It was another beautiful afternoon of cross country running on Saturday 16th May, with members enjoying ideal conditions before the AGM and Annual Presentation later in the day.
The 1km event attracted a field of ten enthusiastic runners. Will Sproule led the way home in 5:46 ahead of Luca Sturgiss in 6:04, while Olive Sturgiss was close behind in 6:10. Grace Parmenter continued her strong season with 6:23, followed by Lyla Cisneros (7:17), Ayla Parmenter (7:23) and Edyn Bozikov (7:27). Sophie Giumelli crossed in 8:05, ahead of Claire Bozikov (8:41) and Hayes Sturgiss (8:48).
Anne Boatswain claimed victory in the 2km event with 14:25, while Piper Browne recorded the fastest outright time of the day with 8:39. Hollie Giumelli was next in 12:55, while Xander Day (in corrected place of 4th) and Jameson Day (12th) both clocked 12:02. Joel Browne dipped under nine minutes with 8:55 and Loretta Norris impressed with the second-fastest time overall of 8:52. Maggie Vaughan finished the course in exactly 10:00, followed, in time order, by Ari Cisneros (10:30), Peter Dooley (10:44), Maddi Wills (11:11), Lani Parmenter (11:29), Hamish Bennett (12:14) and Ellie Cooper (12:39).
The 3km race produced another close finish, with Declan Bennett working hard to edge out Emerson Boatswain, 13:03 to 13:10, while Sam Dennett was only seconds further back in 13:21. Youngster Zayne Taylor showed impressive form with 13:55, just ahead of Will Heffill in 14:00 and Simon Taylor in 14:15. Emily McLaren ran strongly for 15:21, followed by Andrew Heffill (15:53), Mila Bozikov (16:14) and Tony Lim (17:31).
The Emmerton family rivalry was alive and well once again, with Mitch Emmerton securing bragging rights in 17:37 ahead of Alex Emmerton (17:52) and Ben Emmerton (18:33). Jacob Wilson finished in 17:40, Jaxon Keogh recorded 18:22 and Malachy Martin completed the course in 20:10. Scott Johnson showed great determination in his return from recent surgery, finishing in a steady 20:24.
Nineteen runners tackled the medium course, with the front of the field closely contested throughout. Hamish McLaren recorded the fastest time of the afternoon with an impressive 19:27, while Leith Babian was not far behind in 19:35. Scott Martin continued his consistent form with 20:14, narrowly ahead of Scott Armstrong in 20:53, while Lily Sproule produced a solid performance with 21:30.
Perry Strand claimed second-place points in 26:26, while Angela Bond backed up from parkrun earlier that morning to finish in 29:55. It was fantastic to welcome Annette Sampson back to competition, recording 28:22. Jack Kinsele crossed in 26:13, just ahead of Matt Kinsele (26:23) and Dean Bryce (26:24), who also backed up after parkrun. Josie Sproule ran well for 25:50, while Paige Connolly-Davies completed the course in 26:40.
Other strong performances came from Gavin Dyball (23:44), Ron Cozijnsen (24:38), Sam Keogh (28:32), Sky Martin (34:44), Katie Martin (35:27) and Eva Moeller-Duhme (45:18).
Another fantastic afternoon of running, camaraderie and friendly competition on our home course.