Australian Cross Country Championships and how the QGSSSA girls went
The Australian Cross Country Championships have been run and won, with QGSSSA athletes among some of Queensland’s finest performers. Story here
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It was a day of toil and triumph as over 1250 competitors toed the start line at South Australia’s Oakbank Racecourse for the 82nd instalment of the Australian Cross Country Championships, hosted by Athletics Australia.
Queensland School Sport picked up an incredible 26 individual medals, including 11 individual gold medals and podium trifectas from Jaxon Green, Joel Lang and Caleb Lang in Boys 11 Years Para; Mia Kertesz, Lilly-Anne Gould and Evelynne George in Girls 12 Years Para; and Aspen Anderson, Charlotte Hart and Georgie Gilroy in U17 Women.
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The event took competitors through ankle-deep mud, up and down hills and across fields as grandstands full of spectators spurred the athletes onto the finish line, it was Cross Country racing at its brutal best.
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The Queensland Girls Secondary School Sports Association (QGSSSA) had 30 girls competing for their State.
These athletes are no strangers to Cross Country running, and it is one of the three Core Championship Sports along with Swimming and Track and Field to form the basis of the biggest events in the Associations annual sporting calendar.
Year 12 Somerville House student Ella Rodwell has had a steady trajectory to the top of this gruelling but highly rewarding sport, culminating in an exceptional 2 nd place in the U18 race.
Rodwell had 140 athletes in her race, one of the largest fields of the day, so she knew the start was going to be a fight as the athletes jostled for a good position around a tight corner on the first turn, trying not to go down in the mud.
“Most of my race plan was aimed at just going out hard and getting in the front pack from the beginning so I didn’t get blocked and have to work to get back up to the front. After that, the plan was to stick near the front pack and just believe in myself and keep pushing to the finish”, and that is exactly what she did.
Rodwell enjoys her running and hopes to make the most of the opportunities it can provide, with exciting plans for her future.
“I am hoping to pursue running further after I finish school this year, I am looking at US universities at the moment and having some meetings with the coaches to try and get a scope for their teams and if they would be the best fit for me.”
Rodwell is grateful for the opportunities and big field experience the QGSSSA and School Sport pathways have afforded her as she realises her potential and sees where this sport can take her.
Lining up in the same quality field, but in the younger age division was Georgie Gilroy from Brisbane State High School.
Like Rodwell, Gilroy also won the QGSSSA Cross Country Championships earlier this year and went into yesterday’s race as one of the favourites. Gilroy came away with a bronze medal in the U17 division, and was ready to respond to whatever played out.
“It is hard to predict what can happen in a race like this, and I like to go with the flow. I wanted to be able to get into a good position after the start and stay relaxed” she said.
Gilroy in now switching to track season, with the QGSSSA Track andField on September 15 her next major event, following that will be Australian School Sport National Track and Field in December, and the World Cross Country Trials on January 15.
Along with Rodwell, Gilroy is excited about the prospect of representing Australia in the U20 World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst on the 18 th of February 2023.
This will be the first time this major event has been held in Australia, and Athletics Australia is anticipating over 10,000 Cross Country fans to descend upon the famous Mount Panorama site to witness the best in the world.
World Athletics requested a tough course, and that is what Australia will deliver.
The QGSSSA also had top 10 finishes from Saffron Jenkinson of Brisbane State High School in the U14 race, Zoe McElwaine of Brisbane Girls Grammar in U15, Kobi Walker of Moreton Bay College and Gabrielle Schmidt of St Peters Lutheran College in U17, and Isabella Harte of St Margaret’s in U18.
Full results from the 2022 Australian Cross Country Championships can be found HERE
https://cdn.revolutionise.com.au/cups/aa/files/cbgvfudv5sb8pece.pdf
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