Last Wednesday, the George Mason High School boys and girls varsity cross country teams participated in the Bull Run District Meet at Rappahannock High School. The girls squad, led by junior Susanna Sullivan’s second overall finish, placed second in the team competition, bested only by perennial power Clarke County despite a shorthanded roster. The boys finished third in the team competition, led by all-district runner Miles Butler, who finished 11th overall.
“On the girl’s side, we only had six runners for district, and the varsity team is made up of seven,” Mason Coach Julie Bravin said. “The girls really pulled it together and did what they needed to do.”
It was no surprise that the Clarke County boys and girls’ teams dominated the meet, as the defending state champions and current No. 1 squad in Group A won convincingly. However, Bravin believes that the Mustangs rose to the challenge to advance to the regional meet.
“Aside from Clarke, nothing else was given. The team ran a solid, very strong race. They did what they needed to do, and stepped up at the race,” said Bravin of both the boys and the girls.
Sullivan’s time of 19:40 finished second only to Clarke’s Sophia Holmes. All-district honors for the Mustangs were also earned by ninth-place finisher, freshman Courtney Ready, with a time of 22:03. Junior Karina Robarge, and senior Elizabeth Fortenberry, who finished 10th and 12th with times of 22:11 and 22:30 respectively, also finished with all-district accolades.
Rounding out the top six on the female side were Taylor Moot in 18th with a time of 23:40 and Emma Goetz in 20th, who finished in 23:56.
Butler was the only male Mason runner to earn all-district honors, given to the top fifteen runners in the entire race. Sophomore Carlos Clark barely missed the cut for all-district, finishing 16th with a time of 19:03. Rounding out the top seven for the boys were Louis Henninger in 18th, Teddy Reuckert in 20th, Will Stewart in 22nd, Daniel Benn in 24th, and Andrew Breen in 27th. Runners from Clarke County’s boys team took the top four spots in the race.
Bravin earned some accolades as well, receiving the honor of Bull Run District Coach of the Year, as selected by her peers following the District race.
The Regional meet was held on Wednesday, Nov. 1. Results were not available at press time.
