Report by Mr Jackson

Seven primary and two secondary students represented MCC in the 2022 division cross country championships over two days. All seven primary students were in the 9/10 age group, with two girls and five boys competing on Thursday, May 5th.

The top 12 runners at the division level progress to the Regional competition at St. Arnaud. Eden Linklater (13th) and Vivian Zhong (14th) missed Regional qualification by the narrowest possible margin.

A minimum of three team members per age group are required to compete in the teams competition and the boys were excited to have enough runners this year, with five qualifying at our own school cross country. The team returned a strong performance, with Mason Janetzki taking the silver medal (2nd), Clark Jackson 5th, Nelson Chiera 11th, Jotham Taylor 17th and Noah Arnol 23rd. These results were enough to claim the team championship for their age division by a substantial margin!

Two secondary students registered sufficient pace at our own inter-house cross country to represent MCC at Apex Park on Friday, May 6th. Andrew Skillicorn and Andrew Foley contested the boys 13 and boys 14-year-old age groups, both crowded with runners from Sunraysia schools, the fastest of which lit up the 3km course with a time of 11 minutes and 19 seconds! Both boys recorded top 20 finishes, with Andrew Skillicorn coming in 15th in his event and Andrew Foley finishing 19th in the 14-year-old boys race.

Congratulations to all competitors and best wishes to Mason, Clark and Nelson who have qualified to represent MCC in St Arnaud in the Loddon Mallee Region finals on May 31st. Qualification at the secondary level is yet to be confirmed.

Special report (by Mr Jackson): MCC’s first cross country team victory: 9/10 boys 2km, 5 May, 2022

Mason Janetzki won this event as an individual last year and was eager to repeat the feat, with his running partner, Clark Jackson, finishing in 8th place in 2021. To win the teams event, three runners are required, so MCC had no team last year. Scores are calculated by summing the top three runners’ positions, with the lowest total victorious. This year, Mason and Clark were joined by new qualifiers Nelson Chiera, Noah Arnol and Jotham Taylor, with all five boys keen to push each other to the highest team position possible.

All boys got away cleanly, with Mason, Clark and Nelson running together during the opening stage while Noah and Jotham kept in midfield contact. As the field exited the oval, Mason assertively began picking off competitors before aggressively moving into the lead and testing the front group of six runners, attempting to open a gap to Jack Gibson of Red Cliffs who proved difficult to shake.

With about 600 metres to go, Gibson’s threat was gone but Underbool’s Bill Morrison was now applying serious pressure with the race appearing to belong to either runner. As they rounded the final turn, both were surprised by a devastating finish from Ouyen’s Nigel Hamilton, who Mason strained to resist with a tenacious final struggle until Hamilton’s irresistible pace prevailed. Mason took second place with a time of 9:07, 6 seconds behind the winner, and 4 seconds ahead of Morrison.

Clark Jackson finished a strong fifth, meaning MCC were the only school with two runners within the top 9, giving them a very real chance to claim their school’s first-ever cross country team victory. When Nelson Chiera finished eleventh, the triumph was confirmed. Jotham and Noah finished seventeenth and twenty-third respectively and the fact that both of these runners placed ahead of Ouyen’s third team member is testament to the depth of the team’s performance.

MCC's score of 18 was well below second-place Red Cliffs’ 32 and Ouyen’s 35, and this memorable victory was confirmed at the post-race presentation and received by delighted squeals and elated cheers as Mason accepted the plaque on the team’s behalf. Celebrations continued as the bus arrived at reception and an excited entourage enthusiastically broke the news to reception staff, Mr. Tresize and anyone within earshot! Congratulations boys on your team’s historic achievement!

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