This week’s cross country round was held on the demanding Willandra hills. It was a fine sunny afternoon with a good turnout, the week before Country Classic, with runners obviously taking advantage of the round to get in some last-minute training before the State Championships, to be held next weekend.
In the Special A’s Clayton Hudson was first across the line followed by Tobi Hudson.
In the 1km Bethany Dobson took line honours this week with James Babian finishing second; these two runners constantly featuring in the top 3 each week showing their running consistency and determination. Alisha Mustapic ran in 3rd and Darcy Arnold followed in 4th.
In the 2km Division 1 Sam Phillips crossed first followed by Alec Dobson and Liam Coulson-Knight. In Division 2 Thomas Pratt backed up from last week with another first place finish, followed by Cameron Harrison and Kelly Norwood.
Sophie Philips also repeated her win from last week in the 3km Division 1 with a very speedy run. Second place went to Victoria Kennedy followed by Jainie Hamilton and Kyra McKinnon. In Division 2 it was Erin Martin who crossed the line first. Alison Evans crossed second and Alex Arnold was third.
The Medium Course Division 1 was taken out by the very capable Shenay Edwards. Hugh Dobson secured another podium finish for the Dobson family taking second place and Paul Duncan finished in third place with Kristina O’Shea in 4th place.
In Division 2 it was Rod Rose who ran home first. Zahra Wells, taking inspiration from her jellybean shirt, channelled the energy-inducing power to run in second and John Keenan showed his consistent form to finish 3rd. Eva Moeller-Duhme with her calm approach, once again won the Division 3 proving her steadiness. Di Court ran in second with regular runner Maureen Cox coming in third after her week off last week. Good to see Maureen feeling well again!
The first to finish two laps of Willandra in long course division 1 was Mitchell Hudson who came through the pack from a handicap of 7 minutes. He was followed by the ever-steady Dave Tuckerman. Perry Strand ran in third with Tim O’Shea finishing 4th. There’s no stopping Kevyn Davis at the moment. He showed he is in top form to finish first again in Division 2. Angela Bond also took out second place for the second week running. Siobhan Clayton ran well from a back marker position to finish third with Martin Bell having to settle for fourth place this week.
In Division 3 the winner was Rachel Lewis. Jack Robertson finished second and Geoff Crook; another very consistent runner each week, finished third.
The Willandra ‘Country Classic’ will be held next Saturday. Runners are reminded that the program of events starts earlier than a normal competition day with the first event kicking off at 11am. The championship events are open to registered runners only and registration numbers and club uniform must be worn for all championship events. For other runners there is a 1km, 2km or 4km ‘Altogether Fun Run’. Choose your distance! It is open to anyone any age from anywhere. Nowra Athletics Club encourage you to challenge your family and friends and have fun running. Pay and enter on the day $2 for the 1km and $5 for the 2km and 4km. The fun run starts at 1.40pm. We look forward to seeing you at Willandra.