GOLD medals were the order of the day for the Altona Little Athletics Centre at the Victorian Primary School Cross Country Championships.
Held earlier this month, Altona’s Brodie Hicks (U/10 boys), Zoe Woods (U/10 girls) and Matthew Hussey (U/12 boys) all took top honors in what will go down as a golden day for the club.
The highly talented young stars each won three races to qualify for the final in which they were forced to battle it out with 100 of the best cross-country runners from around the state.
In windy conditions, Woods was first to go, racing over 2km and hitting the front after just 200m. She never looked back from there and produced a sensational performance to win by almost 75 metres in a time of 7:20.
Hicks was next to race but in a frantic start he and a number of athletes fell requiring a re-start.
In a tight race the second time around, it came down to a sprint finish. As the current 200m and 400m state champion, Hicks showed all his strength, speed and determination to pull away and win by three metres in a time of 7:06.
As the senior member of the trio, Hussey was looking to defend his title as state cross-country champion, having won for the previous two years. After a fast start, it settled down into a tactical race as competitors looked to conserve energy running up the hill into the strong wind.
But having reached the summit Hussey increased the pace.
As the field thinned out, he continued to apply the pressure and came home in a time of 9:59 over the 3km course.
All three athletes now proceed to the national championships to be held in Tasmania at the end of August.
