Rochester schools unite for cross country carnival

Rochester Secondary College assistant principal Mitch Bright said the carnival was a success and that including the primary schools was good for the community.

“It was a great day, we were really lucky with the weather,” he said.

“It’s important to have a strong connection with the primary schools, so it was a good opportunity for those children to be involved.”

The older students ran a 3km race along the river before finishing on the Rochester Secondary College oval.

The younger runners did laps of the oval, cheered on by students from all the schools.

The idea behind the combined event came from Rochester Secondary College sports coordinator Phoebe Cuttriss.

“Phoebe did a fantastic job of organising the event,” Mr Bright said.

“She kept all of the schools updated with the plans, marked out the tracks, set up for the day and arranged the barbecue.”

After the race, students enjoyed a sausage sizzle; a fitting reward for their hard work on the track.

“The barbecue was a good chance for the primary school kids to spend a bit of time at our school at lunchtime.”

Mr Bright said they enjoy including the primary schools in their events, such as fairs and wellbeing days. He believes the combined cross country carnival is something they will continue to do in future.

“We like to keep the two primary schools in our school community,” he said.

“We make sure to keep them involved where we can.”

The fastest runners from the carnival will get to represent their school at the Campaspe Division Cross Country on Friday, May 17 at Jack Eddy Oval, Moama.