The best young cross-country runners in the Eastern Bay tested their skills against runners from 91 schools at the Bay of Plenty School Cross Country Championships in Rotorua last month.

Kaharoa School hosted the event.

Every competitor had to qualify, with an event hosted by Woodlands School in Ōpōtiki the proving ground for Eastern Bay competitors.

The cold, hilly and bush-laden course was challenging but proved no obstacle to Awakeri School’s Cruz Hyndman who won the 9-year-old boys’ category.

Harry Power finished fourth in the same category. They were part of a 25-strong team from Awakeri School contesting the event.

The 8-year-old girls’ race was an Eastern Bay whitewash with Rosabella Broadhurst from Ōhope Beach School the winner, followed by Eva Hughes from Woodlands School in second and Jamie-Lee Hohua from Te Wharekura o Rūātoki in third.

In the 12-year-old girls’ race, Heleena Hughes from Woodlands School narrowly missing out on a podium spot by two seconds to finish to fourth in a time of 12 minutes, 17 seconds.

The Eastern Bay schools with students competing were: Edgecumbe, Apanui, Otakiri, Waiotahe, Ōpōtiki, Awakeri, Nukuhou, St Joseph’s Whakatāne, Matatā, Thornton, Te Kura o Te Paroa, Thornton, Tarawera, Tawera, Galatea, Kawerau South, Ōhope Beach, James Street, and Woodlands.