Taking out the national title in the recent cross country National Championships, five boys from Barker College Cross Country team will travel the globe and race in the World Cross Country Championships in Budapest, with full speed ahead.
Following an outstanding cross country season that included winning the national title, taking out the Neil Logan Shield, as well as being named joint CAS champions, the Barker College Cross Country team will now progress to the World Cross Country Championships in Budapest in 2016.
At the recent National Championships held in Melbourne at the end of August, the Barker team of Kieren Tall, Lachie Cubbin, Jack Brown, Mikey Nicholas and Hugh Hunt, qualified to represent the school as the top NSW team, in the Schools Team race.
The team performed extraordinarily well, with a team total of 17 points -15 points clear of their nearest rivals. Kieren placed 10th overall in Australia and 1st in the schools competition. Lachie placed 2nd in the schools completion, followed by Jack in 6th, Ben in 8th, Mikey in 13th and Hugh in 17th.
The boys then backed up the following day for either a relay or Time Trial. Kieren (U18) and Taylor John (U20) represented NSW in their relay teams. The NSW U18 team took out gold and the U20 team took out silver. In the Schools 3000m Time Trial Jack took out gold, with Lachie in 2nd, Ben in 3rd, Hugh in 5th and Mikey in 6th. An outstanding result both individually and for the team.
Reflecting on winning the national title and now preparing for the World Championships in Budapest next year, Kieren Tall says the team looks forward to the challenge that awaits them in Hungary.
“Melbourne was a great experience for all of us, in terms of being able to race at a more elite level and traveling with a fantastic team of athletes and friends. What we experienced in Melbourne made us look forward to racing next year in Budapest and traveling to a place we’ve never been before.”
In the meantime, the team will be training hard during the athletics and triathlon season, which will be great base work for when we go overseas next April. Barker’s Cross Country coach, Mr Steve Deveney says he is extremely proud of the boys.
“The boys, while running as individuals, were running as a team. They are an outstanding group of young men who work hard on improving their running while still remaining humble about their achievements.”
Words: Chanel Zagon