The 31st edition of the NSW Cross Country Relay titles were held at Upjohn Park in Rydalmere on Saturday 4th June and nine teams from Nowra were keen to take part. Parts of the course were muddy, but generally the course was in pretty good condition, testing the speed of runners.
The U12 boys kicked off first for Nowra in the 4x2km relay. Macca Davis led the team out, completing his lap in 8.14. Tom Smart was second runner and recorded 8.47, followed by Kai Thirwall in 8.55 and then Randira Desilva with 10.09. The boys clocked the third fastest time of 36.05 but were ineligible for medals or points as a non-member classified team. (To be eligible for team medals or winter points teams must have been composed of team members who had either an Open, Dual, Concession or Winter membership).
In the U14 4x2km event Nowra’s boys team finished 11th in 35.19. Cameron Baxter clocked a super fast lap of 7 minutes, which was the fifth fastest time of the day, from a total of fifty runners in this event. Noah Dyball was second runner with 10.14, Hugh Thirwall was third with 8.33 then Elizabeth Davis stepped up to run with the boys and clocked a neat 9.32.
In the girls team the combination of Lily Sproule, Elsie Proctor, Rose Atkins and Evie Smart did themselves and the Club proud amongst a strong field of 11 teams, but unfortunately their overall team results were not available at the time of writing this article.
Nowra had two teams representing the U16’s 4x3km event. Team A started with Nic McGill who registered 10.41. Denzel Atkinson ran 10.57 whilst Hamish McLaren had a great run in 10.56. Oliver Baxter demonstrated his continuing progress on the cross country circuit with 10.43. Collectively the team clocked 43.17 for 5th place. Team B kicked off with Toby Dyball in 11.33, followed by Tom Brookes with 12.48. Emily McLaren was outstanding as the third member of this team, recording 12.34 before Jett Goddard brought the team home in 11.45. The team finished 7th overall with 48.40.
The U18 boys had a good showing with Harrison Baxter leading the team out in 10.22. Darcy Ward completed lap two in 12.20 then Jonah Watson, filling in at the last minute, as third runner, clocked 13.30 with Gaveen DeSilva finishing in 12.06 to bring the team home in 7th place in 48.18.
In the masters events the 40+ women finished 4th with a combined time of 1.21.49. Katrina Ward finished 4km in 17.55 as lead runner. Annette Sampson was second runner with 21.04 and Lisa Carroll completed lap three in 24.44. Erin Smart brought the team home in 18.06.
In the men’s 40+ event Mark Thirwall completed lap one in 15.15. Marcus Baxter was second runner with 17.04. Matt Watson, always a team player, was resilient in 24.04 and Dennis Smart finished for the team in 16.28. The team clocked 1.12.51 for 6th place.
Gavin Dyball showed great form in the 50+ event, finishing 4kms in 18.27. Darren Atkinson achieved 19.39 in lap two and sprinter Mark O’Leary did a great job with 19.56 for lap three. Glen Mustapic rounded out the field with 19.07 to complete the relay for Nowra with a 9th placing in 1.17.09.
It was a great effort for Nowra to enter nine teams amongst much bigger Clubs. Well done to everyone who competed.