The 2014 NSW Cross Country Relay Championships were held at Miranda on Saturday 31st May. Although grey clouds loomed overhead, the rain held off and for once, there was no ankle turning mud to be seen on the Miranda course!
Nowra fielded 20 teams with some great team results and many personal best times for the athletes. There were 8 senior teams and 12 junior teams; many running for the first time in the State Relays competition. Our best performances on the day came from the very strong Under 18 boys team in the 4 x 3km relay and also in the sturdy 45+ males team in the 4x4km. The combination of Gus Frank, Harry McGill, Jed Frank and Jye Edwards saw the Under 18 boys take out the gold medal, in an overall time of 39.02. This was a fantastic result from the boys who battled it out with Kembla Joggers the whole way round! The ‘B’ team of Liam Dooley, Cameron Musgrove, Emerson Brian and Zac Havadjia also showed good form to finish 7th in this event.
In fact, it seems 7 may have been the timely number for Nowra on Saturday with 6 teams finishing in 7th position. These were all gutsy performances by the athletes who put their best running foot forward to race in the black and gold around the twisty course with its deceptively tough inclines. Most runners had to complete 2 laps of the course; either 2 x 1.5km laps or 2 x 2km laps, and it was great to hear the “go Nowra” cheers from the Nowra crowd as they spurred their team mates on, especially on that second lap! In the mens 45+ team, Steve Grant, Leith Babian, Graeme Pepper and Dave Tuckerman ran at a rapid pace to secure gold in a time of 59.24. Steve and Dave ran with poise and determined focus while Leith ran with his characteristic wide grin as he was cheered on, even smiling for the camera; and it seems Graeme’s recent facial growth is certainly not slowing him down any!
We also had a podium finish in the 55+ mens team with a bronze medal effort from Peter Dooley, Bill Broughton, Peter Khourey and Martin Tomasini. These seasoned runners are undoubtedly great role models for our younger club athletes! Bronze also went to our Under 20’s male team of Arron Spiessberger-Parker, Tim O’Shea, Angus Pryde and Jake Myors in a time of 39.23. They were just pipped at the post for second by Randwick Botany who squeezed past in a time of 39.19.
The Club would like to thank Glen and Melinda Mustapic for organising the relay teams; it’s a big job trying to manage team entries and we appreciate the effort that goes into the coordination of this. We would also like to thank all athletes and families who committed their time to travel and compete at the NSW State Cross Country Relays and are proud of everyone’s efforts on the course!
See results section on the ANSW webiste for all team and individual results. Next week’s cross country pointscore round will be held at Huskisson.
See you there.