The post-event presentations on the veranda of the hall with the lake as a backdrop and the inclusion of spot prizes added much to the occasion and brought the curtain down on one of the best inter-school cross-country events in recent years.
The senior boys’ race had the biggest field and saw the closest finish of the day, with three schools represented in the top four and a hard-fought battle in the muddy two-lap, four-kilometre race.
Matthew Sinclair (Whanganui Collegiate School) took an early lead on the first of the two laps and by mid-race, the leading four had established a lead over the rest of the field.
Jacob Anderson (Cullinane College) won the close sprint to the finish, with George Davey (Whanganui High School) and Anderson’s brother Charlie completing the podium. Matthew Sinclair finished a few seconds further back in fourth.
The senior girls’ race produced a Whanganui Collegiate trifecta, with 15-year-old Greta Darke taking the title from Harriet Douglas and Maia Lupton.
Darke, who finished 15th at last year’s New Zealand Secondary Schools Cross Country event as a junior, looks ready to step up to the senior competition over 4km, with Tuesday’s race providing excellent race distance competition.
Douglas and Lupton were in close attendance, which is encouraging for the Whanganui Collegiate six-to-score team which will compete at the New Zealand Schools Championships next month in Palmerston North, where they will be joined by schools internationals Louise Brabyn and Amy McHardy along with the well-performing non-starters Rosa Meyer and Pascale Bowie on Tuesday. Abbey Peters (Cullinane College) was fourth.
Blake Candish (Collegiate) won the junior (under-16) race with a strong finish, heading off Maximus Matthews (Cullinane) and Aidan Muir (Whanganui High), with Matthews’ teammate Ethan Linklater in fourth after competitive racing over the 2km race.
In the junior girls’ grade, Hannah Byam (Collegiate) took the title after some strong running over the second half of the 2km lap.
Zoe Anderson (Cullinane) made it a great day for the Anderson family and finished second, heading off the challenge from Zoe Broadhead (Collegiate), with Broadhead’s junior team captain Olivia Gilbertson in close attendance in fourth.
The Year 9 races saw Whanganui Collegiate School take the trifecta in both grades. In the girls’ race, Tilly Darke, following in the footsteps of her older sister Greta, ran strongly to take the title from teammates Grace Chadwick and Alaska Humphrey, with Annabelle Brown of Whanganui High School taking fourth place. The boys’ Year 9 race saw a win for David Sinclair (Collegiate) from teammates Toby Gill and Thomas McMurray, with Will Collins-Lowe from host school Rangitīkei College taking fourth place.
There was a buzz about Tuesday’s Cross Country Championships that’s been missing in recent years, and hopefully, this will be the catalyst for growth in the future.
While Whanganui Collegiate School may have taken the largest share of podium places, there were many encouraging performances from athletes from all competing schools. Hopefully, many will take up the opportunity to take the next step by competing at the New Zealand Cross Country Championships in nearby Palmerston North on Saturday, June 17.
At the Saturday championships in Palmerston North, athletes can compete for their own school as individuals or as part of a team in the three-and-score team competitions, and on the following day there will be relays where teams run for regionally selected teams.
Although cross-country is a demanding and challenging sport, it is one that is accessible for all without the associated cost of many sporting activities.
Running provides an excellent aerobic base for all sports. There are runners in every school in New Zealand, and they only need encouragement to get out there and do it.
The large number of entries for the New Zealand Secondary Schools championships from some schools, including many smaller schools, are invariably schools where potential runners have been encouraged. Just getting out running produces rewards in terms of performance very quickly, especially in the early stages, bringing considerable satisfaction for the young athletes.
