Ararat’s Sue Blizzard returned from a two-day Athletics Australia coaching course in Canberra and cashed in with a win in the eight-kilometre Best’s Cross Country Classic at Great Western vineyard on Sunday.

The mother of 2016 Stawell Gift runner-up Sarah Blizzard, Sue had recommended that Sarah become accredited as a coach, but Sarah instead told her ‘you should do it’.

“I thought about it and decided it might be nice to give something back to a sport which obviously gives me a lot of enjoyment,” Sue said.

Runner-up twice in races earlier in this Stawell and Ararat Cross Country Club season, the endurance specialist benefited from a forced adjustment to the course that added a steep hill to avoid a flooded ford.

Revelling in the wintry conditions, Blizzard had a 23-second margin over veteran Jack Trounson, who has finished no lower than fourth in his past nine starts.

While Blizzard was the first female to win in 11 races with the Ararat club this season, Naomi Hunter became the sixth winning female in the past seven races when she captured the Stawell Amateur Athletic Club division of the Best’s classic.

Hunter had more than two minutes to spare from evergreen Gary Saunders in the SACCC and SAAC combined race, with Terry Jenkins just seconds away in third.

In a thrilling one-kilometre dash in the amateur sub juniors, just nine seconds separated the first six to finish, with Nate Lyons prevailing narrowly from Kelsey Hurley.

Both clubs are at Stawell this weekend for five-kilometre and 10-kilometre handicaps.

– Keith Lofthouse

The entire July 17, 2019 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!