Sports
What a fantastic Junior Cross Country event we enjoyed last Tuesday 18 March!
What a fabulous Cross-Country event our students participated in last Tuesday. The weather couldn’t have been better, adding to the wonderful community atmosphere. Huge smiles and a great sense of achievement radiated from our young runners as they crossed the finish line.
A special thank you to all the parents who came along and cheered so enthusiastically your support truly made the event even more special for our students.
Cross country running is about so much more than fitness—it's a valuable opportunity for our junior students to grow socially, emotionally, and physically.
By running alongside their classmates, students build relationships with peers they might not normally interact with, strengthening their sense of belonging and community.
Our juniors also experience a real sense of pride and maturity as they follow in the footsteps of our senior students, training and running on the same course in preparation for the same event. It’s especially heartwarming to see our Preps light up with excitement as they thrive on the challenge and the sense of achievement.
Cross country also connects with our senior program, where students represent our school at the MPS Bentleigh District event at the start of Term 2.
On a physical level, running builds a solid foundation of fitness that supports skill development throughout the year. Without this fitness base, students can struggle with concentration, feel anxious, or even become prone to injuries especially as we introduce more equipment and complex activities later in the year.
Equally important, cross country fosters resilience. Students learn to push through challenges and discover their own strengths. For some children, especially those who might find classroom tasks difficult, running offers a chance to shine. They experience the joy of setting goals, finding their rhythm, and achieving personal success.
It’s important to know that our Junior Cross Country is designed with age-appropriate distances in mind. It’s no more demanding than a regular PE warm-up:
- Preps ran 500 metres today — the first runner finished in 2 minutes, and the last in 4 minutes.
- Grade 1 and 2 students ran 1 kilometre — with times ranging from 5 to 10 minutes.
As students move into the senior levels, their distances and warm-up times increase (2km to 3km), helping prepare them for longer events while building endurance safely.
Through cross country, our students gain fitness, confidence, resilience, and joy that will support them both on and off the track.
Mr Todd Pullar