The 8 k. cross country was held at Lardner Park near Drouin this year. The two-lap course attracted a large field, and 10 Box Hill seniors commenced in the field. Conditions were fine and sunny.
The Lardner Park course is run over typical Gippsland country – very hilly and lush green. There were fences to jump or clear in any way practicable.
At the front of the 330 strong field after the first kilometre, Simon Field, Shawn Forrest, Nigel Adkins, Clinton Perrett (now running for Mentone), and Rohan Perrott cleared away from the field. At the conclusion of the first lap of this hilly and testing course, Field had opened up a six second break over Shaun Forrest and this was the winning move. Adkins was in third place, 50 metres behind him, with the two Mentone runners, Perrett and Fedmowski running close together. Perrott trailed them and Rod de Highden, apparently running by invitation had started moving through the field after an easier start.
Soon after the leaders passed through, Adrian Vincent emerged in 25th position, followed by Paul Boxshall, 33rd, Graeme Olden 36th, with Kynan Dawes (who didn’t complete the race) seven seconds behind Graeme. Alan Craigie was 58th, David Jimenez was running smoothly in 60th immediately followed by Chris O’Connor 61st, with Lachlan Aspinall, 66th. Adam Pepper and Matt Slater were further back in the field.
Simon Field did not falter as he ran to the finish, extending his lead over Shawn Forrest and won by the impressive margin of 21 seconds. In third place was Clint Perrett, 16 seconds further back, whilst Olympian, Rod de Highden, ran through to take (unofficial) fourth place.
Adrian Vincent improved by three places in the final lap to be the first Box Hill athlete over the line, with Graeme Olden holing on to finish 35th. Paul Boxshall found the second lap more testing, finishing six places behind Graeme Olden in 41st place, a creditable performance nevertheless.
Lachlan Aspinall appeared to run better than he had in the Cross Country relays in finishing 57th. Alan Craigie’ name was omitted from the finishers’ list, but he was the next Box Hill finisher in 61stposition, with David Jimenez, 67th, Chris O’Connor, 68th following quickly after. Adam Pepper 148th and Matt Slater 173rd were our other two finishers.
Box Hill’s team performance was considerably better than a fortnight earlier in placing 5th, with two top athletes, Marcus Tierney and John Meagher, set to commence their winter season.
In the Under 20 race, Andrew White led the field through the first kilometre,, and then gradually relinquished his position at the front of the field, being in third position after one lap. Eventually he finished sixth overall and in 5th place in the Under 20 competition. Graham and Kevin Craigie also competed in the underage race, running by invitation.
|
Runner |
Place First Lap |
Time 1st Lap |
Final Place |
Total Time |
|
Simon Field (St K) |
1 |
12:05 |
1 |
24:05 |
|
Shaun Forrest (Nun) |
2 |
12:11 |
2 |
24:26 |
|
Clinton Perrett (Men) |
4 |
12:34 |
3 |
24:42 |
|
Rod de Highden (Don) |
10? |
4 |
25:02 |
|
|
Rohan Perrott (Geel) |
6 |
12:40 |
5 |
25:05 |
|
Nigel Adkin (APS) |
3 |
12:21 |
6 |
25:0-8 |
|
Martin Fedmowski (Men) |
5 |
12:34 |
7 |
25:20 |
|
David Ruschena (GH) |
7 |
8 |
25:32 |
|
|
Box Hill Results |
||||
|
Adrian Vincent |
25 |
13:28 |
22 |
26:54 |
|
Graeme Olden |
36 |
13:51 |
35 |
27:36 |
|
Paul Boxshall |
33 |
13:44 |
41 |
27:51 |
|
Lachlan Aspinall |
66 |
14:24 |
57 |
28:29 |
|
Alan Craigie |
58 |
14:18 |
61 |
28:40 |
|
David Jimenez |
60 |
14:20 |
67 |
28:48 |
|
Chris O’Connor |
61 |
14:21 |
68 |
28:50 |
|
Adam Pepper |
15:38 |
148 |
31:38 |
|
|
Matt Slater |
16:35 |
173 |
32:31 |
GLENHUNTLY 122
PENINSULA RR 164
DONCASTER 216
APS UNITED 259
BOX HILL 288