After a false start and delay early in the year, our School Country event took place on Thursday 22 September. The event is normally undertaken in February, so there has been quite a wait to try to hold this event. The underfoot conditions were a little muddy and damp, but I am sure it made a more fun opportunity to enjoy the countryside of the Te Atatu Pony club that is our venue.
With exams for our senior school currently being undertaken, we were limited to our junior school participating and competing around our 2.4 km course.
As was the case last year, the races to the finish were tight, including probably a slightly orchestrated five way blanket finish in the Year 10 girls’ race.
In the Year 10 Boys race, our Cross Country Champion from last year again was Dylan Chapman in a time of 6.23. A surprise opponent in Cyrus Katipa, who finished second, only 5 seconds shy of Chapman, pushed him this year. Tanner Costin completed the dais in third place.
As was previously noted above, our Year 10 girls had a 5-way finish with the timekeepers coming up with Brooke Flavell, Leia Smith and Emma Ngau as our First, second and third in the photo finish with Brooke Hari and Sophie Wallace notable mentions.
The Year 9 students had their first experience of the Rutherford College Cross Country event. There was also a closeness of racing in these events, which hailed Amy Thomson and Tyler White as our Year 9 Girls and Boys Cross Country Champions for this year.
Others pushed both race winners, as Ashley Smart finished three seconds after Amy, and two seconds before Emma Tatt who came in third. Tyler had a close battle with Szymon Gruszczyk all the way around the course, but broke away in the home straight to win by four seconds. Lukas Turner came in third place.
Special thanks to the students who assisted as helpers to set-up and break down the course, as well as marshal on the day, in lieu of the majority of our Sports Committee that were involved in exams. Finally thanks to our host, the Te Atatu Pony club. It was good to get the event completed, after the delays and rescheduling that had affected it. Those that competed I am sure enjoyed the experience and thankful they were able to get some fresh air, and complete before the rainy weather came in.
Well done to everyone who participated, and thank you for a fun day.