The phrase, ‘Let the
games begin.’ certainly rings true for the 2015 PSA Cross Country Season as of Saturday’s
race at Aquinas. This event marked the start of the All-Schools competitions
and while Guildford placed 7th overall they again picked up bonus points.
As a coach and as an
athlete, winning is important, however, the most important aspect of the competitive
arena is leaving the field knowing that you have left nothing in the tank. The
Guildford Cross Country Team certainly epitomised this on Saturday.
The 3km event is a new
race on the All-Schools calendar and being such a short event it required a different
mindset. In this event, the team knew that they had to go out hard because in a
field of 250 runners, wherever they established themselves in the first 800m
would determine the position they spent the rest of the race trying to hold.
Declan White, Bailey
Gillam. Ben Armstrong, Liam Stacey, Marcel Niutta and Cameron Adams all put themselves
in the 50 from the very start and all these lads did extremely well in holding
this in one of the biggest fields I have seen in a PSA Cross country event.
Pos
|
Race No
|
Name
|
Time
|
Pace
|
12
|
340
|
Declan WHITE
|
00:11:14.53
|
3:44 min/km
|
13
|
326
|
Bailey GILLAM
|
00:11:14.73
|
3:44 min/km
|
29
|
333
|
Benjamin ARMSTRONG
|
00:11:41.23
|
3:53 min/km
|
34
|
332
|
William STACEY
|
00:11:53.13
|
3:57 min/km
|
36
|
321
|
Cameron ADAMS
|
00:11:55.23
|
3:58 min/km
|
49
|
338
|
Marcel NIUTTA
|
00:12:08.24
|
4:02 min/km
|
88
|
302
|
Heath COLLINS
|
00:12:47.64
|
4:15 min/km
|
93
|
300
|
Rory ADAMS
|
00:12:51.83
|
4:17 min/km
|
111
|
335
|
Dylan FOPPA
|
00:13:08.44
|
4:22 min/km
|
118
|
305
|
Jack SPARK
|
00:13:20.51
|
4:26 min/km
|
123
|
315
|
Henry VAN DEN WALL BAKE
|
00:13:26.44
|
4:28 min/km
|
131
|
303
|
Jake MANOLINI
|
00:13:33.48
|
4:31 min/km
|
138
|
324
|
Sebastian BOYD
|
00:13:42.11
|
4:34 min/km
|
142
|
318
|
Aiden MCLAUGHLIN
|
00:13:51.49
|
4:37 min/km
|
144
|
327
|
Jack GRANT
|
00:13:52.71
|
4:37 min/km
|
146
|
330
|
Samuel SIBMA
|
00:13:54.34
|
4:38 min/km
|
152
|
308
|
Cameron MILES
|
00:14:06.74
|
4:42 min/km
|
160
|
323
|
Bailey BARTHOLOMEUSZ
|
00:14:19.23
|
4:46 min/km
|
161
|
328
|
Jack MCLEAN
|
00:14:26.23
|
4:48 min/km
|
178
|
325
|
Liam COWIE
|
00:15:36.30
|
5:12 min/km
|
180
|
307
|
Gabriel BOYD
|
00:15:41.19
|
5:13 min/km
|
184
|
314
|
Jean-Louis HANSEN
|
00:16:03.60
|
5:21 min/km
|
190
|
319
|
Thomas SCHOENAUER
|
00:16:26.92
|
5:28 min/km
|
199
|
316
|
Caden ALEXANDER
|
00:18:41.74
|
6:13 min/km
|
200
|
317
|
Gabriel LITTLEFAIR
|
00:18:43.16
|
6:14 min/km
|
201
|
322
|
David ASHENDEN
|
00:18:47.60
|
6:15 min/km
|
206
|
301
|
Daniel BRECICH
|
00:20:43.14
|
6:54 min/km
|
207
|
342
|
Guildford 342
|
00:22:25.82
|
7:28 min/km
|
208
|
320
|
Jasper SHARP
|
00:23:17.24
|
7:45 min/km
|
210
|
346
|
Guildford 346
|
00:25:36.74
|
8:32 min/km
|
211
|
347
|
Guildford 347
|
00:25:36.75
|
8:32 min/km
|
212
|
312
|
Ryan BRODERICK
|
00:25:36.76
|
8:32 min/km
|
213
|
375
|
Guildford 375
|
00:25:36.98
|
8:32 min/km
|
214
|
311
|
Jesse POLLOCK
|
00:26:03.74
|
8:41 min/km
|
On what was an extremely tough course, Declan White
and Bailey Gillam both managed to finish within the top 15. This was an outstanding
achievement given that many of the boys in front of them not only run at state
level but have also represented that state at a national level. As the lead
group made their way up the long climb at the back of the course White and Gillam
were almost in each other’s pockets however, at the 2.1km point of the race White
made a small break, along with a larger group of runners, and managed to Gap
Gillam. Coming into the final 500m White was in 12th and Gillam was
holding strong in 19th. Gillam put the hammer down on the run for
the line and while White was able to hold his charge the Hale, Trinity, Christ
Church and Aquinas runner couldn’t and Gillam finished over the top of them to
see Guildford go 12th , 13th.
