This week’s cross country point score round was held at Huskisson. It was a sunny afternoon with some great running on display and a number of Club records broken.
In the 1km course we had 8 enthusiastic competitors. First across the line was Heidi Piert, closely followed by Jed Seccombe and third was Levi Wallis.
The 2km Division 1 saw 9 runners contesting line honours. Matthew Higham continued his great form with a first place finish and the fastest time for the distance in 9 minutes 11. Bethany Dobson, the youngest of the Dobson family, showed speed certainly runs in the family, with a second place finish and third was Oliver Drury.
Division 2 was also hotly contested with a small but dedicated field. Lila Pratt was first home. Kate Leung finished second with the fastest female time of 10.33 minutes and hot on her heels in a time of 10.34 was Brae Hudson who ran through from back marker position to claim third.
In the 3km Division 1 first place went to Jasper Arnold. Leah Dobson ran in second and Tara Mustapic finished third. Alec Dobson had the fastest time of 12 minutes, running through from back marker to finish 6th. Also running strongly from a back position was Indie Seccombe who was the fastest female over 3 kms finishing 8th in a time of 12.26 minutes.
In Division 2 Eva Lilly showed her training preparation is paying dividends with a first place finish. Max Buckham once again featured on the podium with a second place this week and running in third was Jasper Leung.
Medium course saw the largest field of competitors for the day. There was some hot competition running the 4.8km course. In Division 1 Cooper Thomson ran strongly all the way to claim first place. He was followed by Andrew Munro and last week’s winner Jade Mustapic. Glen Mustapic had to settle for 4th place, behind daughter Jade. Cristine Suffolk was once again the fastest female across this distance and claimed the Open Women’s Club Record in a time of 20.37 minutes. Steve Grant showed amazing form as he ran through from back marker position to finish 11th taking out the Opens Men’s Club Record in the process in a very quick time of 17.09 minutes.
Division 2 saw Zahra Wells once again the winner for consecutive weeks, followed by Gavin Urquart and Kyra Florance.
Division 3 saw Fintan Murphy claim first place from the back marker position. Trish Bird took advantage of her handicap and was able to maintain a steady pace all the way around to claim second place and Angela Edwards ran in third. The conclusion of the Medium Course had the crowd cheering loudly as Maureen Cox and Terry Bailey sprinted to the finish competing for line placings!
Long course winner of Division 1 this week was Matt Brennan. Go marker Bill Broughton held onto his lead for most of the race to finish second and just behind him was John Keenan. The fastest female time on the day was recorded by Elisha Bell who finished 6th in a time of 38.43 minutes, also claiming the Open Women’s Club Record. Jye Edwards was impressive once again breaking the Open Men’s Club Record in a time of 30.12minutes, finishing 13th from a handicap of 13 minutes! 13 must be his lucky number!
In Division 2 long course Dean Bryce may or may not have cut some corners to claim victory across the line and Rae Thomson was second. Making it look easy from back marker Andy Depree ran in third. Obviously Andy has too much energy to burn as he has time to ‘taunt’ the other runners as he goes past and yet still finishes on the podium!
Athletes are reminded that next week’s cross country is at Willandra with Kembla Joggers Club for the McCaffrey Challenge. Please wear Club uniform if you have it so we can stand out in the gold and black colours! Everyone is asked to please bring a plate of food to share for afternoon tea, which will be held after the afternoon’s running. Enjoy a cuppa and something to eat with running friends at the picturesque Willandra.
Other upcoming events in the athletics calendar are the NSW Cross Country Relay Championships at Miranda on Saturday 30th May. Please let Club Captains know if you want to compete in a relay so teams can be finalised. Then on Sunday 31st May there is the Run NSW 2015 Greater Nowra Fun Run starting and finishing at the historic Nowra Showground. Online entries for this close Thursday 28th May. On offer is a 2km, 4km and 8km run. All the details are available on line at nowrafunrun.com.au.