Home Championships bring Cross Country successes to Wellington School Athletes
Wellington athletes enjoyed a successful home championship over the weekend with the 52nd New Zealand Secondary Schools Cross Country Championships held on the home patch of Trentham Memorial Park. The best young athletes from the far north of Whangarei to Invercargill in the south experienced some true cross-country conditions of rain, stream crossings and mud to test themselves as they represented their schools with pride. Over 146 Schools attended with just under 860 entrants along with visiting athletes from Brisbane.
Wellington took individual titles with Lucia Harfitt (Queen Margaret College) winning the Year 9 Girls 3km race, while in the Year 9 Boys silver and bronze went to Caleb Wallace (St Patrick’s College Silverstream) and Hudson Thom (Hutt Valley High School) respectively. Jacob Williams ( Hutt Valley High) went one place better than 2025 winning the 4km Junior boys with ease.
In the senior grades Lucy Mabin (Wellington Girls College) was 4th overall in the Senior Girls 4km race and placed 2nd for silver within the Under 17 grade. In Senior boys Alex MacBeth (Wellington College) was and 3rd overall in Senior boys. Finn Robinson (Patrick’s College Silverstream) was 3rd in Under 17 grade and 10th overall while Desmond Reddy in his final year was 4th overall in the Senior boy’s race. In the Para grade races Albert O’Brien (Onslow College ) was 2nd in the Under 17 2km race with Junior Girls Para gold and silver awarded to Orlaith Geary (Solway College) and Sarah Aldridge (Makoura College) respectively with Senior Girls Para race going to Amelia Troke (Wairarapa College).
Top Ten Performances in the Individual Races on Saturday
Year 9 Girls 3k
Lucia Harfitt 1st, Queen Margaret College
Kiana Wealleans 6th, Upper Hutt College
Naomi Richardson 8th Wellington Girls’ College
Carla Horspool 10th, Hutt Valley High School
Year 9 Boys 3k
Caleb Wallace 2nd, St Patrick’s College (Silverstream)
Hudson Thom 3rd, Hutt Valley High School
Adam Larkin 10th, Hutt Valley High School
Junior Girls 3k
Isobel Thurston 4th, Wellington Girls’ College
Mia Thomson, 8th Scots College
Isla Dapas 10th, Samuel Marsden Collegiate
Junior Boys 4k
Jacob Williams 1st, Hutt Valley High School
Reuben Hayne 8th, Hutt International Boys’ School
Matthew Meiklejohn 9th, St Patrick’s College (Silverstream)
Senior Girls 4k
Lucy Mabin 2nd U17, 4th, overall, Wellington Girls’ College
Madison Wos 6th in grade 7th overall, Sacred Heart College (Wellington) – Wellington
Abbey Kemp 9th in grade 10th overall, Wellington Girls’ College
Senior Boys 6k
Alex MacBeth 2nd in grade or 3rd Overall Wellington College
Desmond Reddy 3rd in grade 4th overall, Rongotai College
Finn Robinson 3rd U17, 10th overall, St Patrick’s College (Silverstream)
Cam Star 10th U17, St Patrick’s College (Silverstream)
2 km Junior Boys Para
Albert O’Brien 2nd, (Onslow College)
2km Junior Girls Para
1st Orlaith Geary (Solway College)
2nd Sarah Aldridge (Makoura College)
2km Senior Girls Para
Amelia Troke (Wairarapa College)
School Teams Results
3 Person Teams
- Year 9 Wellington Girls Team 3rd
- Year 9 Boys Wellington College 2nd, St Patrick’s College Silverstream 3rd
- Senior Girls Wellington Girls 2nd
6 Person Teams
- Year 9 Wellington Girls Team 3rd
- Year 9 Boys Wellington College 2nd,
- Junior Girls Wellington Girls 2nd
- Senior Girls Wellington Girls 2nd
- Senior Boys Wellington College 2nd
Results for Athletics Wellington teams in the Interprovincial Regional Cross Country Relay
On day two on the National event Wellington team were hugely successful with 6 victories and tow third places with only the Wellington Senior Boys team missing a podium
- Wellington A Year 9 Boys 1st – Adam Larkin, Hudson Thom. Lachlan Ranger, Caleb Wallace
- Wellington A Year 9 Girls 1st – Frankie Hartley, Kiana Wealleans, Carla Horspool, Lucia Harfitt
- Wellington A Year 9 Mixed 1st – Sanjith Ragunath, Naomi Richardson, Jasmin Morriss, Hugo Thirkell
- Wellington A Junior Boys 1st – Reuben Hayne, James Wallace, Harry Barton Oscar Trewern
- Wellington A Junior Mixed 1st – Matthew Meiklejohn, Mia Thomson, Isobel Thurston, Jacob Williams
- Wellington A Senior Mixed 1st – Desmond Reddy, Lucy Mabin, Olivia Clay-McDowell, Alex Macbeth
- Wellington A Junior Girls 3rd – Isla Dapas, Mei von Dadelszen, Hatty Young, Phoebe Sims
- Wellington A Senior Girls 3rd – Madison Wos, Abbey Kemp, Emma Lowden, Izzy Brown
All results are available through the links at NZSSAA Home Page
