Our annual Cross Country event was held on Tuesday the 21st of March! We had people running from the entire school, not only in the course but around the school doing activities. From food trucks, to live music, to tug-of-war events, and much more. Us bloggers (& Readers Revolt) ran around to report on every avenue of the event.
Also, thanks to Chilli for the photos from the day!
VCAL Activities
Written by Kannon, and Keyda
While the main core of cross country was the 3km run/walk, all were also invited to participate in the carnival for the whole day. As part of the carnival activities and entertainment, multiple recreational events ran by both students (VCAL) and teachers we’re open on the oval. Here’s a brief overview of what was being offered.
Under a tent set up, students could get their faces painted for free. Many people called the results high quality and a great way to spend their time. Students loved that they could get creative, by choosing their own designs, whether on their hands or faces.
Popular designs included house colour stripes/streaks on the upper cheeks, small icon décor (stars, hearts etc.), and big eye-catching pieces that covered the entire face almost like a mask. Some face paint could be done with glitter, which was slightly uncomfortable, but in the words of a few students; ‘was worth it for the non-existent price and how good it looked’.
Competitions that gave out prizes apart from house points were the table tennis competition and water pong games. Water pong was simple, win one game and receive the award of a soft drink can. In order to get the prize for the table tennis competition, you were required to win three games in a row, each won by whoever got to five first. A winner would choose between popcorn, cotton candy and a bubble wand.
Tug of war was constantly held throughout the day. Supplying points for houses, but also being played for fun. The longest kick competition was also held early in the day, letting any student attempt to achieve the longest kick.
Dress Up
Written by Asra, Sharanky, Patvik, and Devasena
What would the Cross-Country event be without eager students dressing up in their house colours – BOOring. Well, we are proud to say that this year’s carnival was absolutely not!!
Luckily a lot of us blog reporters saw splashes of red, green, yellow and blue in creative and fantastic costumes. We even got the chance to interview some of the most best dressed who looked ravishing in their house colours.
Here is what they had to say about their outstanding outfits :
A proud member of Oakwood: Natasha came dressed up as a ghost.
“My inspiration came from the fact that I want to be invisible but still wanted to attend this carnival as a ghost”
Another Proud Member of Oakwood: Jayden came dressed in his basketball attire.
“Basketball inspired me to dress up in green for this carnival.”
Once again, Oakwoodian Ella came dressed in a bright green shirt with her hair specially done for the carnival.
“I dressed up in green but couldn’t do the same with my pink and blue hair.”
Well Ella, we’d love to see your aesthetic green hair next year 🙂
Finally, a Proud member of Gladstone – Tran came dressed in a charming suit.
“I was inspired by Pinterest to dress up as a “men in black” character and a black suit was the closest costume I had to blue”
We absolutely adored all the outfits and would like to appreciate all those who decided to dress up – it made the carnival all the more cheerful and exciting!
Hopefully, we get more stunning costumes next year as well.
Food Trucks
Written by Tvarithra, and Anojii
On Tuesday 21st of March, Lyndale celebrated and participated in CROSS COUNTRY! All students were gathered exuberantly in their house colours or P.E uniform with their friends for the event and were engaged in various activities that were running on the day. Year levels were announced to run at their allocated times and the residual year levels were conferred the opportunity to roam around the oval to embark in other activities that were running on the day, prepared by house captains, VCAL students and teachers.
Throughout the day, there was food available residing of an assortment of three food trucks of ice-cream, burgers, and donuts! They were parked contiguous with each other with students lining up eagerly to purchase some food after their enervating 3-kilometre run or in the intervals prior to their running schedule.
Lots of positive feedback was convened from students. Some of their reviews and thoughts of the food were as follows:
Ice Cream Truck Reviews
“The ice-cream was amazing. 5 stars. A tad expensive but it was perfect to eat especially after an exhausting 3-kilometre run.”
“I tried the sundae that was offered on the menu, and it was great! Rather small and a bit costly, but nonetheless very tasty.”
Burger Truck Reviews
“The chips were very crispy and warm. Also, fluffy.”
“There was a versality of sauces which was good as customers got to select the sauce they wanted.”
Donut Truck Reviews
“Donuts were freshly made, warm and sugary.”
“Great quantity and quality to share with your friends.”
Even the workers were satiated throughout the day and gave positive and efficacious feedback on their experience on the day with serving and interacting with the customers. This is some feedback that the staff specified:
“It was a good experience overall and fun. I’d love to come back again. The customers were also very kind.” – Ice Cream Truck Staff.
