Cross Country Report | Meet 2 – Sydney High

Cross Country Report | Meet 2 – Sydney High

The contrast to last week’s weather and geography could not be greater: green not brown, sand not mud, sun not rain, flat not hilly! Even our coaches could not but enjoy such beautiful running weather, turning up for the local Centennial Park Parkrun at 7am. (Of note in this “pre-show” event was Patrick Cantlon, last year’s captain, who won the race in a new course record, as well as impressive runs from Mr (Benjamin) Bishop, Mr Raptis and Mr Currer.)

But the main show was our current students. Once again our team showed up with both enthusiasm and strength, beating every other CAS and GPS school in two of the three age categories (U14s and Opens) and placing a commendable 6th in the third (U16s). But it is the depth of our squad, not merely the top end, which is enabling such consistency; each of our runners, by pushing himself, spurs on a teammate or two and the team as a whole benefits. Moreover, as will become evident over the course of the season, there are myriad individual stories in which our performance and experience consist, not all of which have to do with places, victory or visible glory.

Our U14s team was missing last week’s individual winner, Matthew M. (9WJ), with an injury, but Kobe S. (8Yo) ran a brilliant solo race to place 1st, finishing with characteristic speed. Joshua L. (8Ta), who seems to be improving continuously, ran an outstanding last lap to place 4th, while Sam R. (8WJ) demonstrated how to transfer skills from snow to dirt as he placed 22nd and Michael S. (8St) was not far behind in 24th. There were many other noteworthy performances from this age group, some of which included Jaemin Y.’s (7St) grit, Joshua R.’s (7La) and Marcus K’s (7Ho) impressive first races for the school and Divesh G’s (8Mu) and Aravinda C’s (7Du) teamwork to push each other along. If you are wanting a more detailed recap of this particular race, it may be best to avoid asking Mr Bishop, who managed to find a way to lock himself in a toilet cubicle for its duration.

Our U16s in particular benefit from a group of strong athletes who compete at a high level in other sports and have chosen Cross Country as a means to improve their fitness and therefore bolster their performance. Once again Ashwin S. (11Hi), known for his Water Polo prowess, ran a strong race to place 22nd as the first Trinity runner. Elite basketballers Jed M. (10WJ) and Myles B (9WJ), in their first races of the season, came 25th and 34th respectively, both good results and boding well for the rest of the season as their fitness improves. Ethan M. (9Ho), despite his becoming known for cheerful grins as he passes the crowd each lap, is certainly devoting energy to his running as well as his smiling, finishing a very solid 43rd to round out our point-scoring team.

Our Opens team seemed to enjoy running this week on a course which had not been utterly disfigured by the previous two races! We were glad to welcome back Luca G. (10St), who ran up an age group because of earlier football commitments, starting conservatively and finishing a very good 8th. Joseph C. (11Du) in 11th, James S. (12WJ) in 12th and Zachary P. (12Ho) in 19th rounded out our point-scoring team, all running consistently and using other runners as motivation through the four laps. Again Jack W. (11Ke) ran conservatively as he recovers from injury but still finished in 21st, while Matt L. (12Ta) in 33rd, Ryan G. (11WJ) in 46th, Oliver W. (12Fo) in 48th, Keelan S. (12Hi) in 50th and Oscar M. (12Sc) in 56th all ran very good races to place well in a large race. Regan C. (11He) had been missing in training during the week due to a work placement, but demonstrated the benefits of his pre-season training to run a consistent race.

Well done to all runners! We look forward to our next race tomorrow at The King’s School.

In running,

Phillip Mugridge | Co-ordinator of Cross Country

Aravinda C. and Divesh G. working together
Ashwin S. and Myles B. running together
Benjamin I. running past the picturesque lake
Christian N. with a smile!
Ethan M. with a thumbs up to the crowd!
Harry H. finishing fast
Jack O.
Jack W. with a smile, as always!
Jed M. running well in his first race
Jeremy S. checking for threats on his final lap!
Joseph C. and James S. running together
Joshua L. finishing a great race
Joshua R. in his first race of the season
Keelan S. pushing through pain
Kescharan K. and Max B. pushing each other
Sam R. pushing hard
Kobe S. striding ahead
Luca G. lapping several runners
Marcus K. doubling up sports
Maxwell M. on the final stretch
Myles B. off to a fast start
Oscar M. rounding the final bend
Oliver J. on his comeback run!
Oliver W. running in a pack
Noah A. and Gabriel S. working together
Otis S. with a grimace
Regan C. looking strong
Ryan G. with a large stride
Kobe S. at the start of the U14s race

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