Yarrawonga resident, 17-year-old Annabel Hart has just returned from a two week Cross Country Tour to the USA with Sports Travel Australia.
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Athletes were selected to attend based on their results from State Secondary School Cross Country Championships with 21 athletes from across Victoria and NSW attending.
The tour centred around 3 Cross Country races, each the distance of 3 miles (5km).
Falcon Invitational Cross Country, held at Foothills High School (Henderson) was the first competition for the athletes.
Annabel was selected in the Girls Varsity team consisting of 8 female athletes from the squad. This was a great achievement as Annabel had not previously competed in a 5km competition.
Annabel competed strongly and finished 30th out of 120 competitors and in 5th place for her team. Her time was an impressive 21:48. Overall the Girls Varsity Team placed 3rd in the competition out of 20 teams competing.
The Boys Varsity Team also competed well, finishing 2nd.
The second race, the Clark County School District Mid-week Cross Country race at Palo Verde High School (Las Vegas), was run under tough conditions. Held at 3.30pm (after school) the temperature was 102˚ Fahrenheit (which is almost 39˚ celsius).
Annabel placed 6th out of 35 competitors with a time of 24:29.
The final race, the College of Southern Nevada Invitational at Floyd Lamb Park (Las Vegas), was fantastic with the Aussies winning the trophy for both the Girls and Boys High School Varsity Team events.
Annabel ran extremely well and finished 12th (there were over 100 competitors) in a time of 22:00.
A key component of the tour was the training and coaching provided. The athletes were fortunate to have the expertise of coaches/managers Nev Down (level 4 coach with over 30 years of coaching experience), Karen Morham (level 3 advanced athletics coach with over 30 years experience in the fitness and coaching industry) and Michelle Hawkes (level 2 coach) as well as Josh Hawkes (track and field and cross country athlete).
This included a team Cross Country relay at Williams, a town that sits 2,100m above sea level so this was tough on the athletes.
Other highlights included sightseeing around Santa Monica Pier, Hollywood Boulevard, Las Vegas, Williams, the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Cirque Du Soleil – Mystere, outlet shopping including all the big sporting brands as well as visiting Disneyland, California Adventure Park and Universal Studios.
College of Southern Nevada Girls Versity team with their winning trophy.
Principal of Sports Travel Australia Karen Morham said the experience exposed Annabel to a newfound level of independence.
“Annabel gained a wonderful opportunity by meeting and competing against other Australian and international athletes,” Ms Morham said.
“The educational value of visiting exciting places of interest and being part of a different culture was and is invaluable.
“Annabel, along with 20 other Australian athletes, competed exceptionally well in very different and difficult conditions to here in Australia.
“Never before has our boys and girls teams both returned with the trophy and achieve very high competitive standards in these competitions.
“On behalf of Sports Travel Australia, I am very proud of the athletes, coaches and parents which made up our Team and hope they reflect fondly on the memories forever.”
Annabel Hart would like to thank Sports Travel Australia for providing the opportunity to compete internationally.
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