Cross Country

The school had a big week of Cross Country running last week.

7 runners raced in the SSV State Championships on Thursday 18th July at the Yarra Valley Racing Club in Melbourne.

It was a Character Building day for them, on an extremely cold day, and with a muddy track so slippery that many runners were slipping over and landing flush on their backs. Thanks to the runners for being brave enough to compete, despite knowing the conditions were going to be poor, not to mention spending 5 hours on a bus on top of that.

With each race fielding 100 runners, all of our kids finished in the middle of the field - overall, a very solid achievement considering they were competing against 298 schools Victoria-wide.

Clare Collins (Year 11) - 48th

Paige-Lee Dummett  (Year 7) - 49th

Isabelle Hooper (Year 11) - 51st

Isabella Boulton (Year 7) - 63rd

Clarence Lampa (Year 8) - 63rd

Jed Murray (Year 8) - 64th

Phoebe Bosley (Year 11)  - 67th

Our champion runner, Year 10 Merlin Tzaros, who came 2nd last year and 3rd in 2022, sadly couldn't attend this year due to poor scheduling which placed the All Schools Victorian Cross Country Championships just two days afterward, forcing Merlin and others (including last year's winner) to choose between the two events, and they chose the latter, sacrificing a certain State Medal for the chance to qualify for the All Schools National Championships.

At the All Schools event on Saturday 20th July at Bundoora in Melbourne, Merlin, racing in the Under 17 age group despite being Under 16 age, finished in 5th despite being ill all week, and has qualified for the National Champs which will take place in Tasmania on Saturday 31st August.

Well done to all runners, and best of luck Merlin at the Nationals.

Jud Mullins

Sport Coordinator