NSW XC Champs made a welcome return to Willandra on Saturday 18 June. This was the the first time in three years for the NSW XC Champs to be held locally and although Nowra numbers were down from previous years when Willandra was the Club’s home course, the Club was still well represented at the124th running of this Championships event.
In the junior ranks, in the Under 12 2km event, Lana Crawford placed 10th from a field of twenty in a time of 8.17, whilst Airlie Stevens was not far behind in 12th place in 8.25. Macca Davis contested the male event and was 10th in 8.11.
In the Under 14 3km event, amongst a very large field of 45, Nowra had three competitors in the female race. Lily Sproule was the first Nowra athlete home in 36th place in 13.16, followed by Elsie Proctor in 38th place in a new course PB of 13.32 and Lizzy Davis in 42nd place in 14.43. In the male event which was contested by another large field, Cameron Baxter had a great run to finish 12th in 10.30.
All-rounder Emily McLaren competed in the women’s 4km run and was 17th in the Under 15’s with a time of 17.53.
In the men’s 4km run in the Under 15 race Nicholas McGill pushed hard to place top 10, with a 9th place in 14.50. Whilst in the Under 16 race, Denzel Atkinson was 21st in 14.42, Hamish McLaren was 24th in 14.51 and Darcy Davis was 26th in 16.13.
In the men’s 6km Run, Harrison Baxter competed in the Under 17 group and like his brother Cameron, had a fantastic run, finishing 6th in a closely contested race, clocking a time of 21.18.
In the masters events, Angela Bond was 4th in the 6kms 50-54 year category in a time of 32.14 whilst Alison Havadjia was 5th in the 55-59 years group in 42.55. Glen Mustapic contested the 8kms distance in the 50-54 group and was 11th in 42.14.
Erin Smart decided that running 10kms was a good idea and contested the Open Female race, finishing 6th in the 40-44 year category in 49.58.
Congratulations to all our Nowra Athletics Club competitors.
It was also great to see former Nowra Athletics Club member Arron Spiessberger–Parker take out the men’s title in the Open 10km event. You can read about Arron’s win at ANSW https://www.nswathletics.org.au/news/paige-campbell-and-aaron-spiessbergerparker-crowned-winners/