By Jamie Strudley
An excellent cross country course around the picturesque grounds of Cruden Farm was what greeted Yarra Ranges Athletes for Round 3 of the XCR17 season.
Rolling hills and one very muddy bog made for a fun day of athletics.
Georgia Laven once again showed her class with a powerful run to win the Women Under 16 event 6km, outrunning the under 16 and under 18 women.
Georgia’s sister, Maddie, was the club’s other podium finisher, with a well-fought third place in the Womens Under 14 4km race.
Unofficial results are:
U14 Boys 4km Zac Clarke 9th 15.33, Angus Norman 22nd 16.20, James Love 24th 17.01; U14 Girls 4km Maddie Laven 3rd 15.02, Indigo Linde 6th 15.43, Mia Strudley 14th 17.23; U18 Men 8km Harry Norman 15th 29.01, James Laven 18th 29.27, Jayden Eagleton 36th 36.31; U20 Men 6km Mitch Mullens 26th 23.39; U20 Women 8km Amy Veenendaal 14th 39.52; U16 Women 6km Georgia Laven 1st 21.44
Open Men 16km Michael Clarke 157th 1.03.50, Graham Coutts 178th 1.05.24, James Anderson 189th 1.05.56, Stephen Blair 194th 1.06.04, Bryan Ackerly 206th 1.06.56, Dave Laven 300th 1.15.55, Martin Steer 307th 1.17.23, Andrew Searles.
Open Women 8km Veida Somerville 48th 33.19, Judith May 65th 34.22, Amanda Laven 96th 35.49, Sarah Love 150th 39.58, Alexis Sketchley 164th 41.07, Sue McCall 169th 41.34, Erika Bedyn 184th 45.09, Laura DiGregorio 191st 46.13, Kathryn Clarke 200th 49.05, Kate Van Duuren 203rd 49.46
Numbers were a bit smaller at this week’s round of Saturday morning cross country.
Those who didn’t make it missed out on a fantastic morning of cross country around the challenging Margaret Lewis Reserve course.
The club looks forward to seeing everyone back next weekend.
Congratulations to Kiara Flavel, who this week had her Australian Under 11s 400m record ratified by little Athletics Australia.
An amazing achievement by Kiara recording 59.97s at the Victorian Championships earlier this year.
Next Saturday the athletes are at Morrison Reserve, Mount Evelyn, from 8.30am.
Bring a friend or family member to trial and join in the fun.
The club welcomes all athletes of any age or ability.
For information on how to join or trial, photos, results and updated news, visit the website at yarrarangesathletics.org.au or check out the Facebook page.
