Cross Country Report
St Ignatius’ Cross Country, Riverview | 15 June 2024
Mud, glorious mud! Hmmm… not sure if that’s the lyric… Anyway, the Blue Street Boys braved the inclement conditions and the muddy and tough new layout on the grounds of St Ignatius College, Riverview, last Saturday. It was a test of stoicism that only got worse as the morning progressed and the course got repeatedly churned up. Whilst the large majority of the tough guys in other winter sports enjoyed a sleep-in and possibly brekky in bed (never a fan myself – don’t like crumbs… I digress…), there were plenty of spills, some displeasure and moments of pure fun! It will be a day of schoolboy sport to remember and reminisce over, no doubt, with plenty of hyperbole!
On with the racing! The Juniors were the first to make a splash, literally! The Shore lads were led out by Toby Ward in fine fashion. He had a blinder of a race to secure himself a super Top Ten result overall in 9th, despite taking a couple of tumbles – seemed par for the course last Saturday! He was 3rd amongst the GPS! Nice! Henry Grieve didn’t seem to love the muddy and slushy conditions but still managed to make a good account of himself and contribute positively to our Junior result as he was the 2nd Shore runner home in 25th. George Harvey tucked in on Henry’s shoulder, finishing just behind him in 26th. These two were 11th and 12th GPS, respectively. Tom Roxburgh debuted in fine fashion to be 36th and looks well set to catch some of those currently ahead of him as the season progresses. Tom completed our Junior team result to be 2nd on 45pts, 4pts in arrears of Newington and 1pt ahead of Scots in 3rd. It’s tight in the Juniors! Shoutouts to Leon Field and Josh Nieland, who both love their running! Sadly, Leon’s fancy yellow runners, picked by Dad apparently…, were trashed for the second week in a row. Nothing a burl in the washing machine won’t fix!
Our Intermediates soon assembled at the start, yet some seemed not quite mentally prepared for the tough conditions. It didn’t faze Will Bestic though (mind you, he is comfortable in the pool) as he surged to the front of a bevvy of Shore runners, a position he didn’t relinquish for the duration! He smashed out a very commendable result of 10th overall, 4th GPS. Jonty Jagger ran a little more conservatively and didn’t seem as comfortable as he has in recent weeks in the mud, yet he was still a very pleasing 14th, 5th GPS. Hugo Stewart seemed a little uncharacteristically cautious, which I understand, as the course was really starting to deteriorate as he was 17th, 6th GPS. James Warren completed our Team result looking seriously ‘commandoesque’ as he crossed the line in 31st, 15th GPS. Pleasingly, this secured the Blue Street Boys the win amongst the GPS teams in the Inters on Saturday and set up a narrow lead in the season long cumulative point score! Can they hang onto it? Ben Frantz crossed in 40th with his and James’ post-race debrief once again noticeable/picture-worthy! A shout out to James Thompson who has a good result just around the corner with his enthusiasm for his running.
The Opens did a lot of whinging and whining prior to the start, and there were plenty of sooky faces during much of the race. However, they eventually pepped up, no doubt as a result of some of the encouraging comments and cheering as they passed each lap… Ryan Gilmour again led the Open team on course and established himself up front for the duration. He didn’t quite make the podium as he did last race, but nonetheless, his 5th overall, 4th GPS, was again outstanding! Isaac Lanham, sporting a very fetching midriff running singlet, I believe borrowed from one of the Junior School boys, was once again the epitome of pure determination as he pushed himself into the Top Ten in 9th, 7th GPS. James Bestic was 19th, and El Capitan Lachy Brown 22nd, 11th and 13th respectively GPS, completed our Open team result. Unfortunately, Scots skipped a little further away in the cumulative title race, yet we were once again a very creditable 2nd overall in the weekly teams event across both associations. Tom Gray remained in touch with his teammates to be 25th, 16th GPS, and he pleasingly seems to get a bit better each week. Another ‘shout out’, this time to Mack Haddow, who had a fine run and seems to be running into some good form.
Shore Cross Country Machine of the Week: it was once again a tough decision as to who the ‘Machine’ should be last Saturday, but in the end the voting committee chose Will Bestic. Some close to home, were talking down his chances of racing well, listing a multitude of niggles and reasons. I do hope that continues for the remainder of the season as he had a tenacious ‘blinder’ in the tough going! Maybe he is just as tough as… We love it when athletes shrug off adversity in such fine fashion!
Good running,
Mr M Spratt
MIC Cross Country