Cross County Report | Meet 1 vs Waverley and St Aloysius’ – 30 April 2022
Last weekend saw the cross-country squad head to Upjohn Park for the Sydney Grammar Invitational. This was the qualification event for CAS runners to compete at the upcoming NSW CIS Championships. The La Nina weather continued to create challenging running conditions with slippery sections of terrain and mud pits becoming the norm each Saturday.
The hard work at training for our juniors is really starting to show, with some outstanding results. Kobe S (8Yo) took the win this week ahead of Matthew M (9WJ) who had a gutsy run while hampered with illness. These two continue to dominate this age group although our depth is just as strong. Joshua L (8Ta) had an excellent race to finish inside the top ten, as did Angus R (9Ar) who finished 14th. Marcus K (7Ho), Aaryn J (7Ho) and Kescharan K (7Ho) continue to get fitter each week and are showing great improvement.
In the intermediate race, Trinity managed to claim its second win of the day, with Luca G (10St) having a dominant run. Ben M (10Yo) finished inside the top 10 overall and it was great to see him back racing. Ashwin S (11Hi) is getting more experienced each week, finishing 13th of the CAS runners and growing in confidence in the lead up to the CIS meet. Oliver J (11Ke) and Aveer S (9Ar) both had strong races and continue to make good progress with their running.
Our opens squad was light on numbers due to injury and illness, although a number boys had solid races. James S (12WJ) is looking in great shape and put together another strong performance to finish 6th of the CAS runners. Joseph C (11Du) also finished 8th of the CAS runners despite not being at his full strength. Benjamin I (11La) and Regan C (11He) showed some grit on the weekend and the hard work at training is beginning to show for these two.
Congratulations to all boys who have been selected to represent CAS at the NSW CIS Cross Country Championships on June 8th at Eastern Creek. At time of print we do not have a final list of the squad but we will certainly share the list in a future bulletin.
This weekend we have the Barker Invitational at St Ives Showground. This is a course we have not raced at for two years and has some tricky sections to navigate. However, if my memory serves me correct, it is traditionally a course where the hosts provide a BBQ with bacon and egg rolls on offer, something which has been dearly missed this season. Here’s to being hopeful!
I’ll leave you with some words from Roger Bannister, the first man to run a sub-4-minute mile:
“We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves…The more restricted our society and work become, the more necessary it will be to find some outlet for this craving for freedom. No one can say, ‘You must not run faster than this, or jump higher than that.’ The human spirit is indomitable.”
Rob Currer
