Donald High School: Banyenong Clinches Cross Country
Last week Donald High School students competed in their annual inter-house cross-country event. The competition was again close, with Banyenong again victorious in a very tight encounter. Overall points saw Banyenong record a total of 911, with...
Last week Donald High School students competed in their annual inter-house cross-country event.
The competition was again close, with Banyenong again victorious in a very tight encounter.
Overall points saw Banyenong record a total of 911, with Meyer second on 881, and Jeffcott third with 790.
Due to 2020 being one for the ages, the school made a few changes to the traditional cross-country event run in previous years.
This year’s course was a 3.15km track around the school block and through the Goodwin village, and was conducted during lunchtime.
The event ran over three days, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, with the three different age groups having a day to themselves.
Bonus points were awarded for beating specific times, and also on participation rate of each of the houses.
The juniors ran on a perfect Monday afternoon, which saw Abby Griffiths (Jeffcott) take the junior girls’ age group title with a time of 15.24 minutes, closely followed by Johanna Griffiths (Jeffcott) and Toni Jones (Jeffcott), both with a time of 15.46.
For the boys, it was the electric George Morgan (Banyenong) proving too strong in a time of 13.17, just in front of Logan Geddes (Meyer) 13.5, and Toby Smith (Banyenong) 15.07.
The intermediate boys and girls ran on a cloudy Tuesday. For the girls’ champion it was Claudia Griffiths (Meyer) maintaining her smooth running form from last year, with a time of 13.25. Sim Singh (Jeffcott) and Grace Leeder (Meyer) both filled the minor positions.
In the boys, it was Hayden Geddes (Meyer) proving he’d been busy during the 8 weeks of online learning, with a nice time of 12.41, followed closely by his Meyer counterpart Will Burke (12.50) and Jake Sullivan of Jeffcott filling third with a time of 13.07.
On the third and final day, it was the senior boys and girls who showed what they were truly capable of. A hard fought race in the boys’ saw Banyenong’s Jake Burke take out the age group title with a sparkling time of 11.50 minutes, followed by the Meyer cavalry of Tom George (12.07) and Ryan Bath (12.20).
Among the girls, it was Chloe Frank swiping the chocolates for Banyenong with a time of 17.36, followed closely by Meyer’s Tahlia Sailor and Banyenong’s Shae Coats.
Overall, with the event run differently and not compulsory, the participation rate was truly exceptional, and proved to be the key ingredient for the victors.
Well done and thank you to all the staff and house captains involved in making sure the event ran smoothly, and also to the students of Donald High School and any parents or supporters for truly embracing the event.
