Track and Field
Susanna Sullivan, Mason’s Humble
Track Star, Heads to Nationals

By Margaret Lipman (June 15, 2006)

For most athletes, the spring sports season is long over.  Even the teams that made it to the state championships last week have finally stopped practicing for the year.  But sophomore Susanna Sullivan, star of the girls’ track and cross country teams, has one more race to run before summer break (although certainly not a break from running) sets in. 

This weekend, Sullivan will travel with Mason distance coach Julie Bravin to Greensboro, North Carolina, to compete in the Nike Outdoor Nationals in the 3200 meter run.  Sullivan is the current regional champion in the 3200 m and the State (Division A) runner-up in the 1600 m and 3200 m.  She qualified for Nationals in the latter event with an astounding time of 11:01.

But the competition at this weekend’s event will be extremely fierce, even for Sullivan, who has cut over a minute off of her 3200 m time from last season.  With her qualifying time of 11:01 (which she ran on May 12’s Southern Track Classic to a third-place finish), Sullivan was less than a second under the 11:02 entry qualification.  Last year’s winner clocked an unbelievable time of 10:19.13. 

Sullivan is the only Mason athlete to make it to Nationals in recent memory, but you won’t find this modest runner reminding you of that.  And with two seasons left at Mason, we can all continue to expect great things from Susanna Sullivan, regardless of what happens this weekend.