SPARTANBURG, S.C. (Oct. 17, 2026) -
Deena Ludtke just keeps putting one foot in front of the other and setting major marks along the way.
Ludtke set a personal best in her second consecutive race to lead ETSU cross country as both the women's and men's teams competed in the USC Upstate Invitational in Spartanburg on Saturday, the final race before the SoCon Championship.
The native of Lexington, Virginia, posted her second consecutive personal best in the 5k with a 17:41.5, the 21st fastest 5k time in the history of ETSU cross country. Her time got her across the line in 11th in the field of more than 300 runners.
Including Ludtke, a total of eight Bucs set personal bests, with six women and two men achieving high marks.
Gracie Franklin's 18:19.4 and
McKenzie Fitzgerald's 18:23.4 were personal bests that landed them 31st and 33rd, respectively.
Hannah Robinson (18:43.1),
AJ Thomas (18:55.7) and
Paige Remillard (19:08.8) also set personal best marks outside the scoring places.
Mackenzie Armstrong's 18:16.0 to finish 30th and
Aubrey Jones's 18:20.7 for 33rd rounded out ETSU's scoring and put the team third, behind Mercer and 30th-ranked Duke, the latter of which won the event with six of the top seven finishers.
The five Buccaneer men who entered the race finished 12th of the 37 entries in the men's 8k, led by
Hayden Waleski's 25:17.4. Senior
Nolan Pedota set a personal best with a 25:29.8, and
Caden Costello set a new top mark of 25:30.1.
The Bucs will race again on Halloween at the SoCon Championship at Tryon International in Mill Springs, North Carolina.
For more information on ETSU cross country, go to ETSUBucs.com.
