XCR Round 6 Bundoora - 11 July 2026
The state cross country championships were at Bundoora today. The weather was chilly and the course was a bit different to usual. Rather than doing the long 4k loop with the big hill out the back, we had two 2k loops and two 3k loops. The 3k loop didn't go up the big hill at the back. so it was definitely an easier course than usual, and not too slippery today.
It was good to see Harvs back from his 9 week adventure holiday around Asia. He bumped into John Hand by accident in KL and then caught caught up with him in Thailand, It’s a small world. Unfortunately we had a couple of late withdrawals from Kirsten and Ernie. Hope to see you both back soon.
First away was Matt in the U20 8K. Unfortunately his knee injury flared up again and he was a dnf. Hoping it's not too bad and he can recover well soon.
Then our women were off. Niamh took off like a bull at a gate, as she does, and had to watch a few runners go past her in the later laps. But our fiery Irish red head held on really well for her best run of the season and finished with a silver medal in the state champs in her age group.
Wendy ran well to be our next in, and Janice somehow manged to finish the course after her nasty fall just over a week ago. She is tough. Petra also did well. Our women finished 5th in 50+ and 3rd in Div 3. Well done!
Next it was the open men. Davin was again unsure with his heartrate if he'd be able to finish, but started well and led our Waverley team around for 9.5 of the 10K before Smoothy came past in the last 500m. Smoothy finished with a bronze medal in his age group and Davin finished with a silver in his. Next in was Martin not too far behind. The 3 finished 2nd in 50+, surprisingly beaten by a gun Glenhuntly team. But we still hold a good lead over them for the season. Awesome work.
Next were Daniel and Smurf. Smurf is absolutely on fire. He was ahead of Tim, Ryan and myself and is just going from strength to strength. Daniel and Smurf completed our Men Div 4 team who finished 1st on the day. Our first Div 4 win for the season. I think that catapaults us up the ladder from 5th to 2nd (TBC), so an awesome result.
Tim, myself, Ryan and Nic completed our Div 5 team who finished 3rd, another great result. Nic was just ahead of Harvs and Michael. So a good battle between the 3 of them. Harvs was just 1 place ahead of Michael, completing our M60+ team which came 3rd. so that's five top 3 team finishes. an outstanding day out.
Our results:
Female Open
10km: Niamh O'Reilly 46:45; Wendy Masters 54:44; Janice Marston 57:21; Petra Spiteri 1:04:31;
Male Open
10km: David Venour 39:25; Davin Hopper 39:34; Martin Spiteri 40:34; Daniel Spiteri 42:47; Ewen Vowels 43:17; Tim Stickley 43:48; James Atkinson 44:57; Ryan Bentley 45:24; Nicholas Spiteri 49:56; Michael Harvey 50:26; Michael Jansen 50:47;
Male 20
8km: Matt Harvey DNF;
The overall winners and state champions were Georgia Hansen (BOH) 35:40 and Logan Janetzki (SAN) 31:26. In the Div 1 teams Sandringahm won the Mens and Womens again easily. They are having an outstanding season.
A big thank you to our club helper Clyde Riddoch who had a long day out in the cold at the finish line. Thanks Clyde. Without you our five team podium finishes today wouldn't have counted.
