Cross Country Report
Saturday 9 August 2025
We were excited to be hosting the Shore Cross Country at Northbridge for the second time last Saturday. Let’s be clear, though, we weren’t so excited about the weather! It was wet!!! That being said, the GPS Schools stoically took to the course and made a good fist of the competition. There were some great performances, on which I’ll reflect on shortly. However, it is also worth mentioning the support that the Blue Street boys receive from their families. I was particularly impressed by the grandmothers who turned up last weekend to support the ‘apples of their eyes’ in the torrent! One nan was on umbrella duty as she raced around providing support for a ‘golden-haired boy’ with little regard for her own comfort, whilst another was heard shouting ‘that’s my grandson’ as he surged around the course in emphatic fashion! As I don’t want to embarrass anyone, you know who you are, yet it certainly wasn’t lost on me and others, great stuff!!!
In racing, sadly, the regular Saturday numbers were reduced as the CAS were off at their Championships. We got the Juniors underway at the scheduled 9am, and thankfully, racing soon warmed the athletes up! Harry Nicholson from the Prep was once again ‘amongst it’ up front and there he remained to finish a super 3rd overall! I’m so looking forward to him and his Prep buddies arriving next year, I think our Juniors will be hot! George Harvey was again super impressive, getting better weekly, and just managed to finish ahead of Zac Robertson as they were 11th and 12th, respectively. I look forward to witnessing what they may be able to do on the Track in the imminent Athletics Season! At the risk of sounding like a scratched record, it is the competition amongst us that improves our performance the most and certainly increases the essential ‘depth’! While mentioning improvement, Thomas Coleman is surging his way upward on the result sheet as the season progresses, as he was 23rd, completing our team result of 3rd, nice! A ‘shout out’ to Leon Field, who was a solid 26th, and it would be remiss of me not to mention Patrick Old, Alexander Warren and Elliot Smith, who were tenacious in the muddy conditions! Alexander possibly usurping Zac from last week for photo of the season…
The Intermediates looked very impressive from impartial (…) Shore eyes with Toby Ward, Jonty Jagger, Hugo Stewart, Ben Frantz all toeing the line as they welcomed Tom Armati to our ranks. We had been hoping and encouraging him to join us all season long. As we do to Will Bestic! Racing was as hot as it could be considering the conditions… and Toby and Jonty soon established themselves at the pointy end of the race. Toby surged to the lead, ultimately ‘breasting the tape’ for an awesome win! Nor far adrift was Jonty as he crossed the line soon after in 3rd. Hugo Stewart ran well, possibly the best we have seen so far this season, as he was pushed by the debutante, his cousin, Armati, ultimately finishing a very respectable 10th and 11th! Nice!!! Hugo Pope was stoic as he comes back from illness and can start to look toward a healthier season, more aligned with his ability next year, as he was 28th.
Thankfully, we were able to field a team (just) in the Opens last week with Fraser Pandit and James Thompson back in the saddle. Their aspirations this season have been constantly curtailed by injury. James Bestic led up front and relished the conditions, being so used to time in the pool, in the Opens race. He did hit the skids a few times, yet was able to get back up and continue – he finished a fine 8th. Tom Gray is literally running into form as he was 15th, looking very comfortable. Fraser and James followed thereafter to complete our team, which ended up 8th.
THANKS!!! Huge thanks to those parents and staff members who stepped into the trenches on Saturday to assist in running the meet, be it marshalling, crowd control or in the canteen. Many hands do make for lighter work! Thanks also to Jack Riding for his photography on Saturday, taking over from the regular bloke who was otherwise occupied, no doubt talking somewhere…
Shore Cross Country Machine of the Week: George Harvey
CITY to SURF: We had a few in our number compete in the City to Surf on Sunday, including a crowd from Barry House, arguably the most athletic Boarding House… Tom Gray held the torch aloft for the current crop of fine young Shore men as he secured a super time of 51min 57secs to be 230th! No mean feat!!! Toby Ward wasn’t too far back in 55min 13secs to be 590th with Zac Robertson not far adrift in 57min 30secs. A little further back again was Barry House el Supremo Mr Morris, leading his Barry House charges by example as he crossed the line in 1hr 56min 18secs to be 54819th… Other Shore and Shore-ish shout outs to Bronte Oates, Mrs Oates’ daughter, who won the Women’s race in a swift time of 45min 51secs and Old Boy Ed Goddard, who was probably a little disappointed, yet finished in an awesome time of 42min 30secs to be 7th.
Off to Miranda tomorrow for the season-ending GPS Championships.
Good running,
Mr Michael Spratt
MIC Cross Country
