XCR Round 10 - Tan Relays

The weather was threatening to disappoint with rain but luckily it held off and we had great conditions for racing, cool and overcast. What a way to finish the season and put the icing on the cake for our open teams. Not only did we win the open men’s premiership, a foregone conclusion, but we also had another big win on the day for the Premier team as well as our Premier women winning another in third place and the U14 men in second place. Thanks to all who have ran the Tan and especially all those juniors who ran up in relays to secure some incredible team results. Thanks also to Glenn Evans for assisting AV with the duty for the event.

Open Women

For the third time this season, including two relays, our Premier team finished third. Janae Mackrell started for the team and handed to U18 Leanne Ellis who posted the fastest time for the team finishing in 13 minutes and 14 seconds. Lucy Cleveland continued her return to for taking over from Leanne and handing to Claire Hodgart with Sophie McMinimee finishing for the team. Another great result was the Div 3 where 45+ Brigitte Sneyders ran a PB and again two juniors, U20 Bella Keogh and U18 Sofia Mbote and the experienced Nardine Bainbridge combined to deliver a second place result, confirming their promotion to the Div 2 in 2026. Solid results for the Div 4 and 5 with a 5th and 7th place respectively. In the overage teams we had a 60+ with Janice Hodgart, Kerryl Drake and Cheryl Nelson finishing in second place.

Final Ladders

Premier - 4th (=3rd with South Melbourne)

Div 3 - 2nd - Promotion

Div 4 - 3rd

Div 5 - 6th

Short Course 60+ - 1st

Open Men

The numbers were a little down on previous rounds but were fortified with the addition of some very talented juniors and some women keen for a run in the Div 7! It was an emphatic victory for the Premier Men and very fitting end to the season. A remarkable effort over the season to win 8 of the 10 events! Kicking off for the team was U20 Alex Cameron-Smith and he ran a blinder to put the team in front and produce the fastest time for the day, finishing in 10 minutes and 53 seconds. Brandon Muscat and Liam Morgon held the team in third then Callum Drake put the team back into second. Ben Chamberlain ran the team back into first then Zayd Al Sayd cruised around with the team finishing over a minute ahead of Ballarat region. The Div 3 was 5th with U18 Emerson Arnold leading the team with a great run and was well supported by Leo Heading, U20 Jackson Wright, U18 Steven Morgan and Blake Barber. The Div 5 was 4th, Div 6 was 5th and Div 7 was 7th.

Final Ladders

Premier - 1st

Div 3 - 5th

Div 5 - 3rd

Div 6 - 4th

Div 7 - 9th

Juniors

With all the U18 and U20 junior athletes in the open men and women’s ranks it was up to the U14s and U16s to do the job for the juniors. In the men’s U16 team solid runs from Ryder Deans, Callan Jordan (in his debut for the club) and U14 Felix Marchant had the team finishing 5th. The Men’s U14 team had a great result to finish second with Darcy Beeston, Isaac French and Ishaan Burgu.

In the women’s there were two U16s teams with the team of Willow McCarthy, Yuka Hong and Ella McDonald finishing 11th and the second team of Hasel Hew, Maddi Hall and Mila Gatt was 17th.

Final Ladders

Women U20 - 11th

Women U18 - 6th

Women U16 - 6th

Men U20 - 4th

Men U18 - 2nd

Men U16 - 11th

Men U14 - 8th