2024 Australian Cross Country Championships Recap

The 2024 Australian Cross Country Championships were held in Launceston over the weekend, with South Australia taking it's biggest team ever to the event.

The course at Symmons Plain Raceway was a proper cross country loop: muddy and challenging. Add the wet, windy weather and it was exactly what you'd expect from such a competition.

It was the U14 Girls race that set the standard for South Australia, with Amelia Sheridan (12:00) leading home Ivy Strawhorn (12:05) to claim a Team SA 1-2. Violette Smith (12:27) placed 5th in the same race, which saw South Australia claim the team title for the U14 Girls, beating New South Wales by 7 points.

In the Open Men's 10km race, Isaac Heyne finished as the best of the rest in a race that didn't begin to really take shape until around 6km in. A lead pack formed, including the medallists and Heyne, with Isaac dropping back after 9km to finish 4th in a time of 33:35.

While in the Open Women's, Caitlin Adams placed 7th in a tough field, clocking 39:35 for the 10km.

Tessa Ebert came home in second place in the U17 Girl's competition, with a solid time of 16:42 finding her only a few seconds behind first place.

And in the U17 Boy's race, Ben Van Raalte brought home yet another fourth placed finish for South Australia, in a time of 21:36.

There was another Gold for South Australia in the U20 Women's race, with Tiana Cetta comfortably leading the field and clocking a superb time of 24:28 to win by almost 30 seconds.

This was followed by a Gold for Torben Roberts in the U20 Men's, whose time of 21:51 was just enough to pip the competition to first place, with the top three all covered by only 2 seconds.

In total, South Australia finished with 4 Golds (3 individual and 1 team), 2 Silvers, and a number of fourth placed finishes. This marks one of SA's best ever results at the National Cross Country Championships.

Congrats to all who took part and well done on your efforts in tough conditions in Tasmania!

Full results from both days of competition can be found via Roster Athletics. Day one here, Day two here.

By Jacob Stevens, Athletics SA
Posted 02/09/2024