2023 XCR 4: Cruden Farm
Glenhuntly Athletic Club – Latest News
Saturday 17th June, 2023
On a day where the thrashing wind presented itself as the fiercest enemy, our athletes left it all out in the paddocks. The 12km course at Langwarrin is a challenge at the best of times but this year, the new course saw the addition of some beautiful winding paths through ferny corridors, some brutal hills, and a treacherous, muddy creek crossing. Albeit the Hunters remained undeterred (credit to Sam Toll and Andrew McEvoy for this vivid description of the course – they clearly indulged in every bit of it!)
Welcome to newcomers
A warm welcome to Tarra Brain who debuted with the Hunters at this round, and with her gutsy run into the top 10, a terrific addition to our Open Women’s team. And, to Chris Monaghan (M45+) who wore the Hunters colours for the first time.
Our standing on the Premier Division Ladder
With a few absentees, our Premier Men’s and Women’s teams were not able to grab number #1 at this round. Our Women’s Premier team finished a gallant 3rd on the day while our Men’s Premier team, who were without their usual full complement, managed a noble 7th. After Round 4, our Premier Men are holding onto 2nd place on the State Ladder (behind Bendigo Region and very closely followed by Box Hill and Western Athletics). Our Premier Women are still ranked #1 (only just ahead of St Stephens).
Instead, it was our junior teams who took the limelight at this round, with 3 gold medal winners – (left to right below) Archie Sideris Men U14 5 KM, Madison King Women U16 5 KM and Luka Sideris MU16 5 KM – and some excellent team placings, notably Men’s U14 (2nd), Women’s U16 (3rd) and Women’s U16 (3rd).
Photo credits: Helen Rainey, GAC
Likewise, Our Masters teams also shone, with our M50+ coming in #1, our W50+ in #3, and our W60+ dominating both the short and long courses. Special mention to Robbie O’Donnell (M50+) - pictured below - who made the cut for his first Div 1 team in many years. Nice to see he is still running a mighty pace.
Photo credit: Take My Snap
Club Helpers
Each club must supply a minimum number of club helpers at each round of XCR. Glenhuntly XCR relies on parents, partners, friends and our competing athletes to fill the Club Helper roster each round. Our XCR competitions couldn’t happen without the fabulous efforts of our club helpers. A big thank you to the following people who were our club helpers at Cruden Farm: Tony Doran, Rob Jamison and John Daniel.
Highlights
Open Women
It was great to have Tarra Brain run with the Hunters for the first time and what a debut! Tarra clocked the fastest time of all of our Open Women on the day. Both Tarra (9th) and Erika Florez (10th) finished in the top 10. Cassie Little (15th), Maddie Gwynne (18th), Dianah Matekali (19th) and Sharon Firisua (20th) all made the top 20 cut. Dana Dekkers and Aimee Davenport also put in strong performances to finish in under 50 minutes and Isabelle Crothers came home in good form, too, to help get the Hunters into 2nd place in the Division 2 team results.
Photos above credited to Jazz Deol
Photos above credited to Take My Snap
Open Men
Sam Toll (6th) and Logan Janetzki (7th) stepped up a new level to record their first top 10 finishes for the first time this season. Denyan Claxton continued his stellar season with another top 30 finish as we also welcomed Jordan Cowley travelling up from Sale to bolster our reduced numbers. This was furthered with the help from Masters Athletes Rob O'Donnell and Andrew McEvoy, who performed excellently to round out the top 6. Rossi Siosi, Declan Murphy, Chris Winter, Jorge Acosta-Montes, Brad Wynn and Simon Bowly once again put in strong runs to continue their strong starts to the season.
Photos above credited to: Take My Snap
Photos above credited to: Jazz Deol
Junior Girls
Congratulations to our U16 girls Madi King, Serena Bryant and Jacinta Crowley who competed at Cruden Farm.
It was a sunny but breezy day with a tough course with lots of undulation and mud but everyone did really well. All the juniors started together and Madi King and Michael Monaghan (GHY U16) ran together for a bit of the way with Serena Bryant not far behind. And, great running to Jacinta Cowley who has been recovering from a back injury. At the end, Madi went on to win the U16 girls with Serena coming in 6th and not far behind was Jacinta in 16th place – and the girls secured 3rd place in the teams results on the day. Congratulations! Well done to the U16 team who are currently holding onto 2nd on the ladder after Round 4.
