Moree runners Bella Boland and Marley Legg are heading to Sydney for the School Sport Australia Cross Country Championships after winning their respective State titles. Photo: Casey O’Hara
Two young Moree runners who returned from the NSW championships as State winners are preparing to test themselves at national level in Sydney next week.
Bella Boland will contest the 10 years 2km event and Marley Legg the 12/13 years 3km event at the School Sport Australia Cross Country Championships, which run from Monday, September 14 to Thursday, September 17 at Sydney International Equestrian Centre. School Sport Australia lists NSW Primary Schools Sports Association as host.
Bella and Marley are the only Moree students competing at the national event, Casey O’Hara has confirmed.
Their trip to Sydney is the next step in a cross country season that has taken both runners through regional competition and on to State titles.
Earlier in the season, Bella won the 10 years girls race and Marley the 12/13 years girls event at the North West Primary Schools Sports Association regional cross country trials at Coolah, earning their places at the NSW championships. Earlier Moree Online News reporting confirms both regional wins.
Their progression has also put another spotlight on Ronny’s Runners, the informal Moree training group led by long-time runner and volunteer coach Ronny Clissold.
Ronny said nationals were the next challenge for the two State title winners.
Behind those results is a training group with few formalities. Children have joined Ronny’s Runners over the years largely by turning up and training, while Ronny maintains firm expectations around behaviour, respect and effort.
Marley’s mother, Keira Legg, said Ronny does the work voluntarily, while parents remain responsible for supervising their children.
Ronny said the group began with only a couple of young runners. Other children saw the training, started joining in and he continued passing on what he had learned through his own years in the sport.
The sessions are varied, with the runners training at different locations and tackling different types of work rather than repeating the same routine.
Ronny’s philosophy extends beyond cross country.
“Running is the basis for all sports,” he said.
Ms Legg said Marley has also made three other North West representative sporting teams and believes the fitness developed through her running training has been a major strength across those sports.
Ronny believes Marley still has improvement ahead as she develops greater strength and maturity, despite already reaching the top of her State age division in cross country.
There is also a generational element to Ronny’s Runners. Some of the athletes Ronny trained decades ago now have children of their own training with him.
Ms Legg described Ronny’s Runners as a “very big family”, with respect, kindness, sportsmanship and supporting teammates forming an important part of the group’s culture.
That culture will now have two of its young runners on the national stage.
For Bella and Marley, Sydney represents another step after a season that has already taken them from Moree, through regional competition and to the top of their respective State age divisions.
Ronny hopes a little hometown attention might provide some extra encouragement.
“Every little bit of publicity will make their chest stick out and make them go a bit faster,” he said.
