Juniors
Our juniors started the season full of enthusiasm and all delivered superb runs. We put together three strong relay teams and the signs were certainly there for future success.
Our girls u18 team finished 5th out of 19 teams, just outside of the medals. The girls ran consistently and were in the race for third right until the end.
Our boys u16 team came 10th out of 18 teams a superb result considering both Finn and Seb are young and eligible for that age group again next year. A great debut cross country run by Seb.
Our u16 girls teams fought hard in a very competitive division finishing 5th out of 7 teams. A big highlight was Bridgette Williams who ran the second fastest 3K leg in the race and third fastest time for all girls u20 and below. An excellent run coming of her nationals performance the week before on the track.
Finally, James Gibbs stepped up to the plate and ran a strong leg in the men’s Div 2 team. Helping the team consolidate a strong opening performance in the higher division. Another great sign for the future from the 17 year old.
Sam
Women
The Premier Women had the perfect start to the season, taking victory. Jess Coyne led the girls off brilliantly running the second fastest time of the day (only bettered by Abbey Caldwell who has already been selected for the Paris Olympics). The girls were never further back than first with strong middle legs being ran by Katinka, Sarah and Sim. Deb was given the role of finishing and despite her concerns was never challenged.
The division three girls were similarly strong and finished third in a great start to the season. Lauren was the first runner for the team and was in third place at the end of her leg. Niamh was the second runner for the team and she handed across to Chelsea, who then handed across to Ella. It was notable that Ella ran the equal third fastest time on the day of the South Melbourne women.
in Division 5 the reliable Alexis started the team off, despite a relatively late decision to run. She handed the baton to Kim who then handed the baton to Meg who had made the trip down to Jells following work that morning. The girls finished fifth out of eleven teams and were over 10 minutes clear of sixth!
The over 40 girls had two new faces out of a team of three and it was fantastic to see them come away with the bronze medal. Gillian who ran first for the team was within the 10 quickest times for over 40 women on the day. The next runner was Annette who was the ‘experienced’ runner of the team having also ran for South Melbourne last year. Sharon was given the task of finishing and did this perfectly.
Welcome and congratulations to all the girls who had their first run for South Melbourne yesterday including; Katinka, Niamh, Ella, Gillian and Sharon. We hope you all enjoyed your first taste of running for the red and white hoops and look forward to seeing you for the rest of the season.
Thank you to the South Melbourne women who weren’t running (Dee, KB, SammyJoe and anyone who I have missed) who still came out to cheer the team on. Your support was greatly appreciated by everyone out there running.
Sarah
Men
Our newly minted Div 2 team was first out. It was a back and forth affair all day and in the end there were 7 teams separated by approx 1 minute! We competed well to finish 4th out of this 7 team quagmire and 8th overall out of 14, a strong debut in arguably the deepest race of the year. Everyone ran exceptionally well but special mention goes to Musa for running a top 25 time across all men, debutant Colm for slotting right in both in a running and culture sense, going out of his way to meet heaps of new club mates, and youngster James for stepping up the open ranks and running a brave 2 laps when most of his compatriots only had to do 1!
Our Div 4 team was up next looking for another crack at promotion after a 3rd place ladder finish last year. The fellas showcased exceptional depth and consistency, all running within 30seconds of each other, and all running sub 23:10; a time that would’ve been a top time for the entire club in years gone by. Special shoutout to coach Sam Spicer for stepping up to anchor the team despite recent injuries limiting his training, while also coordinating his junior athletes on the day.
Our Div 5 and Masters depth was hit a bit by many of our runners competing in marathons either overseas recently or in Ballarat this weekend. However, the lads that suited up showed great fight, with special kudos to Andrew Ross running down an age group and helping the 50+ers to a strong position in what promises to be a formidable outfit all year, as well as popular Crosbie Crewer Jayden making his debut for the club and embracing the spirit of the day
Alex
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