Cross country competition a runaway success
Cross country championships at Motupipi School.
Last Friday was a perfect day to go for a run, and over 250 local primary school children gathered at Motupipi Primary school to do just that. The weather for the Bay’s annual inter-school cross country races could not have been better. The children were able to run around local farm land without getting too hot or too bogged down in mud.
The first races were for the five- and six-year-olds who ran a course through paddocks, over a fence, through a tunnel and over hay bales. For many of these competitors it was their first run in a cross country race. A large crowd cheered everyone on as they crossed the finish line.
The course for the seven- to eleven-year-olds was over two kilometres long and took them through farmland, up a hill to a quarry and back down to the finish line on the school fields. Some children ran the entire course and some walked parts of it, but all put in a great effort and everyone was running hard as they crossed the line.
Sarah Milligan
Results: (T) Takaka Primary; (M) Motupipi; (C) Central; (Cw) Collingwood.
Girls: 5 years: 1. Jennifer Sampson (T), 2. Amy Webster (C), 3. Abbey Mitchell (T). 6 years: 1. Areta Milne (T), 2. Shaye Oats (Cw), 3. Dani McLellan (Cw). 7 years: 1. Harriet Grace (T), 2. Maia Schinkel (C), 3. Ellie Moyle (T). 8 years: 1. Lila Balzer (M), 2. Neko Begg (M), 3.Tessa Sparrow (Cw). 9 years: 1. Betsy Blasdale (T), 2. Lily Lee (T), 3. Tui Smith (Cw). 10/11 years: 1. Clarissa Barham (Cw), 2. Tori Wells (T), 3.Amy Hurst (M).
Boys: 5 years: 1. Shankar Minimatsu (T), 2. Hugh Renton (M), 3. Max Rogers (M). 6 years: 1. Daniel Dixon (T), 2. Ryan Grey (M), 3. Kai Dodson (C). 7 years: 1. Liam Evans (T), 2. Dylan Palmer (T), 3. Hunter Griffith (T). 8 years: 1. Kyle Gardiner (T), 2. Oscar Chubb (T), 3. Jaxxon Falconer (M). 9 years: 1. Luke Hikoroa (Cw), 2. Taine Robinson (Cw), 3. Khan Pedderson (Cw). 10/11 years: 1. Reuben Chubb (T), 2. Jaden Marama (T), 3. Ari Wells (T).
