Jared Moss is off to his second State Championships for the year after qualifying for the Queensland Schools Cross Country Championships this week. He won a sprint to the line showing great determination and beating two other runners who had been just ahead of him over the last 200m.

The calibre of athletes at this competition is always phenomenal as the Sunshine Coast has several Queensland representatives competing who showcase their fitness and amazing quality running.

Jared ran a well-calculated race sitting in the top 10 for most of his 11-year-old boys’ race. He powered up the hilly section of the Buderim course and as he came towards the finish was in a group of three runners all trying to claim the 6th position and the opportunity to represent the Sunshine Coast at the Qld State Championships. Jared’s gritty determination showed through as he passed them just five metres from the line. Last year Jared missed qualifying by just one place so he was determined that was not going to happen again. His time of 11.46m for the 3km course was impressive as this was under the four minutes per kilometre mark.

GCC had eight other students competing at the championship which was a fantastic representation. Lily Breen was the next best placed runner placing 13th out of almost 40 runners in the 11-year-old girls’ race. Lily kept in touch with the front half of the field and ran strongly throughout the race. Jasmine Hazelden ran a personal best time amongst the very fast 10-year-old girls’ race and finished a very creditable 26th from a field of 40 runners.

Dominic Ruhle was the lone secondary student competing this year and was representing the Independent District. Dom struggled bravely with a stitch and ran well over the 6km distance. He finished in 15th place in the 17-year-old race.

Ben Ramke, Olivia McKenzie, Islah-Lyleigh Dwyer, Jaymes Roser and Ryan Hall all competed well and proudly represented GCC and the Glasshouse District.

Wendy Stott

GCC families can see all the photos on Pixevety.