Mount Vernon High School

After the rain moved out on Saturday, MVHS sent 4 runners to the line at the Annual Dennis Bays Invitational. Unlike previous years, this was a race of historical proportion due to the realignment of the state cross country tournament. A record 37 schools were in attendance with 299 boys crossing the finish line before the race was over. Many state powerhouse schools were in attendance along with the southern powerhouse schools. Columbus North (52) edged out rival Bloomington North (54) to take home the team honors. Bloomington South was third with 109 while Castle was the lone area school to be in the top 8 as they finished 4th (134). Mt. Vernon sophomore Mason Hagan battled with senior Mason Suits the entire race. Hagan would cross the finish line 2 places ahead of Suits to lead the 'Cats in his season best time of 24:14.9. He cut 1 minute 10 seconds off of last week's time. Mason Suits' time of 24:28 was also his best for the year as he cut 21 seconds off of last week's time. Junior Malachi Spainhoward was third for the 'Cats after a great effort his last mile in which he gained over 15 places on his way to a 25:17.2 finish dropping 38 seconds from last weekend. MV's squad was rounded out by sophomore Ryan McCollum who bested last year's time by nearly 7 minutes crossing in 27:26.5. Our teams will be back in action on Thursday at the Alan Hopewell Classic as they will compete in either the Frosh-Soph or Junior-Senior race. Our boys continue to work hard at practice and are seeing the results pay off. We're excited to see our results each week to help them build confidence in themselves and their capabilities. Great Work, MV!