Maynard Shatters Her Record, Leads Girls to State Chance;

Boys Narrowly Miss Opportunity to Go to States

By Liz Twentyman (Nov 1, 2001)

Running the same Madison County course Wednesday as they encountered at the District Meet just a week ago, the Mason harriers ran a very different race today at the Regional Meet. Gliding into first place, junior Annie Maynard shattered her previous record by over thirty seconds, beating the course record with a time of 19:36 for the 3.1 mile course. Liz Twentyman also medaled, cutting a minute off of her previous best to finish 13^th in 21:48. She was closely followed by Luisa Fairfax, who finished 17^th with a time of 22:13. Crossing the finish just four seconds later, Alison Penland finished 18^th. Girls co-captain Claire Montgomery placed 35^th with a time of 23:40. Mason’s sixth runner, Danielle Dunn, placed 40^th with a time of 24:07, and was closely followed by Kendra Webb, placing 42^nd with a time of 24:12.

As a team, the girls placed 3^rd, just behind Madison County High School. Brentsville District High School finished first, with most of their top five runners medaling. As the top four teams in the Region, as well as the top 15 individual finishers, move on to States, the girls are competing in the State Meet on Saturday, November 10^th at Great Meadows.

For the boys, sophomore Andrew Montgomery strode into second place, with a time of 16:53. He was followed by Mark Murchie, who placed 25^th with a time of 18:19. Casey Winseler crossed the finish line two seconds later, placing 27^th. Orie Bumgarner finished with a time of 18:37, followed with Chad O’Hara with a time of 19:02. Jon Byers finished in 19:14, and was followed by senior co-captain Josh Singer with a time of 19:20.

The boys’ team tied for fourth place with Madison County High School, and unfortunately lost in the tie breaker--Madison’s sixth runner placed one second before Mason’s sixth runner. "It hurt so badly," coach Julie Bravin said. Despite the pain of the team not going on to run in States (as the second place finisher, Andrew Montgomery still competes at States), Mason harbors no regrets about its performance. "I think that everybody ran their hardest," boys’ co-captain Josh Singer said. "We have no regrets." Coach Bravin agrees that each runner gave it everything that they had in them, saying, "The team was outstanding. Their performance was perfect. I only wish that both teams were able to go on."

The Mason harriers are already looking onward to States. Coach Bravin said, "Our region is the toughest in the state, so our place today could very well be the place that we finish in States."