Photos credited to: Take My Snap
Junior Boys
There were some outstanding results achieved by our underage men at Cruden Farm. Archie Sideris (U14) and Luka Sideris (U16) won gold medals in their respective 5 KM events. Kane Hijlkema (U16) finished in the top 10 with George Fowler (U16) close behind in 11th place. Michael Monaghan put in a solid run to crack 19 minutes. Terry Tsakiridis was our only athlete in the Men’s U18 7 KM event, finishing 18th. Congratulations to the U14 team who finished 2nd overall on the day.
Photos credited to: Take My Snap
Masters Women
An awesome run on a tough XC course by Kate Smyth saw her come 3rd overall in the W50+. Kim Nanscawen finished a mighty 4th in the W55+ category. Congratulations to both. Along with Gill Highnam, these women brought our W50+ team home to 3rd place on the day, after Mentone and APS. Kara Gilbert, Svitlana Korchova and Victoria Haritos clinched 8th place in the W50+ teams results. Unfortunately, Lisa Deramond took a wrong turn on the course which saw her cover an additional 2 km – she didn’t give up and resolved herself to crossing the finish line! This saw her and Victoria clinch the #1 possie on the W60+ teams ladder. Joelle Jones (8th) and Michele Forbes (9th) put in great efforts to also bring the Hunters home to 1st place on the W60+ Short Course teams results for the day. Go Hunters!
Photos credited to: Take My Snap
Masters Men
Numbers were down across the board for Glenhuntly but it did provide an opportunity for others to step up. The Heritage round inspired Robbie O'Donnell to another stellar performance but stand out results of the day were from Chris Wardlaw and Han Quach. "Rab" finished in a tick over an hour and well ahead of much younger opponents while Han has only recently returned to running after a 3- or 4-year break. Well done gents. Welcome and great run also to Chris Monaghan (45+) who recently returned from injury and competed in Hunters colours for the first time. Well done to everyone who competed in long and short course events. Big thanks to Lyndon Loader for taking care of the new tent. Full results below.
Photos credited to: Jazz Deol (left) and Take My Snap (right)
Next Round
Round 5 will be the Road Relay Championships at Sandown race track on Saturday 8th July. You should receive further information from your Team Managers. Contact your Team Managers if you have any questions.
Glenhuntly Results XCR Round 4 Cruden Farm – as posted on the Athletics Victoria Results Hub
Female Open 12km: Tarra L Brain 46:19; Erika Florez 46:23; Cassie Little 47:11; Madeleine Gwynne 47:51; Dianah Matekali 48:01; Sharon Firisua 48:05; Dana Dekkers 49:16; Aimee Davenport 49:59; Kate Smyth 52:55; Kim Nanscawen 58:40; Isabelle Crothers 58:51; Gill Highnam 1:02:54; Kara Gilbert 1:06:45; Svitlana Korchova 1:12:25; Victoria Haritos 1:16:32; Lisa Deramond 1:31:06; Female 16 5km: Madison King 18:23; Serena Bryant 20:46; Jacinta Crowley 23:45; Female 50 7km: Joelle Jones 45:08; Michele Forbes 46:22; Male Open 12km: Samuel Toll 37:54; Logan Janetzki 38:03; Denyan Claxton 39:43; Jordan Cowley 43:01; Rob O'Donnell 44:24; Andrew McEvoy 45:13; Rosefelo Siosi 46:08; Declan Murphy 46:17; Chris Winter 47:19; Chris Monaghan 48:59; Han Quach 49:54; Jorge Gerardo Acosta Montes 50:27; Bradley Wynne 51:18; Simon Bowly 53:14; Aaron Murphy 55:08; Richard McGuire White 58:55; Alastair Maher 1:00:08; Chris Wardlaw 1:00:56; Male 18 7km: Terry Tsakiridis 26:27; Male 16 5km: Luka Sideridis 16:47; Kane Hijlkema 17:35; George Fowler 17:52; Michael Monaghan 18:54; Male 14 5km: Archie Sideridis 17:23; Male 60 7km: Kevin Esmore 1:16:16
Contributors: XCR Team Managers – Sam Toll & Dale Woodbridge (Open Men), Dana Dekkers (Open Women), Michael Halloran (Under-age Men), Helen Rainey (Junior Girls), Andrew McEvoy (Masters Men), Kara Gilbert (Masters Women)
Curated by: Kara Gilbert
Date published: 4th July, 2023
This article has been published in good faith, drawing on available data. Please contact kara@kmgcommunications.com.auif you notice any errors or omissions in the above results or would like to see additional content included.