MILL SPRING, N.C. (Oct. 30, 2026) – The ETSU men's and women's cross country teams will compete at the 2026 SoCon Championships on Saturday at Tryon International in Mill Spring, North Carolina. The men's 8k begins at 10 a.m. with the women's 5k to follow at 10:45.
EVENT: SoCon Men's & Women's Cross Country Championships
DATE: Saturday, October 30, 10:00 a.m. and 10:45 a.m.
VENUE: Tryon International (Mill Springs, North Carolina)
LIVE TIMING: SnapTiming
The women are led into the event by
Deena Ludtke, who posted one of the top 20 women's 5k times in school history at the USC Upstate Invitational on October 17 with a 17:41.5. Ludtke also owns the second-fastest time of the season for the Bucs with a 17:50.2 at the Louisville Classic on October 3, the 26th-fastest time in school history.
Mackenzie Armstrong will aim for a strong finale to a breakout sophomore season where she enters championship weekend with an 18:05.2, the team's second-fastest top mark and third fastest race time overall. Freshman
Aubrey Jones set a major marker with the third-fastest top mark of the season for ETSU by posting an 18:17.1 at the Louisville Classic. Veterans
Gracie Franklin and
McKenzie Fitzgerald enter championship weekend on the heels of personal best performances at the USC Upstate Invitational.
The men's team is led by the duo of sophomore
Garrett Hawkins and junior
Hayden Waleski, who have combined for the five-fastest times for the Bucs this season. Hawkins is the only Buccaneer to crack 25 minutes with a personal best 25:42.9 at the Hokie Invitational on September 18 while Waleski's top mark was a 25:06.9 at the USC Upstate Eye Opener on September 4. Senior
Nolan Pedota comes in off a career-best 25:29.8 at the Upstate Invitational, and freshman
Caden Costello ran a 25:30.1 in Spartanburg the same day.
The Buccaneer women look to surpass their sixth-place finish a season ago and are aiming for their first top-three finish since 2022. They last won the team event in 1999, and Lindsey Stallworth was the last individual winner in 2020. The men were the runners-up in 2025 thanks to an historic performance from
Jason Bowers, who dominated the field and became the first Buc to win the race since Derek Murphy in 1995. ETSU last won the men's team championship in 1996. Furman is the heavy favorite in both races, having won the men's and women's championships in 13 consecutive seasons.
For more information on ETSU cross country, go to ETSUBucs.com.
