Feilding’s Tessa Webb wins at a canter
There wasn’t a soul within cooee of Tessa Webb as she cross the finished line at the Manawatu secondary schools cross-country championships at Foxton.
Feilding High School’s Webb won the senior girls race at Manawatu College in 15 minutes 19 seconds and almost had enough time to do another half lap before the next runner came in.
Lydia Bamford from Palmerston North Girls’ High School was second and her schoolmate Kelly Levin was third
The 16-year-old Webb was hardly puffed even though she had flown around the 3.8km course.
‘‘I really like that course,’’ she said. ‘‘Because it’s the second year I’ve done it I much prefer the more hilly course to the flat ones. ‘‘You can dig it in on the hills.’’ The sand dunes and hills out the back of Manawatu College were slippery, but it didn’t slow year 12 student Webb down.
Webb took off at a greater clip than the rest at the start of the race and by the time she reached the hilly terrain, she had a big gap over the rest of the field.
She is aiming for cross-country nationals next month and she has qualified for the Oceania track and field championships in Fiji, where she has qualified for the 1500m, 3000m and the 200m steeplechase.
The senior boys race was dominated by Palmerston North Boys’ High School runners, who made up the top five.
The winner was Alex Hull,
‘‘It's the second year I've done it I much prefer the more hilly course to the flat ones.’’ Tessa Webb
who finished the 4.8km in 17 minutes 40 seconds.
‘‘It’s pretty tough going back up that massive hill,’’ he said. ‘‘It was a challenging course, but it certainly helps for the for the bigger up-and-coming races.’’
The 16-year-old, who is year 12, wants to be in good form for the Super 8 cross-country and the national championships.
He said the dunes and mud were tough ground to run on.
Hull and second-placed Harrison Porritt challenged each other throughout the race, but Hull made a break going back around the dunes and stayed in front to the end.
Hull has recently moved to Manawatu from Kerikeri in Northland.
Boys’ High’s Ben Wall won the intermediate boys event, heading off last year’s winner Theodore Purdy from Freyberg High School.