St Joseph’s Parish School students Zig Freiberg, Drew McDonnell and Rowan Christie proudly display their results ribbons after competing in the Inter-School Cross Country in Weipa on 12 March. Photo: Supplied.
School sport history was made in Weipa on 12 March when more than 1,000 students from three schools converged on Western Cape College (WCC) for the inaugural Inter-School Cross Country.
Students from Kluthuthu Christian College (KCC) at Napranum, St Joseph’s Parish School and WCC’s Weipa and Mapoon campuses ran, jumped, skipped, trudged and walked the track comprising a diverse array of surfaces one could only find on the western Cape, including mud, grass, sand, bitumen and bauxite pebbles.
In typical Weipa fashion, it was hot and humid, with not a rain cloud in sight to cool off competitors and spectators, although a DIY sprinkler system provided some measure of relief for runners as they sprinted towards the finish line.
There was plenty of reason to smile for Evans students, with the house claiming overall winner bragging rights at the Inter-School Cross Country at Western Cape College on 12 March. Photo: Supplied.
When the dust settled, Evans finished the event with bragging rights as the overall winner, with Mapoon claiming the Spirit Award.
Three WCC cross country records were smashed, with Tanna de Tournouer shaving an impressive 44 seconds from the 12 years girls benchmark to stop the clock in 13 minutes, 56 seconds, while David Kostecki’s time of 12:06 took more than a minute off the previous mark.
In the Open boys division, Jack Barton made light work of the existing record of 26:45 by crossing the finish line in a blistering 24:57 over the longer course.
Records were not isolated to WCC competitors, with KCC students Ray Yoella (9 years boys in 11:55), Stella Kris (11 years girls in 23:24), Rashaun (11 years boys in 16:53) and Gabriel Mimi (12 years boys in 17:26) showing clean sets of heels to claim cross country glory in their respective age divisions.
There were plenty of reasons to celebrate when students from Weipa and Mapoon created cross country history on 12 March. Photo: Supplied.
The following students were crowned age champions at the conclusion of the event:
St Joseph’s Parish School
9 years girl: Addison Lyons; 9 years boy: Flynn Van Den Heuvel; 10 years girl: Airlie Wallace; 10 years boy: Archie Thomas; 11 years girl: Ella Mitton; 11 years boy: Zigmund Freiberg; 12 years girl: Rachel Purvis; 12 years boy: Jackson Reynolds; 13 years boy: Kade Larcombe.
Western Cape College
9 years girl: Uraz Tabuai; 9 years boy: Wilfred Pitt; 10 years girl: Tillie Russ; 10 years boy: Slade de Tournouer; 11 years girl: Halle Kootoofa; 11 years boy: Kairie Elia; 12 years girl: Tanna de Tournouer; 12 years boy: David Kostecki; 13 years girl: Teeahne-Rae Masso; 13 years boy: Jahvan Sandy; 14 years girl: Phoebe Bani; 14 years boy: Kyoshi Aniba; 15 years girl: Kalinda Enoch; 15 years boy: Max Lynch; 16 years girl: Ashandra Bond; 16 years boy: Ian Gordon; Open girl: Lexii Millard; Open boy: Jack Barton.
Western Cape College Mapoon campus made its presence felt at the cross country on 12 March. Photo: Supplied.
A WCC spokesperson said the inaugural event had been an overwhelming success and thanked the army of volunteers, teachers, businesses and organisations that made it possible.
“As always, events like these would not be possible without people working behind the scenes to get things done,” the spokesperson said.
“You know who are, and we sincerely thank you and appreciate everything you did to make this inaugural event a community celebration.
“A special thanks goes out to our grounds team, teaching staff and parents who forfeited their sleep-in to help set up at 6am.
“The inaugural Inter-School Cross Country event was a resounding success, and we look forward to this event becoming a long-standing tradition in our community.”
School spirit was on display when students from Western Cape College, Kluthuthu Christian College and St Joseph’s Parish School made Weipa cross country history last week. Photo: Supplied.
