The George Mason High School girls varsity cross country team claimed victory at Rappahannock last week, topping teams from Rappahannock, Strasburg and Madison County. Meanwhile the boys team took second place, paced by a fourth place finish by Miles Butler.

Senior Susanna Sullivan took first place individually with a time of 19:49.00, and her teammates claimed 10 more spots inside of the top 20 to give Mason a narrow margin of victory over Madison County in the team competition, 32-37. Karen Hamill and Courtney Ready placed fourth and fifth respectively, earning praise from Head Coach Julie Bravin.

“Karen and Courtney are pushing each other and working really hard,” Bravin said. “They both started out the season faster and stronger than last year.”

Pack tactics earned the boys their second-place finish. While Butler was the only Mustang to finish in the top 15, Mason runners filled the slots from 18th through 22nd in addition to Daniel Benn's 16th place effort.

Also highlighting the week of competition was the Oatlands Invitation in Leesburg last Saturday. Sullivan turned in a time of 19:27.06, good enough for 12th in the highly competitive Girls Varsity A heat. Hannah Davidson of Saratoga Springs won the division in 18:04.96.

Hamill and Ready were again separated by only a few seconds, finishing in times of 22:25.31 and

22:32.73.

Competing in the Boys Varsity A field, Butler raced to a time of 18:25.80, placing 141st in the massive field of 255. Benn (190th, 19:05.66), Matt Baker (197th, 19:10.15), Louis Henninger (208th, 19:22.06), Andres Ramos (222nd, 19:45.34) and Sam Parker (223rd, 19:52.58) all secured spots in the top 225 runners.