Oli Hall (centre) with his cross country competitors.
Deniliquin North Public student Oliver Hall has won gold at the NSW PSSA Cross Country Championship 2024, making him the fastest boy aged 8/9 across 2km.
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On Tuesday, Ollie ran at the NSW All Schools Cross Country Championships at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre.
In Ollie age group, there were 77 participating runners from across the state.
Ollie went on to win the race, in a blistering time of 07.48.09 minutes, officially earning him the crown as state champion.
This outstanding achievement follows on from his qualification at the Riverina’s cross-country event, where he also scored first place.
Ollie’s coach Sarah Young said even she was a little surprised by the result given the competition.
“I was confident he would finish in the top ten, but to win by 15m or so was impressive,” she said.
Young said while she cannot be certain, she believed Ollie may be Deni’s first ever state cross country champion.
“Or at least the first in the last 20 years,” she said.
A large amount of hard work must go into a mammoth effort like this, which, of course, was the case for Ollie.
“He is training with me, also being a part of parkrun, doing a running session of his own and then footy on top,” Young said.
For his efforts in Sydney, Ollie was also awarded the Riverina Medal.
The medal is awarded to the highest achieving or placing Riverina runner on the day.
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