‘Glenny Gold’ at State Cross Country Championships! #GWSC-XC
Congratulations to Louay Benaoum and Elsie Robinson who both represented our college exceptionally well at the 2026 ‘School Sport Victoria’ Cross Country State Championships that were recently contested at the Yarra Glen Race Course on Thursday the 16th of July, 2026.
Both of our State ‘GWSC-XC’ Team members ran terrific races, criss-crossing the challenging countryside in some very chilly conditions, on a very muddy track which included some heart-breaking hills that required them to run head on into gusts of ghastly gales.
In his second year competing for our GWSC-XC Team at States, a very determined Louay ran a perfectly planned 5km race to take home the Gold Medal in the ‘SSV’ U16 Boys Cross Country State Championship. From the crack of the starter’s pistol, Louay positioned himself nicely within the lead group of 8 runners who completed the first 2km of the journey in just under 6 minutes, which is an absolutely cracking pace! He then worked his way to the front of the pack and surged up the steepest hill on the course, resulting in a break-away group of the strongest three runners separating themselves from the trailing throng. This trio then set about extending their lead, whilst testing out the speed and endurance of one another with some very tactical running.
They came scarpering down the decline of the last hill as one, but by the time they rounded the final bend and hit the home straight, it turned into a two-way tussle between Louay and an extremely strong competitor from Balwyn High School. The boy from Balwyn bolted and was twenty meters clear of Louay with only two hundred meters of the course left to travel. Louay then gritted his teeth and turned on the after burners, dramatically increasing his cadence and slowly reeling in his opponent with every step until he drew level ten meters from the finish line. Running shoulder to shoulder, both competitors pushed themselves to their absolute limit in an attempt to reach the finish first. However, Louay kept driving all the way past the post to pip his opponent by 0.003 of a second. The rapturous crowd were in absolute awe of such a tight finish to a 5km race that was run and won in 16 minutes and 14 seconds.
Amazingly when the top 3 runners were directed to the dais to receive their state medals, Louay looked as though he could comfortably run another 5km whilst his competitors appeared fatigued and most likely unable to blow out a candle after such an arduous race. As Louay took to the top tier of the winners’ podium and received his gold medal, the crowd offered him a generous round of applause in appreciation of his amazing achievement! Our #GWSCommunity are so very proud of your State Championship winning run Louay, we can’t wait to watch on as you continue to run like the wind into the future and onto further success!
Elsie also ran really well in her fourth consecutive State Cross Country Championship, taking it right up to a talented field of fellow competitors from across Victoria in the U16 Girls race. She settled into her stride and calmly began to navigate her way through the pack, after a tumultuous start where she found herself at the tail end of the field. Elsie kept on running and never gave-up, finishing off the course strongly in some very trying conditions to record a time just outside of her PB. Congratulations Elsie on representing our college at State Cross Country once again this year, we are so proud of your efforts whilst competing and also supporting fellow members of our GWSC-XC Team!
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the parents of Louay and Elsie who kindly transported them both to and from the competition venue in Yarra Glen. They also enthusiastically cheered on our GWSC-XC Team whilst they navigated their way through the course, providing both of our state championship runners with much needed motivation and support!
Our GWSC-XC Team are certain to come back even faster and stronger next year for another sensational season of ‘SSV’ cross-country!
#Go-Glenny!