2024 State Cross Country Championships Recap

Following last year’s mixed relay event at the Waite Arboretum, this year’s State Cross Country was held on a challenging 2k loop at the very same venue.

The long incline on the first half of the loop had athletes trying to find the best grassy lane to follow and the long downhill section next to Walter Young Avenue was soft but good underfoot, before the course took a tight left turn along the Fullarton Road boundary fence.

Another ninety-degree left turn sent athletes up the final straight to the finish.

Add to the mix some inclement conditions, and we had a true cross-country event.

Cocks wins the Men’s 10k Cross Country Title

Flinders athlete Jacob Cocks (FLN) wasn’t hanging around and got the break on teammate Fraser Darcy (FLN) early and slowly pulled away throughout the five lap event to win by 33 seconds.

The following pack battled for bronze before Cooper Giles (AU) pulled away from Connor Hortle (FLN) to get the medal.

In the teams event Flinders (7pts) won comfortably from Adelaide University (17pts) and Adelaide Harriers (21pts).

Austin dominates Women’s 10k Cross Country Title

It was no surprise that Poppy Austin (WA) won the women’s title in dominant style.

The reigning Australian U20 Cross Country champion making her senior cross country championships debut was out in front from the gun.

This win will be good preparation for Poppy as she prepares for the National Open Championships in Launceston at the end of August.

While it is disappointing to have so few women run the open 10k event, Victoria Bath (UNA) and Sofia Heyward (SAIN) were the other medallists.

All the other action

In the U14 Women’s 3k, Tilly Williams (AH) pushed the pace throughout the race and only Violette Smith (FLN) could go with her.

It wasn’t until the second downhill section that Tilly managed to break away for a nine second win, posting a time of 10.13, with Violette behind running a 10.22.

Meanwhile, Eva Flint (AH) ran strongly to come third in 10.28 and win the U13 title.

Daniel Bahr (WA) got away on the downhill in the U14 Men’s 3k, but was made to work hard for his win by young Charlie Camilleri (AH) who was close behind winning the U13 title. The pair ran times of 10.04 and 10.07 respectively.

Right on their tail was Tyson White (UNA), who rounded out the medal places with a run of 10.08.

Flinders dominated the 4k event with Emma Potter (FLN) winning the U16 Women’s title with a 15.39, closely followed by Alice Fisher (FLN) who won the U15 title running 15.48.

Saffron Miller (PEM) was third across the line, finishing in 16.06.

Young up and coming athlete Zach Szelag (FLN) controlled the Men’s U16 4k race from the front to outlast Tristan Kidd (AH) and Joshua Kavanagh (UC).

Zach ran a solid 12.49, with Tristan and Joshua finishing in 12.54 and 13.00 respectively.

Not far behind, with a time of 13.15, was Levi Ellul (SAIN) who won the U14 championships.

Pre-race favourite Hannah Tourneur (FLN) ran a strong second lap, finishing in 13.59 to win the U17 Women’s title ahead of Emma Henkel (AU) who won the U18 title with a time of 14.17.

Tessa Ebert (PA) was slightly adrift, crossing the line in third place in 14.29.

These three athletes are all national medal winners on the track, and backed that up with strong performances at these State Championships.

After a long break due to injury Ben Van Raalte (AH) was back to what he does best, winning the U17 Men’s championship from gun to tape in a time of 19.07.

The U18 championship went down to the wire with Zac Bald (WA), who ran a 19.59, just in front of Tyler Gridley (AH), with a 20.01, in the closest finish of the day.

Tiana Cetta (UC) made a successful return to racing to win the U20 Women’s Championships over Jessica McManus (PA) and Lucie Vittot (SAIN).

Another athlete showing prowess over cross country was Thomas Kavanagh (UC) who had a comfortable win, running 26.01, over university athletes Casey Atkinson (AU) (26.32) and Alex Rawley (AU) (26.34) who battled for the minor places.

The Flinders duo of Reegan Knowles (FLN) (27.18) and Alison Sorell (FLN) (27.31) gave Flinders the medals on the O35 women’s 6k event.

Michael Nitschke (AU) ran impressively, posting a 19.28 to take out the Men’s O35 championships.

The Flinders duo of Adrian Riessen (FLN) and Ben Hockings (FLN) got the minor placings with times of 22.29 and 23.52 respectively.

There was another win for Felicity Alexander (SAIN) in the Women’s O50 event, finishing with a time of 34.36.

Adrian Wade (AU) was the class athlete of the Men’s O50 field and as expected ran away with the title with a time of 21.32.

Mike McAuliffe (FLN) and David Rowe (AU) took the remaining medal spots, Mike running a 24.58 and David a 28.20.

And it was Jack White (EH) who won the 3k para event, finishing in 11.29.

The full results list can be found HERE

Photos from the event can be found on our Facebook page HERE

The next Round of the Winter Premiership is the Ekiden Relay on August 3, at Bonython Park.

By Paul Sutcliffe, Athletics South Australia
Posted: 22/7/2024