Cross Country Report
AAGPS Cross Country Championships Hosted by The Scots College
Upjohn Park, Rydalmere, Saturday 13 August
The Shore Cross Country fraternity headed to the Annual AAGPS Cross Country Championships with much excitement last Saturday, as our aspirations of claiming the silverware looked to be in the bag. We were buoyed by reading the supplied Championship programme as we had been anointed Champions already for the Open AAGPS title. Well, there you go! Yet, it wasn’t a reason to be complacent as the Shore lads were keen to make a good account of themselves in the competition on the day. That being said, we were decimated by injury and illness in the Junior and Intermediate teams and failed to field full teams of four, with only three Shore athletes competing in two age divisions.
Racing began with the Junior race and our representatives looked to be a tad nervous on the starting line. However, we had welcomed Hamish Cleland back from England and he ran well to be 61st with Loki Lam on his tail in 62nd. Leo Ryan was 85th and I was thrilled to hear of his fine effort in Sunday’s City2Surf. I am so pleased he is enjoying his running. Our Intermediates were led, yet again, by Jesse Cochrane, who after several weeks out of form and suffering from the lurgy, ran superbly and looked like he would be earning himself a place in the top three before eventually ending up fourth. However, it was great to see him running so freely and well again, and this augurs well for him in the upcoming Athletics season! Patrick Zhang was impressive, finishing 20th and Lachlan Martin recorded a tenacious 30th.
With much anticipation, the Opens race got underway a little after 10.00am with a bevy of Shore athletes upfront in the racing. Lachy Brown latched onto the leaders and Nathan Stanmore assured he wasn’t far behind. Thus, it was for the duration and Lachy finished a superb 3rd and went on to snatch a spot on the podium. Nathan looked ready to race prerace, and I commented to Reverend Benn that “he may trot out a super run.” And so he did, finding himself in the top 10 at the race’s end, finishing an impressive 8th. James Bestic, who we anointed the ‘machine of the year’ after the race, lived up to that title as he motored into a superb 11th. We keep pinching ourselves because he is only in Year 9! Matt Hogg and Myles Kinchington raced side by side for the duration with Matt just outlasting Myles to finish 12th with Myles only two places behind in 14th. I had challenged the boys to have six Shore athletes in the top 15 and we were close! Unfortunately, Cam Burnett had a niggle and chose to withdraw, but I’m sure that were he fully fit we would have nailed that challenge! It was so cool to be able to rely on our depth and rest Cam and yet emphatically run away with the win in the team’s event on the day! Nice! However, the accolades don’t stop there! Lachlan Hunt has had a blinder of a season and has improved just about every week and he secured a fine 24th. Captain Rohan Stannage was determined to finish his season at the helm in fine fashion and he was 29th. That gentlemen runner from Walcha, Jock Fenwicke, landed himself just outside the top 30 in 31st. Ultimately, it was a superb finish to a fabulous season for all the Cross Country ‘Boys of Blue St!’
As the season draws to a close and we transition into Athletics, it would be remiss of me not to thank the wider Shore Cross Country fraternity for what has been a most delightful season. Our Captain, Rohan Stannage, and Vice-Captain, Joshua Mamelok, have been superb in their encouragement of both their peers and the little blokes in the team. The support of the parents has been most appreciated by all the coaches and boys. Their sense of perspective and encouragement was wonderful. ‘Fam Stannage’ took control of a most wonderful end of season celebration, which was enjoyed thoroughly by all in attendance. I jokingly commented, early on in the season, that we had more coaches than athletes, thankfully this ended up not being the case. However, it is wonderful to having a coaching staff of good number to care for our boys as they indulge in the running delights available to them adjacent to the School! We look forward to continuing to celebrate a fine season of running at Shore and look forward to building on this season’s success next year.
Good running,
Mr M Spratt
MIC, Cross Country
Top Image Credit: Shore XC Team with NA Emery Trophy
