Primary school students around Cambridge have been hitting footpaths, trails and treadmills recently, preparing for their annual cross country events.
Layla McLennan, from Te Miro School, powers towards the finish line to win the 10-year-old girls’ race.
Pupils from Horahora, Kaipaki, Karāpiro, Roto-o-Rangi and Te Miro schools put all that training to the test at Mighty River Domain last Thursday, streaking across grassy fields and ripping up steep slopes at Cambridge’s annual Rural Schools’ Cross Country competition.
Races catered for pre-schoolers to 13-year-olds, as parents, grandparents, caregivers and supporters cheered encouragement from the sidelines.
Karāpiro School organised the event.
The strongest runners from each age group qualified for the Cambridge Interschools Cross Country day next Monday (September 15). The event will bring town and country schools together to compete.
Winners were: Five-year-olds Mason Bayley and Ada Pevreal, six-year-olds Levi Lansdaal and Mika Emery-Sinclair, seven-year-olds Lachie McKenzie and Poppy Ross, eight-year-olds Kase Tomsett and Emily Thomas, nine-year-olds JJ Hewson and Emily Hewson, 10-year-olds Darcy Badger Lenssen and Layla McLennan, aa-year-olds William Manion and Kate Mellow, 12-year-olds Malachy Slaughter and Millie McArthur, 13-year-olds George Donaldson and Anna Sergiychuk.
Horahora School’s Ryan Boonzaaier leads Oliver Belle down the finishing chute in the 8-year-old boys’ race.
