Taking it in his stride

August 2017 | Emma Hodgkinson

GRADE 5 Deloraine Primary School student, Luke McHugh first started running as a sport in 2014 when he joined the Launceston Running Club and the Deloraine Little Athletics Club, and since then has accomplished an exciting achievement.

In June, Luke participated in the Cross Country State Qualifier held at Symmons Plains and was awarded the Northern Midlands School Shield in his category.

Running three kilometres, Luke soared past the finish line in an astounding eleven minutes and twelve seconds.

“I’m really happy with how well I did and this is my biggest achievement yet,” said Luke.

Thanks to this achievement, Luke was selected to join the Tasmanian Cross Country team to compete against five other Australian states in a national competition.  Luke is the only representative from Deloraine and is thrilled that he has been given the opportunity to race in the National Cross Country Championships.  Luke’s first challenge in the championships is a 3 kilometre individual race that will select the top four contestants of each state.

The four final representatives of each state then will work as a team to go head-to-head in a relay race. The competition will be held from 11-14th August at Rokeby, Hobart.

Photo | Mike Moores