Senior and Middle Cross Country
Meet 9 – St Ignatius’ Riverview – 30.7.22
Last Saturday’s weekly Cross Country invitational was the first after the disappointment of the Trinity Relays’ cancellation the previous week due to dangerous flooding and the last before tomorrow’s climactic CAS Championships, and what a wonderful day it was! St Ignatius’ Riverview hosted us on their beautiful – and the runners will have noticed, undulating! – grounds. Although Mr Currer’s estimation of the event was lowered due to the distinct lack of bacon and egg rolls, his temper was somewhat ameliorated by the generosity of the host’s Sports Master, who handed out muffins to coaches. Needless to say, the highlight of the day was the running!
A fun side-show of this event was the CAS vs. GPS race which took place within the regular race. CAS lost the Open race but won the U14 and U16 races (the latter two which took place for the first time ever this year), and a large part of that was due to the runners mentioned below. Well done to those involved!
Our Under 14 team secured yet another team victory after what has become “the usual” sight of Matthew M. (9WJ) and Kobe S. (8Yo) dominating in 1st and 2nd positions. We have been blessed as a team this season by the clear example of these two fine athletes’ attitude, self-discipline and joy in others’ successes. Joshua L. (8Ta) has never been far behind, but he has found more and more impressive form as the season has progressed, and his 6th place was well deserved. Michael S. (8St) and Jacob C. (7Hi) have also been very consistent members of the squad this year, and their places – 21st and 35th respectively in a field of more than 150 runners – show talent combined with tenacity. We have an under 14 squad equal to or greater than every other school in number, and there were many other runners who ran well.
Our Under 16 team finished 4th overall and narrowly behind Cranbrook in the CAS. Ben M. (9Yo) and Luca G. (10St) both ran with health hindrances but led the team well in 12th and 15th respectively, while Jaden L. (11Hi) in 22nd and Chris Q. (11Du) in 37th rounded out the point-scoring team. It is appropriate to give Oliver J. (11Ke) a mention here, who finished in the top 70 and, after re-joining the Trinity Cross Country fraternity after a break, has displayed an exemplary attitude in training and enjoyed consistent improvement in fitness. He will soon leave us as his family moves overseas – this was, indeed, his final run in the green and white – and we wish him all the best for this new venture. We hope that running helps you maintain a good balance in whatever comes your way!
Our Open team also finished narrowly behind Cranbrook, overall in 3rd position. Our point-scoring team consisted on Jack W. (11Ke) in 11th, James S. (12WJ) in 17th, Joseph C. (11Du) in 22nd and captain Zachary P. (12Ho) in 36th. All of these runners are wonderful models for our younger runners, as are the rest of the Open squad. Some other highlights from this race were Keelan S. (12Hi), who amazingly combines constant positivity with fearsome grit, and Regan C. (11He), who just keeps getting better.
We look forward to tomorrow, a day on which we will compete in the climactic CAS Championships to determine the overall and the Open CAS champions. We have this year fierce competition from Cranbrook, so we look forward to the battle, a chance for our runners to show themselves, their competitors, their coaches and their parents how hard they have worked this year.
Good running,
Phillip Mugridge | Cross Country Co-ordinator
