Cross Country Report | Meet 5 – Barker

NOTE: Below this week’s report is a list of those students who have earned selection to the CAS Cross Country team for 2022, in all a remarkable 29 Trinity runners. Scroll to the bottom to view the list.

The theme of this year’s Cross Country season appears to be “proper cross country”. Almost every course has posed difficulties in the form of long grass or mud or sludge or rivers or rocks or narrow slippery tracks, and this week was no exception. Barker hosted their invitational at St Ives Showground, and though this was the first time that the course did not actually touch on the showground itself, the familiarly undulating and bushy trails made short work of any resolve to “take it easy”.

This was in fact the resolve of several of our Opens runners, many of whom have been recovering from viral illnesses or injuries, as well as enduring a hectic academic season. Despite their stated aim to not push themselves, many simply could not let their competitiveness go unchecked, leading to the sorry sight of an exhausted, muddy team by the race’s end. In a race in which many talented runners from other schools ran up an age group, we finished an admirable 5^th overall and 2^nd out of the CAS schools, led once again by the underage Luca G. (10ST) in 6^th, followed by Joseph C. (11DU) in 33^rd, Captain Zachary P. (12HO) in 34^th and James S. (12WJ) in 40^th. There were many other stories of endurance through pain and hardship, and we admire our whole Opens squad for their grit at this time. One runner whose exploits are worth mentioning in some detail is Regan C. (11HE), who finished 97^th in a large field and whose endurance continues to improve. He was one of those students who utilised the extra freedom of remote learning to cultivate a new skill – that of long-distance running – to such a degree that he earned a position this year in the CAS team for the U18s age group, a fine achievement.

Our U16s team came 7^th overall and 2^nd out of the CAS schools. Ben M. (10YO) continued his comeback, finishing an excellent 6^th, while many were excited to see Jaden L. (11HI) – a multi-talented athlete – return to the fold and run a very quick race to finish 22^nd. It was a joy to see him once again experience the satisfaction of enduring the pain of a longer distance run and see his potential both to perform strongly in Cross Country and to increase his fitness for the Track and Field season. Our point-scoring team was rounded off by Chris Q. (11DU) in 62^nd and Jack O. (10HE) in 66^th, both of whom have become known to be consistent performers for this age group. Oliver J. (11KE) has also been improving gradually since his return to the sport this year, his consistent training paying off.

Our U14s squad once again placed 1^st out of all the other CAS and GPS schools, led by Matthew M. (9WJ) in 1^st and Kobe S. (8YO) in 2^nd. Joshua L. (8TA) had another great race to finish 8^th, as did Sam R. (8WJ) in 27^th. One of the bright lights in this age category is our U13s runner Jacob C. (7HI), for whom Cross Country is his second sport but who gives his all in a continual effort to improve. Being one of the younger runners in the field, his hovering around the mid-40s each week is a mighty effort and reflects his unrivalled attitude to training over and above the minimum school requirements. Other great performers included Aaryn J. (7HO), who is two years younger than many of his competitors and came so close to breaking in to the top 100 this week, as well as David L. (7FO) in his first ever run for Trinity. Benjamin S. (8WH) has shown the coaches what he is capable of this year, and we are keen to see him reach his potential despite some injury niggles. It remains a mystery how he maintains such a consistent smile while running, and this week he even managed a prolonged wave to the crowd as he completed one of his laps, indicating that faster runs are to come!

Once again, we are proud of our runners’ efforts on a difficult course. Tomorrow we traverse the challenging hills of Sydney Park at the Newington Invitational; we look forward to it!

In running,

Phillip Mugridge | Cross Country Co-ordinator

Trinity Runners who have earned selection to the 2022 CAS Cross Country Team: