Last Saturday’s cross country competition round was held at Longreach. Despite the cold and the light sprinkling of rain, the dedicated cross country runners turned up to do their best (to warm up!)
In the 1km course there were 5 young runners this week. First across the finish line was Katie Martin, who has notched up quite a few podium finishes for the season. Next to finish was Levi Wallis, followed by Ben Maher, then Miller Bell and then Evie Smart.
In the 2km event there were 10 competitors. It was Sam Maher who took line honours this week, closely followed by James Babian, then Bethany Dobson, who was the fastest female over 2 kilometres in 10.14minutes. Matthew Higham and Scott Delo crossed the line in equal 9th place, each clocking the fastest male time of 8.51minutes.
In Division 2 Emily Burinaga was first home; Lila Pratt was second and Kate Leung third.
Tara Mustapic was the winner of Division 1 in the 3 kilometre event; Jasper Arnold was second and Leah Dobson third. In Division 2 it was a family affair with William Pratt claiming first place and Thomas Pratt taking second. Darlene Musgrove just edged out Andrew Havadjia for third.
In the medium course Jesse Buckham staked his claim on first place whilst Cooper Thomson claimed second and Paul Duncan took third place. However it was Steve Grant in 4th place who ran the fastest time over the distance in 20.34minutes. Jade Mustapic was the fastest female in 24.58minutes.
Division 2 saw Alex Arnold cross the line first, followed by Angela Urquart and Casey Johnson. Division 3 winner was a female triple with Trish Bird first, Eva Moeller Duhme second and Chris Russell third.
In the long course this week it was Elisha Bell who not only won but also clocked the fastest female time of 39.18minutes. Linda Weatherill was next across the line followed by Stuart Druery. Leith Babian managed to warm himself up with a quick run, recording the fastest male time on the day of 34.57 minutes.
Once again, club stalwart Kev Davis was on the podium in Division 2 with a win this week. Matt Kinsele was second and Dean ‘I cut corners when I can’ Bryce was third.
Next week’s competition will be held at Dapto for the McCaffrey Challenge return match with Kembla Joggers, then the following week (1st August) will be at Huskisson. This will be the last pointscore round of the season so don’t miss out on your last opportunity to score points!
Then, on Saturday 8th August there will be end of season novelty events and certificate presentation at Willandra, with an afternoon tea BBQ provided. The committee asks if members can bring a salad and sweets to share to accompany the sausage sizzle! This might just be the pre-training needed for those competing in the City to Surf on Sunday 9th August.
Finally, for anyone keen to run 10 kilometres or more the Capital to Coast is on 14th to 16th August. Starting in Canberra and finishing in Jervis Bay, the Capital to Coast is a multi stage running event from ACT to the NSW Coast. For the fourth year, the event encourages medium and long distance runners to test themselves over 3 days of running. The event starts at 4pm on the Friday with a 10km run at Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra, ACT followed by 8 stages covering 90km on Saturday and Sunday, finishing at Huskisson Beach, NSW. For more information check out the Capital to Coast website or find the link on Nowra Athletics facebook page.