By Dongyun Kwon
Students across Victoria participated in the cross-country race at the Yarra Valley Racing Club on Thursday 18 July.
School Sport Victoria (SSV) hosted the 2024 State Cross Country Championships for the third time in Yarra Glen.
SSV state championships officer Howard Louis said about 1800 students came to the event for the race.
“It brings a lot of people through to this area that might not have been to this area,” he said.
“We’ve got eight regions across the state attending, we’ve got people as far as Warrnambool, Bairnsdale and beyond, and up to the north Mildura, Swan Hill and Echuca.
“Everybody seems to be fairly happy because it’s not raining.”
Primary school students had to get through the district, division and region levels while secondary school students started from the division level.
The top 12 performers in the region qualified to advance to the state championships.
Yarrawonga College P-12 Year 11 student Jordan Ibbott took 8th place in the Hume region competition.
“My parents encouraged me to run at a young age and I’ve continued it through school,” he said.
“I’ve learnt to be resilient from cross country.”
Another Year 11 student from Canterbury Girls’ Secondary College Sophia Hamilton said she has gotten into cross country through school.
“It [the race course] was really muddy, so it wasn’t like what I was expecting,” she said.
“I didn’t go to the regional competition but I went to the division.
“I came third and they said I could go home because my time was fast enough.”
It was the second time Milly Smyth, a Year 11 student from Norwood Secondary College, participated in the state championship competition.
She said she was happy with the result of seventh place because she made an improvement compared to the competition last year where she took 18th place.
“It was a bit tough in the conditions with all the mud but it was a good race,” she said.
“I came first at the regional competition and it was at the same place here about three weeks ago.
Smyth also got into cross country through school like Hamilton.
She said she learnt a lot about mindset.
“If you have your mind to it, you can improve at any point,” Smyth said.
“I enjoy the fitness aspect of cross country and it helps with all my other sports as well.”
The event was held in Bundoora before Covid-19 and the venue has been relocated to Yarra Glen since the pandemic was over.
SSV chief executive officer Jamie Parsons said he appreciated support from the Yarra Valley Racing Club.
“We really love having this event here, the venue is fantastic as we have the grandstand and we’re also able to have the athletes use the racetrack to run the races,” he said.
“The people we work with at Yarra Valley Racing are wonderful.
“There is one more national level competition, it’s happening here on this racecourse in a few weeks’ time and there will be representatives coming from around Australia.”
The following is the list of the local students who participated in the race; Zoe K from Mt Evelyn Christian School, Sophie B and Declan Z from Yarra Valley Grammar School, Ollie D from Emerald Primary School, Bradley M from Yarra Ranges Special Developmental School, Oscar W from Monbulk College and Kail F, Daniel G, Reuben J and David T from Mooroolbark College.
