On Saturday June 22nd the NSW Cross Country Championships were held at Willandra. These were the 122nd edition of the event and the 21st time the event was held at Willandra after first being held there in 1993. Although Nowra Athletics Club only had a small representation at the event the competitors did themselves and the Club proud.
Nowra brought home three individual medals, one in each colour courtesy of Perry Strand, Angela Bond and Robin Vonk.
Perry Strand competed in the 8kms event and took home the gold medal in the 55-59 years category after clocking 35.21 minutes. Perry was especially surprised when he was announced as the winner, having thought he was well behind the field, so nonetheless he was extremely proud of his gold medal for the Nowra colours.
Angela Bond ran 6kms, and like Perry, was convinced she was well out of contention for a medal. Angela actually left before medal presentation and was amazed when she received a phone call asking her to come back and collect her medal. Angela finished second in a time of 32.05 in the 50-54 years category. It was another proud moment for Nowra.
Robin Vonk ran 10kms and finished on the podium with a bronze medal after crossing in third place in the 35-39 years event. Robin stopped the clock at 35.57 minutes which was actually faster than his second place time last year of 36.32 minutes. Congratulations Robin.
In the junior races Nowra was unlucky to have a few runners pull out last minute, due to illness and other commitments, which meant Nowra was ineligible for team medals in most age groups.
In the Under 12 2kms race Emily McLaren finished 7th in 8.23 whilst Elsie Proctor was 23rd. Charlie Fay was 9th in 7.40 in the boys event whilst Jett Goddard was 11th in 7.53 and Cameron Baxter was 16th in 8.11.
In the Under 14’s 3km race Toby Dyball was 30th in 11.28 and Hamish McLaren was 36th in 12.21. Cooper Barrett, unfortunately had to withdraw due to injury.
Alexis Charalambous ran a PB to finish 18th in the U16’s 4km event in 16.12 minutes and Ella Dyball placed 29th in 16.51. The boys event saw Will Dyball run 14.48 for 26th place, Jacob Pepper clock 15.00 for 32nd place, Nash Hay 15.05 in 33rd place and Jasper Arnold, with a shoulder injury, a valiant 15.52 in 41st place. The boys combined effort placed them 4th in the team list.
Erin Smart, more accustomed to sprinting on the track, smiled her way around the 10km course and finished 5th in the 35-39 years category with a time of 48.06. Matt Lewis ran strongly in the Opens event, against a top quality field, to place 17th. Matt completed the 10kms in 35.40 minutes. Former Nowra members Jye Edwards and Arron Spiessberger-Parker displayed great form to claim silver and bronze medals respectively in this event. Gavin Dyball proved how he is a work horse with a 15th place in the 45-49 years event in a time of 52.34.
In the Fun Run category Emily McLaren backed up for her second run of the day and placed 2nd in the 2km race. Noah Dyball was 9th and Dylan Cox was 11th. Meanwhile inn the 4km race Lachlan Kaszonyi put in a fantastic performance to finish 2nd and Andy Waller pushed hard to place 8th.
It was a great day of running and the Club would like to thank all the competitors and their supporters who cheered them on.