“It was definitely difficult, but it was very fun to serve all the customers.” –Burger Truck Staff.
“A hectic day but very enjoyable.” – Donut Truck Staff.
Moreover, other stalls of popcorn, fairy floss, and soft drinks were stocked at the front of the oval to be purchased. These stalls were run by students who volunteered to help market the products prior to the event, accompanied by a small facet of teachers. It was very popular amongst students.
Overall, the food bestowed and endowed at the event was very positive and was thoroughly enjoyed by many students and teachers, anticipating their influx next year. What an exotic day it was!
Live Music
Written by Hamish, Amy, and Chris
On March 21st, our annual cross-country event brought together a multitude of activities beyond the running component. Attendees could enjoy dance battles, karaoke, tug of war, and food trucks. Live music performances by various bands (Concert, Zephyr, Ellington, Woodwind Quintet) and solos from both teachers and students were also highlights of the day. For instance, Chris Tony’s rendition of ‘Careless Whispers’ captivated the audience. Before the race began, band members helped set up equipment, and the walk from the PA building to the two-square courts was quite a workout in itself.
Once everything was in place, musicians began tuning their instruments and preparing music sheets. The Concert band started things off, showcasing their expert talents with three pieces in total. The first, ‘Lincolnshire Posy,’ featured two movements, ‘Horkstow Grange’ and ‘Lost Lady Found.’ Following that was the slow but cheerful ‘Lord of the Dance,’ and the band ended with a tribute to the late Aretha Franklin with their piece titled ‘Queen of Soul.’
House Competitions
Written by Ciya
At this year’s Cross Country Carnival, Lyndale Secondary College students eagerly participated in a tug-of-war competition organised by the Year 12 House Captains.
The competition took place near the middle of the oval, not far from the food trucks and ping-pong.
While the Captains had initially planned to have a structured tournament-style competition based on year levels and houses, the students naturally arranged themselves on either side of the rope and prepared to tug – regardless of year level.
The first round saw Halton against Oakwood, with Halton ultimately taking the crown. The next few games, however, did not go according to plan.
“We wanted to do year level by year level, but then all these other year levels joined in, so now we’re just doing VCAL vs VCE for fun,” said Anna Martin, one of the Halton House Captains. She added, “The year 12s seem to be having fun right now, so that’s good.”
VCE students competed against VCAL students twice, with VCE students winning both rounds.
“Some people were dragged into the ground, and I think that was good for them,” remarked a Year 12 student after competing.
Following a few more rounds of excited tugging, students eventually dispersed to participate in their respective races and enjoy the carnival with their friends.
“It didn’t go to plan, but we made it work,” said Haleemah Illyas, one of the Munro House Captains. “I think everyone had a great time being competitive.”
The Actual Running
Written by Matthew
Of course, we can’t forget about the main event: the actual running! Students went off in year levels to run (or walk…) 3km outside the school. We had very talented runners from our school now going into Districts! I managed to interview some of those people, and you can listen to the interviews with the video below:
There were two other people I interviewed. I forgot to record one, and I didn’t write down the name of the other.
And here is a PDF of our top 3 placings for our Cross Country! Well done to our winners.
YouTube Video
Results
With all these events on that day came many opportunities for House Points. From the event alone, each house accumulated the following:
Oakwood – 250 Points
Munro – 229 Points
Halton – 226 Points
Gladstone – 213 Points
Very tight competition hey? The ranking for total points has stayed the same, with Gladstone being first, followed by Munro, Halton and then Oakwood. Nobody’s been overthrown yet…
Overall, it was a fun day for everyone. A very competitive and hectic day, but nevertheless enjoyable.
Next stop: the Athletics Carnival!
OMG who’s that sexy guy with the Celtics Jersey he’s so hottt!!!
no one likes running but the popcorn was nice
The outfits are really nice. I like the ghost!
You were interviewing the outfits weren’t you?
It was very well organized.
I really love how Tran looks with the suit on.
I like the ghost outfit 🙂
I Like the different sections of the posts, also like the slideshows and pictures of the outfits and the running track.
The posts look well organized. Also had a lot of fun that day, really enjoyed it.
fun day, good food and hilarious costumes. all around a good event
the food was yummy
I love Jayden’s basketball outfit
Cross country was ok
I got ankle broken
Looks like fun, disappointed I missed out.
Cross country was a fun day! It was full of music, dance, food and competition:)
i came 7th for yr 8 girls!!
I loved the food trucks but hated the running part.
IT WAS REALLY FUN.
The food trucks were expensive but overall it was a good day
Yess!! Oakwood won first place
Running was hard