Armstrong was again very consistent and while
chasing hard in the closing stages was unable to close on the Wesley runner but
held of a fast finishing Trinity and Scotch runner to hold on to 29th
place.
Liam Stacey and Cameron Adams were again impressive as
a duet of runners whose personal rivalry have pushed each other to higher
levels of achievement. Both worked the back end of the course very hard and
finished ahead of a very tightly contested pack with Stacey taking 34th
in 11:53 and Adams 36th in 11:55 with a Hale runner (11:54) splitting
the pair.
Vice-Captain, Marcel Niutta, put in a fantastically
strong run to become the 6th Guildford runner to get into the top 50
with a 49th place in 12:08. This was quite an impressive feat given
that from the 12 minute point through to
12min 18seconds there was a runner crossing the line very second. This meant
that, like the other boys in the team, Niutta had to earn, fight and hold his place
in the final 500m over the course.
Once again our year 7 runners were incredible in
terms of the determination they demonstrated in not wanting to let the team
down. Heath Collins was the first of this group over the line in 88th
(12:47), Rory Adams was next in 93rd (12:51). Further to this, young Jake
Manolini , the moment he crossed the line ‘fed the crows’ and this image
epitomsied the effort that every Guildford runner put into the race today.
The
courage award for this race had to go to young Jesse Pollock. He started the
race under a cloud and in discomfort, with instructions from his physio to test
his injury in an effort to make a final diagnosis. Jesse, despite being instructed by the the coaching team to step off the track if things became to bad, still crossed the line and despite his obvious discomfort still place 214th
in a field of 250.
The top
15 place getters and their times can be found below. Next week we take on the first
relay event at Trinity College.
Pos
|
Name
|
Time
|
Team
|
Pace
|
1
|
Benjamin
DAVIDSON
|
00:10:26.44
|
Aquinas
|
3:28
min/km
|
2
|
Michael
MARTIN
|
00:10:31.10
|
Trinity
|
3:30
min/km
|
3
|
Oliver
GREEN
|
00:10:42.67
|
Scotch
|
3:34
min/km
|
4
|
Asad
YUSOFF
|
00:10:50.78
|
Christ
Church
|
3:36
min/km
|
5
|
Henry
LOUDEN
|
00:10:54.26
|
Christ
Church
|
3:38
min/km
|
6
|
Luke
BATE
|
00:10:56.86
|
Aquinas
|
3:38
min/km
|
7
|
Nathan
BAILEY
|
00:11:04.20
|
Aquinas
|
3:41
min/km
|
8
|
Ethan
WILLIAMS
|
00:11:04.37
|
Aquinas
|
3:41
min/km
|
9
|
Luke
BURROWS
|
00:11:04.98
|
Wesley
|
3:41
min/km
|
10
|
Patric
BEAVEN
|
00:11:09.59
|
Scotch
|
3:43
min/km
|
11
|
Jake
MASON
|
00:11:13.11
|
Hale
|
3:44
min/km
|
12
|
Declan
WHITE
|
00:11:14.53
|
Guildford
|
3:44
min/km
|
13
|
Bailey
GILLAM
|
00:11:14.73
|
Guildford
|
3:44
min/km
|
14
|
Jack
HAWKESFORD
|
00:11:15.48
|
Christ
Church
|
3:45
min/km
|
15
|
Thomas MOORCROFT
|
00:11:15.49
|
Trinity
|
3:45
min/km
|
The full race results for this event can be found at
AquinasAll-Schools times and places
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