A team of 24 runners from year 5-8 represented Oaklands as they competed against runners from schools in the recent South West zone Cross Country event at the Halswell Quarry.

Our squad

Year 5:

Boys: Sam Foster, Lenny Hensley, Dylan Bebbington

Girls: Brocke Baxter, Maya Veendrick, Ella Horne

Year 6:

Boys: Cooper Hohipuha, Isaac Steffens

Girls: Jocelyn Cai, Grace Brew, Grace Oh

Year 7:

Boys: Arman Nurpeisov, Dominic Bunn, Rylee McDonald

Girls: Lily Wilson, Ayla Veendrick, Amelia Bunn

Year 8:

Boys: Caleb Hiku, Wilbur Hensley, Cody Foster

Girls: Xanthe Munro, Natalia Lyford, Esther Brocherie

Having waited a week with the event postponed due to the severe weather event experienced throughout Canterbury, the runners were keen to finally get the chance to race against runners from local schools.

The course took runners around sections of the Halswell Quarry, over a distance of 2km (Yr 5/6) or 3km (Yr 7/8).

We had some very pleasing results including Lily Wilson placing first place in the year 7 girls race.

Lily and a number of other Oaklands students placed highly enough to earn the right to represent the South West zone at the Canterbury Primary Schools event, to take place on Wednesday, June 23rd.

The team to represent the South West zone is:

Year 5: Dylan Bebbington, Maya Veendrick, Brocke Baxter

Year 6: Cooper Hohipuha, Jocelyn Cai

Year 7:  Arman Nurpeisov, Dominic Bunn, Rylee McDonald, Lily Wilson, Ayla Veendrick, Amelia Bunn

Year 8: Wilbur Hensley, Caleb Hiku, Cody Foster, Xanthe Munro, Esther Brocherie, Natalia Lyford