Harriers

2^nd row; Geoff Anderson (Coach), Ezekiel Stewart, Hugh Askerud, Brayden Scott, Ollie Young, Mr Koedyk (Manager

On Sunday August 9^th, the Otago Secondary Schools’ Cross Country event was held at Chisholm Park Golf Course.  This is where the National Club Championships was held on the 29^th August. The course was dry and undulating suiting the strong hill runners. Though it was a nice day, there was a stiff cool breeze to run into. This was to be a good trial for the Nationals this year but unfortunately these were cancelled.

Ezekiel Stewart ran a tactical race and moved into 2nd at the 4km mark, after working his way from the back of the field and he maintained his position for the last 2kms. Ollie Young ran a very strong race, coming 4th, just ahead of George Bates in 5th. These two were battling neck and neck with 400m to go, until Ollie’s class came through with a strong finish into the headwind. Hugh Jack ran a very strong race in the Under 14 grade and was only 6 seconds behind the winner.

Our results were:

Otago SS Cross Country Results 2020

6km – Boys U19

2^nd Ezekiel Stewart      22:51

4^th Ollie Young             23:37

5^th   George Bates       23:49

8^th Hugh Askerud        25:46

Team Result

1st King’s High School

Following this, on Thursday September 24th, the inaugural Southern Schools’ Cross Country Blowout took place at Ashbury Park, behind Briscoes in Timaru. This new event was put together to congregate the keenest runners from around the South Island who had missed the chance to compete due to numerous cancellations throughout the season.

Although Timaru Boys High School’s Ryan Bagrie immediately established a resounding lead, George Bates ran a strong race, capitalising on the uphill sections and the haybales to put distance between himself and the other runners behind him. Ezekiel and Ollie also ran well, setting themselves apart from the pack and battling for 3rd position. Hugh displayed great strength in his second lap too, making a strong surge in the final kilometre to put George on the ropes. Ezekiel held off Ollie, who was chasing. After strong finishing from all, George finished 2nd, Ezekiel 3rd, Ollie 4th and Hugh 7th.

1ST ROW Zak Chisholm, Alex Smith, Marley Bennett, Johan Lokman, Patrick Ward, Joe French, Alfie Weatherston-Harvey, Max Holgate

2ND ROW Grant Koedyk (TIC Cross Country), Paddy Tyrrell, Hugh Jack, Thomas Jenkins, Ziad Aljomaa, Declan Viljoen, Massimo Bolletta, Michelle Chapman (Manager)

3RD ROW Rocky Allan, Narayan Shastri, Ezekiel Stewart, Jackson Clearwater, Nathan Hill. Ollie Young Captain, Joshua Scott

4TH ROW Eric Bracey, Hugh Askerud, Harry Mason, Sammy Johnson, Spencer Gable, Ariki McDonald

ABSENT Caellan Agnew, Fletcher Graham, Ollie Harrison, Ben Paku, Luke Salisbury, Mitchell Wheeler.

Individual:  Hugh Jack finished 4th.

Teams Race: Zak Chisholm, Paddy Tyrell, Eric Bracey, and Ariki MacDonald finished 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th respectively to clinch the teams title.

CAVERSHAM RELAYS

Senior: Spencer Gable, Ezekiel Stewart, Harry Mason, and Ollie Young, finished in third place

OTAGO-SOUTHLAND CROSS COUNTRY RELAYS

Held at Milton
Senior 1st team (Spencer Gable, Ezekiel, Harry Mason and Ollie)  – 2nd place.

OTAGO CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPS

Held at Kaikorai Valley College

Josh Scott 3rd, Zak Chisholm 4th and Alfie Weatherston-Harvey 5th giving us well deserved 1st placing in the 3 man teams event.

SOUTHERN SCHOOLS CROSS COUNTRY

Ashbury Park in Timaru

Ollie Young 2nd, Ezekiel Stewart 6th and Hugh Askerud 8th in the Senior grade.

Results: Joshua Scott, Dan Kelleher and Zak Chisholm were
placed sixth, seventh and eighth in the junior race, while Hugh Jack and Shelby Thomson came in fifth and sixth in the senior race.

Senior team: Paddy Tyrrell, Shelby Thomson, Alex MacDonald and Hugh Jack won the senior race

Hugh Jack placed second in the U16 event; teamed with Ziad Aljomaa and Rocky Allan, they placed first in the U16 team event