Cross Country
The Kings School Invitational, The King’s School, 20 May 2023.
The old Kings course returned, providing joy for some and dread for many. Despite the knowledge of impending pain, the shore lads proudly came together under a hastily formed banner (a rugby goalpost provided by King’s; Spratty forgot the flag again). The nerves heightened as the 9.00am start time drew closer. The nerves dispersed as the Shore lads confidently trotted around the tough course with a smile.
The juniors started the day with a 4km dash in a highly-capable field. With the return of Toby Ward and Hugo Stewart, the juniors were returning to their former strengths. Toby and Hugo worked together to lead the Shore lads around the tough course to finish in 17th and 21st, respectively. The boys were followed by Archie Watson (50th) and Benjamin Frantz (52nd), who worked well with each other to earn the juniors an improved 5th place in the GPS. Much teamwork was evident in the junior’s success. Well done, boys!
The intermediates followed, toeing the line, ready for a 6km battle with the tough King’s course. Fraser Pandit returned with a strong effort in a very competitive field. Fraser battled his way to 15th place in the GPS, followed by Blake Alderson, Jimmy Thompson, and Josh Lo. The intermediate boys displayed a courageous effort, remaining strong up the brutal hills. The lads finished with 7th place in the GPS, solid effort!
The senior boys set out to prove themselves against the strong GPS field. The Shore AFL team was gifted a forfeit, allowing Matthew Hogg to don the XC white and blue. As the gun fired, signalling the start of the race, Jesse Cochrane assisted a few boys in taking the lead for the first kilometre. I led out quickly, and then Lachy Brown took the reins at the front of the race, attempting to break two tough competitors from Joeys and High. Lachy courageously fought his way around the course to finish in 3rd place, picking himself up a medal. I was able to hold onto 4th place, swiftly prior to learning that Nathan Stanmore had to drop out due to an Achilles problem. With an illness issue from James Bestic, the ability to remain in contention for the premiership lay in the hands of Ryan Gilmour and Hoggy. With an uncharacteristically, yet pragmatic, slow start for Ryan, he came home strong with an outstanding 14th in the GPS, followed closely behind by Hoggy in 21st. The results landed the open team with 42 points, only seven points away from first place in the overall standings.
Machine of the Week: (selected by the coaches and Spratty) Jesse Cochrane.
Next week the boys return to the elusive “four hills” course at Sydney Park. Shore will be hosting this meet, giving the boys an opportunity to gain some points and return the Open team to first place overall. Sydney Park is a great opportunity to display some Shore determination and grit.
Cam Burnett
Shore Cross Country Captain 2023
Addendum: A few pics of training on Curry Mountain. The steps at Lavender Bay, so named Curry Mountain as there is an Indian Restaurant at the top!