Cross Country _______________________________Page

The start to the 2016 season began with the St Joseph’s Cross Country on Edmund Rice day. With each age group running the Barwon River course of just under 4km. There were some fantastic results and the boys had high hopes for the ACC championships.

School Cross Country Champions

Finn Murphy (U/13), Tom Hockley-Samon (U/14), Nicholas Sanders (U/15), Max Visintin (U/16), Hugh McMahon (U/17), Liam Higgins (Senior). As the year progressed, Term 3 saw the SJC Cross Country team make the trip to Melbourne to compete for the ACC title at Bundoora Park. With some fantastic results, the boys managed to pick up the junior (U/13 & U/14) and intermediate (U/15 & U/16) championship, giving the school its best shot in taking out the championship to date. Despite these terrific outcomes, and the best efforts from the senior team, St Bede’s proved too strong in the final stages of the day, leaving us in second position for the second consecutive year. Although it was disappointing not to take home the silverware, we were able to beat the dominant powerhouse of the ACC and fierce rivals in St Bernard’s, something the boys should be proud of. Special mention to Oliver Loughnan who ran our quickest 3km in 9:41.5 and to Hugh McMahon who ran our quickest 5km in 17:33.8 and won the U/17 race receiving the gold medal for the 2nd year in a row by quite a margin.

ACC Championship - Top Performers

Years 7-9, 3km - Tim Hannan (4th, U/13, 10:38.7), Finn Murphy (6th, U/13, 10:57.2), Tom HockleySalmon (2nd, U/14, 10:05.04), Oliver Wiltshire (5th, U/14, 10:21.9), Noah Gadsby (8th, U/14, 10:32.8), Oliver Loughnan (4th, U/15, 9:41.5). Years 10-12, 5km - Paul Kanellos (3rd, U/15, 17:44.6), Sam Walsh (7th, U/15, 18:10.4), Hugh McMahon, (1st, U/17, 17:33.8), Doyle Madigan (8th, 18:22.3). With another very strong performance for the year, the results haven’t come overnight. The early wake-ups every Tuesday and Thursday for two terms did not go unnoticed, and it is a credit to everyone who was involved. A very big reason for the success of the team is the hard work that our coaches Mr Kemp, Mr O’Grady and Eamon Anderson put in for the year, the boys can’t thank them enough for all they have done. In particular, on behalf of all the runners involved this year, the boys would like to say a massive thank you to Mr O’Grady for six years of work as the Cross Country Coordinator. Taking SJC from the bottom of division two to nearly winning division one, is an outstanding transformation and he is a big reason for this happening. We wish you all the best with your future endeavours. Finally thank you to all of the members of the Cross Country team, it was a great effort at the ACC, Hopefully we can go one better next year.

- Declan Fenton, Year 10

Hugh McMahon - Gold Medal

Finn Murphy & Finn Murphy & Timothy Hannan Timothy Hannan

Liam Higgins - Captain Year 8 Team Year 8 Team

Cross Country

Back Row: Lachlan McKoy, Max Tagliabue, Joshua Gummer, Brayden Ham, Logan Mitchell, Charles Francis, Brayden Thompson, Riley Pendergast, Matthew Ling, Dominic Van Slageren, Jack Mullen, Josh Berry Fourth Row: Harry Gower, Declan Fenton, Benjamin Mullins, Finn Dripps, Tanner Sadler, Clay Page, Michael Bongiorno, Thomas Foley, Doyle Madigan, Charlie Mahar, Finn Murphy Third Row: Jack Simsic, Oscar Morrison, Max Visintin, Sheldon Ham, FinnMcCombe, Oliver Hanneysee, Jack Keating, Noah Gadsby, Baptiste Claudon, Will Batson, Thomas Keast, Finn Laffy Second Row: Tanner Bruhn, Max McMahon, Oliver Wiltshire, Paul Kanellos, Samuel Walsh, Hugh McMahon, Timothy Hannan, Tom Hockley Samon, Oliver Loughnan, Charlie Roache, Nicholas Sanders Front Row: Matthew Keast, Max Jones, Max Dementiev, Ethan Durante, Lewis Antonac, Oscar Mazaraki, Matthew Pratt, Ethan Horrobin Absent: Bayley Cockerill, Samuel Croft, Rhys Devlin, Mason Fraser, Noah Gribble, Ned Harris, Liam Higgins, Michael Kavenagh, Maxwell Kelly, Baxter Mensch, Patrick Paulden Staff: Glenn Kemp, Luke O’Grady