20 May saw the first race of the GPS/CAS Cross Country competition season hosted by Barker College. The race was held on a challenging course at St. Ives Showground, which featured a mixture of terrain, a couple of solid hills and some tight corners that made for a tough day for all runners.
In the Juniors we had three boys toe the line in a field of 157 runners. Sam Nash led the way in his first race for Joeys as he placed 31st (17th in GPS), followed by Connor Fernandez in 89th (52nd in GPS) and Alex Fijan in 115th (69th in GPS). These results saw the Junior team, who were missing a 4th runner, place 8th. In the intermediates we only had the one runner, Max Levingston, who took on the 6km loop and placed 95th (65th in GPS) across the line in his first Cross Country race for Joeys.
Lastly, our Senior squad, consisting of 6 runners, all ran an incredibly smart race that saw them improve on their placings from last week. Cross Country captain Oliver Neate led the way as he placed 2nd in the race, followed by Dan Zubani 29th (20th in GPS), Max Merifield 41st (31st in GPS), Matteo Mastro 52nd (41st in GPS), Hayden Ciguenza 69th (55th in GPS) and Thomas Ryan 83rd (66th in GPS). These results saw the Senior team place 5th overall, marginally behind Sydney High and ahead of Sydney Grammar, Newington & Riverview. Overall, the whole squad should be incredibly proud of their efforts with several boys in contention for GPS selection for the CIS over the coming weeks.
