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The older I get the better I was... but after many years of idle burrowing the candle of desire is still burning and I have come to realise that running is as much a part of me as my heart and lungs... In Christmas 2008 I was 82kg and was not running a step..This is my journey , the journey of the wombat...Dogged...determined...persistent...and maybe a little grumpy.. but like the wombat my journey is territorial, its about running and I am going to work to protect it...Come along for the ride and see if I can become the wombat warrior. 2009 was a mixed bag for the wombat's journey.A top ten placing in both the Bridges and the City Surf brought a small sense of achievement but also a degree of frustration.... I think I can do better and better I will in 2010. A better run in the Busso Half iron man in support of TV in his swim and bike ride and that was about the extent of my racing. Lets see what happens in 2010 as "My journey Continues". Now in 2011 the wombat will continue his journey, but not alone the wombat has a youngling who knows how to dig. 2015 and its a new beginning , time goes on and the journey to the 2016 World Masters is under way.

Saturday, June 20, 2015

All Schools PSA Perth Cross Country 3km Event


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

Barrel on Wombats...