MECHANICSVILLE, VA -- Originally planned as a subvarsity only meet, the Lee-Davis Invitational opened up a varsity division and a flood of fast times came with them. One time in particular, 18:13, the new course record time set by Oaktree Academy sophomore Aurora Scott as she shattered the old mark of 18:59 held by Christy Ward (James River HS, 2004). Runner-up Anne Barber of Tallwood also dipped under the old record with a 18:56 clocking as she continues to have a breakthrough cross country season. The boys\' race saw an exciting finish with three seconds separating the top three finishers in Alex Bowman of Hermitage (16:26), Richard \"Skeeter\" Morris of Nottoway (16:27), and John Vial of Hermitage (16:29).
With only a #10 ranked Western Albemarle girls without four of their top seven in attendance at Pole Green, the #6 state ranked Fairfax girls won easily with a 34 point team total. The Fairfax ladies had an impressive 27 second spread between their top five runners on a course that is fairly comparable to the state course with Jessica Trapeni (4th, 19:50), Liz Kakouris (7th, 20:05), Anne-Marie Duncan (8th, 20:09), Frances Dowd (9th, 20:11), and Natalie Auble (11th, 20:17). The #6 state ranked Hermitage boys (61 pts) won by 24 points over Group AA #5 ranked Fort Defiance (85 pts) with a strong front two in Bowman and Vial as well as a solid three to follow in Nathan Puckett (8th, 16:42), Ben Hendrick (26th, 17:24), and Kieran Lee (31st, 17:29). Fort Defiance finished ahead of #10 state ranked Osbourn Park (3rd, 94 pts) as the lack of a strong fifth man continues to separate the Indians from being one of the state\'s top teams this fall.