Cross Country Interschools Ignites Spark for Moon and Walker-Broose

Braving a mixture of falling snow and chilling rain, hundreds of athletes sped around the Cross Country Skiing course, chasing national titles at the 2022 SUBARU Australian Interschools Championships today.

While the weather conditions made for slushy and challenging terrain, spectators lined the course to cheer on the athletes in the individual and relay events.

NSW/ACT Junior Team members Satara Moon and Charlotte Walker-Broose are both coming home with two medals from the event.

Moon won individual gold in the Girls Division 3 event, and helped her Jindabyne Central School team win Div 3 gold, alongside her teammates Rose Murtagh Herlihy and Emelia Greville, in the relay.

Walker-Broose won silver in the Girls Div 2 Relay with her Snowy Mountain Grammar School teammates Gabriella Forman and Francesca Dennis, and helped her school finish third overall in the Cross Country Classic Div 2 Team, after placing 6th individually.

Moon burst out the front in heat 2 of the XC Classic Girls Division 3 event, making up ground on the heat 1 racers to cross the line second overall, and claim the gold medal for Jindabyne Central School, almost 40-seconds ahead of Katie Van Rooyen in second.

“I started off strong and caught up to the first heat and overtook most of the people from the first heat. I crossed the finish line just five seconds behind the girl who crossed the line first from heat one,” Moon said.

After getting their start in Interschools, both Moon and Walker-Broose train together in the NSW/ACT junior state squad under the tutelage of NSW/ACT Head Coach Alexi Sotskov. They contribute the interschools competitions to sparking their interest in cross country skiing and being responsible for where they are today.

“My brother [Bentley Walker-Broose] is on the national team, so he’s always been really into the sport, and I guess I just came out with him on weekends for a bit of fun,” Charlotte Walker-Broose said.

“When I first started, I only did Interschools, but then in year 8, I was offered to join the NSW team and to train full-time up here, so now I train six days a week.

“That’s led me to bigger competitions like the Aus Open and Australian Championships this year, but Interschools was the foundation for me that started my journey in the sport.

“Interschools is a really good introduction into the sport, and it’s a lot of fun because it’s a really good community here, where I’ve met some of my best friends.”

Being a Jindabyne local with frequent access to the slopes, 14-year-old Moon said Interschools was the instigator in her transition from being a casual skier to a competitive skier, now aiming to represent Australia on the world stage at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics.

“I started cross country skiing when I was eight years old, and about two years ago, that’s when things started getting a bit more serious,” she said,

“I remember two years ago, winning my first national title at Interschools, that was the game changer for me and I realised that this is the sport I want to continue.

“This year training has been hard as I’m full-time in the program, but it’s great to be able to see the competition out there at the Australian events this year and I’m really enjoying it.”

In other results, Albert Park College’s Boris Stanish and Snow Mountains Grammar School’s Zana Evans won the Boys and Girls Division 1 Cross Country national titles respectively today.

Albert Park College and Snowy Mountains Grammar School were also victorious in the Division 1 XC Relays.

 National Interschools Development Committee Chair, Steve Cooper, thanked the NSW / ACT Cross Country Committee for their helping delivering today's event.

“The ACT and NSW Cross Country Committee have all volunteered their time and resources to bring the National Interschools event to life today,” Cooper said.

“They have members stationed around the course, helping with starting, timing, and even cooking the barbeque in this cold and wet weather.

“We thank them for their invaluable contribution to not only this year’s Australian Interschools Championships, but all regional and state events in NSW.”

See all Cross Country results HERE