Great conditions and a tough cross country course faced runners at Lardner Park near Warragul. The day started with the under 14 2k event. Hayley Tomlinson dominated this event to cross the finish line first in a time of 6:38, again beating all boys in her age group as well as the girls. Sarah Evans also run very well to finish 7th in this event, in a time of 7:59.
The under 20 and under 18 3k were run together. Jessica De Bruin ran a great race to finish 2nd in a time of 11:08 and take the silver medal in the under 20 competition. She was followed home by new club member Audra Papworth, 4th in 12:31 and Beth Bird 9th in a time of 13:08. These three athletes took out the teams event in the under 20 age group, well done Jessica, Audra and Beth!
In the under 18 division Charlotte Roberts ran well to finish 8th in 12:29, while new member Kate Mortimer, running her first cross country event finished in 13th position.
In the open 6k event, Anna Thompson returned to Victoria in great form to push Susie Power on the first lap before falling back slightly to finish a clear 2nd in this event in a time of 21:14. Nikki Chapple continued her consistent form to finish 5th in 22:30, while the teams third member was Megan Sloane who came in 44th place (2nd in her age division) in 26:34
The Box Hill men put in an improved performance from flemington to finish in 5th place. Scott Jackson was once again the first Box Hill runner to finish, improving to 35th place, once again just ahead of John Meagher who finished in 38th place. Paul Boxshall ran his best race since joining Box Hill to finish just behind John. Paul was followed in by Graeme Olden, Marcus Tierney and Luke Yeatman (who led for the first kilometre), with our first 6 runners finishing within 54 seconds of each other. It was good to see Tom Waters back running again to lead our second team into fourth place. Tom was followed home closely by Adam Pepper, Tony Bird, Chris O’Connor, Patrick Kelly, Ian Sloane and Stephen Murphy. It was pleasing to fill two full teams and almost fill the third team.
Results
| 35 | Scott Jackson | 29:06 |
| 38 | John Meagher | 29:22 |
| 41 | Paul Boxshall | 29:27 |
| 49 | Graeme Olden | 29:42 |
| 51 | Marcus Tierney | 29:50 |
| 57 | Luke Yeatman | 30:00 |
| 81 | Tom Waters | 31:05 |
| 89 | Adam Pepper | 31:20 |
| 103 | Tony Bird | 31:42 |
| 109 | Chris O’Connor | 31:49 |
| 200 | Patrick Kelly | 35:47 |
| 268 | Ian Sloane | 40:29 |
| 288 | Stephen Murphy | 42:59 |