MEXICO - Sophomore Mason Gaines' second-place finish paced the Fulton Hornets cross country team, which used three top-10 finishes to win the boys' team championship at the Mexico Invitational on Saturday.
Gaines logged a time of 18 minutes, 5.97 seconds to guide the Hornets. Junior Tanner Steffen placed fourth in 18:30.78 and sophomore Nathan Quick came in eighth in 18:59.63.
Sophomore Gabe Luebbert earned 12th place in 19:28.92 and junior Chaz Ballard (19:31.43) took 14th. Sophomore Haydon Windsor ran a 20:10.75 to claim 21st and senior Luke Lohmeyer placed 25th in 20:43.43.
Senior Rachel Quick led the Fulton girls with a 20th-place effort of 24:33.7. Sophomore Adrea Shadbolt (25:05.9) and junior Katie Lowry (26:07.5) took 24th and 31st place, respectively, as the Lady Hornets didn't register a team score.
Sophomore Tyler Hickerson ran a 21:15.9 in the boys' mixed 5K to finish fifth overall. Junior Brendan Dungan earned seventh in a time of 21:26.46 and freshman Canyon Milligan (21:55.89) placed ninth.
Junior Sabin Cassidy finished 11th in 22:06.42 and freshman Zach Schwinkle came in 15th in 22:49.4 to help guide the Hornets to a second-place team finish.
Freshman Eryn Jones was the runner up in the girls' mixed 5k with a time of 28:18.67. Junior Mary Hinchie was fourth in 28:47.7 and freshman Anna Bonderer finished in 28:50.52 to claim fifth. Sophomore Olivia Rice rounded out the Fulton girls with a 12th-place time of 33:55.29 as the Lady Hornets didn't tally a team total.
Both Fulton teams will run at the 37th-annual Linn Invitational at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 12.