Beautiful Walka Water Works outside of Maitland on an equally beautiful Friday, May 25, was the venue for the annual regional schools cross country carnival.
Two Tea Gardens students, namely Andrea Hammond and Mitchell Markham, were selected to represent the Manning district.
Unfortunately for both, their events turned out to be the last two on the program, which meant they had to wait for the best part of four hours before competing, not even elite athletes can do well under such circumstances.
Both Andrea and Mitchell met with very stiff opposition and ran against some of the best young athletes in NSW.
The two acquitted themselves very well, in what is still a relatively new discipline.
They were not far from the place getters, but the most encouraging factor was the times they both ran.
Andrea ran the three kilometre event in 14 minutes 16 seconds while Mitchell ran the same distance in 12 minutes 26 seconds.
Both times were excellent considering the limited time for preparation.
I am certain they will improve even further provided they keep training hard. Well done and congratulations.
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