Stawell long-distance athlete Tom Walker continued his run of national competitions at the weekend, competing in the national cross country championships in Queensland.
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Walker, 17, moved up an age group for this year’s championships, running in the under-20 eight kilometre category at the Sunshine Coast’s Maleny Golf Club Saturday.
Despite competing as a bottom-age runner over a distance 2km more than last year, Walker managed a 17th-place finish, just one less than his 16th place in the under-17 division in 2017. He finished with a time of 28.52 minutes, 2.10 minutes behind the winner.
“I was pretty happy with it. Being bottom age and not losing too many places from my top age run last year is pretty good,” he said.
“The course was pretty good but the hills were certainly challenging. I guess that’s what you get with cross country though.”
Walker did not go home empty handed, with the under-20 Victorian side finishing second.
The nationals mark the end of the cross country season for Walker, who now turns his attention to track competition.
“Next is the inter-school athletics comp in Warrnambool this year which is my focus now,” Walker said.
“I will start to do a lot more track work ahead of the season coming up.”
