Daisy ready to run for Victoria
Horsham’s Daisy Sudholz will represent Victoria at the School Sports Australia Cross Country Championship for the second year running after claiming a state title.
Daisy won back-to-back championships following an impressive performance over three kilometres on Thursday last week, winning the female 11-year-old category in a time of 9.16 minutes.
This year marked Daisy’s third School Sport Victoria cross country championships.
The Ss Michael and John’s Primary School student also represented Team Vic at national level last year, finishing sixth.
Daisy said she was fairly confident heading into Thursday’s race because she felt she was in good form.
She said she trained before and after school, incorporating sprint intervals with longer runs, and also participated in Horsham Running Group with her mother, Emelia.
Mrs Sudholz said her daughter was self-driven to succeed.
“You don’t have to say ‘go for a run’, she just does her own training,” she said. “She is quite determined. I run with her sometimes but I go on the bike a bit because I can’t keep up with her.”
Mrs Sudholz said she was not surprised to see Daisy do so well on Thursday.
“She’s performed very strongly over the past few months so I was quietly confident she’d do well at the championships,” she said.
“She’s really determined to do well at nationals and hopefully finish a bit better than last year, when she finished sixth.
“Obviously a top-six finish was amazing, but based on how well she’s running this year, I think she could go even further.”
Representative teams from across Australia will contest boys and girls national cross country championships in Hobart from August 11 to 14.
Daisy loves sports and also participates in Little Athletics and horseriding.
Earlier this month she completed her first show-jumping competition at Naracoorte, claiming a first and two seconds.
While she enjoys many outdoor endeavours, football is her favourite.
“Daisy is passionate about football,” Mrs Sudholz said.
“She has been for years. She never even looked like playing netball – she’s quite good at netball, but she’s always wanted to play footy.
“My husband’s father played for South Melbourne in the VFL and that has inspired her.
“I had my reservations about her playing, but she loves it.
“She plays on the wing and in the centre. She loves being on the ball most because she loves to run.”
Daisy’s ambition is to play women’s AFL and she hopes her running will stand her in good stead.
• Hard work has also paid off for Stawell Secondary College student Tom Walker, who won the male 17 to 20-year-old division.
Walker completed the five-kilometre course at Bundoora Park in Melbourne in a time of 14.07 minutes.
The year-11 student has tasted plenty of success in schoolboy competitions and finished second in the School Sports Victoria championships in 2016.
Walker competes in Victorian Athletic League competitions and won his first sash in the 1600-metre backmarkers handicap at this year’s Stawell Gift meeting.