Standford compete in Buffelspoort Xterra
A young Stanford Lake College triathlon team made their way to the Buffelspoort Xterra, which is an off-road triathlon and is known as one of the toughest Xterras in the world due to the steep, rocky terrain and very high temperatures over the weekend.
The Xterra Full is a 1.5km swim, 28km mountain bike and 12km trail run, while the Xterra Lite consists of a 400m swim, 20km bike and a 6km run.
Apart from the 15 pupils who took part in the Lite on Sunday, there were also a few Stanford parents and staff who competed in the Full on Saturday. Some excellent results were achieved, particularly Melanie Melville who won her age category and was the fifth overall ladies finisher.
The team had been training intensively for this event since the end of 2016 and the hard work paid off with some very impressive results, particularly given that they were completing in a field of just over 600 athletes. Matt Wilkinson (Grade 12) finished 8th male overall while Lara Dando and Emma Melville (Grade 10) finished as 5th and 10th ladies respectively. This is an amazing achievement considering that most of the top finishers are professional triathletes. Added to this, the junior boys’ team of Luke Wood, Reuben Middleton and Ethan Jones (all Grade 8) finished as the 3rd overall Team, racing much older and more experienced teams.
Every Stanfordian managed a very respectable finishing time and the future of the sport at the College looks bright indeed.
