Waikato BOP Cross Country Champs 2016 Results
Report by Mudlark
It was clear and cold with a SW wind keeping the temps down but it was a day of good racing for a few from the club with fields small and racing keen.
At long last I can give congrats and credit to Mathijis Wetzels who had his results in the North Island CC and the King of the Mountains last week fouled up so that he never got mentioned. Apologies for that. He was a superb winner of the B14 3km and his time of 10.18 over country was real quick for a guy who spends much of his weekend playing soccer (where he is also a gun).
There were many other Hawks gold winners. Nicolle Mitchell continues to impress in the women’s division where the new 10km distance is a challenge. Kent Hodgson M45, Lance Brew M35, Kevin Knowles M55, Charli Miller G14, Isaiah Priddey M18, Emerson Deverell W20, Bridget Ray W50, Maureen Leonard W55, and David Trow M70 all won golds so that was a pleasing set of results for the club.
Heaps of other medals were also won, with silvers to junior Harry Ewing running up a grade to provide Aaron Pulford with some competition. And where have all our runners gone, I ask, with only 2 in the senior men field? Grace Ritchie won silver in W20, providing Emerson with some opposition, and Paul Ritchie M55 and Gary Wilson M50 were others to score silvers.
All in all a disappointing day of racing, in terms of race numbers on a superb course. The resurgence of the Cambridge Club was noted and is pleasing. They are shaping well for the masters men section of the road relay, as are Lake City. They were also proud to wear the Cambridge ‘Red and Blue’. As a further comment – old fashioned perhaps, but it is important to follow the correct system of paying a WBOP registration and wearing a club singlet if you wish to compete officially and to be included in the results. Hopefully all will take that on board as I would hate to see further decline in numbers of registered athletes taking part in championship races.
On that note PLEASE make sure that your national cross country champs entries go in on time for the August 7 Sunday romp around the Auckland Domain. Knowing the area well after 7 years of training and racing there with the University Club, the surface will NOT be as fast as Spa Park Taupo and could in fact be quite muddy after many winter sports games the day before. However it may be dry as they run around the perimeter. On a more positive note I did run my first sub 2 minute half there at the Labour Day sports when a 17 year school kid from Takapuna Grammar. There was no mud there that day.
More of the event photos can be viewed here
