and field meet, finishing in 10:20.9 to break their own school record by nearly a second on Friday at Liberty University.
Team members were senior Grace Rolon, juniors Nicole Black and Deena Ludtke and freshman Dorothy Lewis.
Previously, the RC girls had placed third at the Region 3C meet on May 23 in Harrisonburg, finishing in 10:21.75 to break the previous school record of 10:26.25, set in 2014, by 4.5 seconds. Last year, the RC girls placed seventh at the state meet in 10:27.72, but they faced faster competition this year.
Fort Defiance won the state title in the relay this year in 9:31.21, while Abingdon placed second of 21 teams in 9:37.25.
Proud of her relay team, longtime RC head coach Jennifer Showalter said, “It was great to see these girls work hard all season to break the school record.”
Lutdke also competed in the girls’ 3200-meter run on Saturday morning, earning all-state (top eight) honors by placing eighth in 11:35.09. Her time was just over a second shy of her school record of 11:34, which she ran at the Dogwood Track Classic on May 6 at the University of Virginia. “Deena had a great race,” said Showalter.
Happy with both of her races, Ludtke said, “Breaking the school record in the 4 X 800 again was great.” Ludtke noted that her 800-meter leg of the relay was a personal record (PR).
“The 3200 was fun to race at states, and I’m happy with my place and time,” added Ludtke. “This year, it was super fun to run, and I’m grateful for the friendships I’ve made through running this year. I’m looking forward to next year. I hope to PR and break more school records.”
With Ludtke’s high placing in the 3200-meter run, the Wildcats tied for 37th place of 40 scoring teams with one point. Abingdon won the girls’ meet with 66 points, Charlottesville (49.33) placed second, Heritage (37) finished third, and Maggie Walker (35) came in fourth. No RC boys qualified for the state meet.
While the Wildcats will return Ludtke, Black and Lewis, Showalter said the Wildcats will miss Rolon. “She has been a huge part of the distance program the past four years for indoor and outdoor track,” the RC coach said.
Reflecting on her final race, Rolon said, “I was very excited about the 4 X 800 coming into this track season. Last year, we were one second off of the school record at the state meet, three of us returned this year, and we added Dorothy Lewis to the relay as our third leg. Throughout the season, we got faster almost every meet, and finally started to really focus on the relay towards the end of the season. We spent a lot of time together, even outside of track. I think that really solidified the fact that the four of us made a team.”
“We always try to place higher than our seed time and run faster than we have before, so going into states we were after another school record,” added Rolon. “The week leading up to it, we had one speed workout on the track, and then some easy runs to get ready for the big meet.”
At the state meet, Rolon said she and her teammates “each ran as fast as our legs would let us, and finished with almost a full second PR. I’m so proud of our little team and all that we’ve done, and I couldn’t have asked for a better group of girls to have done it with.”
Rolon will be attending James Madison University in the fall and plans to run with a club there while studying communication sciences and disorders.
Also competing for the RC girls at the state meet was junior Bri Marando, finishing 13th in the girls’ discus with a throw of 84 feet, 4 inches on Friday. It was Marando’s third consecutive outdoor state track and field meet. She placed 13th in the discus as a freshman and finished 15th as a sophomore.
“Bri has been strong in discus all season,” said Showalter, noting that Marando’s best performance was at the Region 3C meet on May 23 in Harrisonburg, where she placed second with a throw of 99 feet, 8 inches. “However, still a huge accomplishment to make states for the third year in this event.”
Reflecting on the state meet, Marando, who also throws shot put, said this year’s experience throwing discus at the state meet “provided room for mental growth. I learned that I need to stay relaxed at the state meet, as I tend to get in my own head and tense up. I need to stay focused, work my technique, and let my body do what it should know how to do from years of repetition. My goals for next year are to make it back to state again and do better than years past. I would also like to hit a new PR of 110 or break the school record.”
Under the direction of Showalter, distance running coach Julie Tisone and throwing coach Eric Wilhelm, the Wildcats are looking to improving in track and field next year.
Including Rolon, the RC girls graduated two seniors. The other was thrower and jumper Zhyasia Singleton. The RC boys graduated two team members, distance runners Andrew Brannon and Hans-Pieter Nelson.
