Facing competition in the form of familiar and new foes from towns all over Massachusetts, the Vineyard runners torched their way through the 3.1 mile course at the Gardner Municipal Golf Course.

For the second year in a row the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School cross country team has produced a banner season. Saturday the boys squad won the division five South Sectional championship.

Over 600 runners and 17 teams participated in the annual Vineyard Invitational, with some schools traveling from as far away as Worcester and Barrington, R.I.

The regional high school girls cross country team are division champions for the first time in the program’s history.

The Vineyarders dominating performance was catapulted by a clean sweep of the top five finishers in the girls race and eight runners in the top 10 finishers of the boys race.

The Vineyard Invitational is the largest race of the season on the Island, bringing together 22 teams and over 800 runners from across the Commonwealth and surrounding states.