The Oakton High boys’ cross country team captured first place at last Saturday’s Oatlands Invitational meet in Leesburg. The annual midseason showcase event is one of the biggest high school meets in Virginia and draws teams from throughout the state as well as from other parts of the country.
The Oakton boys, competing in the varsity `A’ race, scored 143 points to earn top honors. Mountain View High of Stafford finished second with 157 points and Battlefield (264) of Haymarket was third.
Local schools, other than Oakton, to finish in the top 10 were: fifth place Herndon (278), sixth place Jefferson (295), seventh place Centreville (312) and 10th place South Lakes (352).
The Oakton boys saw four individuals finish among the top 30 runners. The Cougars, in a field of 259 runners, were paced by senior Andrew McCullen, who was second overall. The next three Oakton finishers were seniors Patrick Fulghum (17th), Matt Woodhouse (25th) and Padraic Flynn (30th).
Madison High senior Tom Inglis finished 27th to lead the Warhawks.
Herndon High senior Jack Jasper finished 35th overall. Meanwhile, South Lakes’ Will Sickenberger, a junior, was 39th and teammate Austin Leggett, also an 11th grader, was 43rd.
In the boys’ varsity `B’ race, Oakton runners Kevin Chow (30th overall), Andrew Larkin (38th) and Tyler Montanino (41st) had solid outings among a field of 386 runners.
<b>ON THE GIRLS’ SIDE</b>, Oakton finished sixth place overall (out of 37 teams) in the varsity `A’ race. Langley High, meanwhile, was 10th.
Oakton senior Lanie Smith led the Cougars with a 23th place finish. Teammate Alison Gregor, meanwhile, finished among the top 50 runners (among 249 runners).
From Herndon, junior Carolyn Hennessey finished 33rd overall. Langley runners Elissa Purdy and Jessica Miles, both freshmen, finished 39th and 45th, respectively.
In the girls’ varsity `B’ race, Langley’s Mary Fousse led the Saxons with an eighth place finish in a field of 311 runners. Teammates Caroline Mahoney and Ishana Laszlo finished 32nd and 38th, respectively. Marshall High’s Court Herbolsheimer was 16th.