On Thursday, 29 September, a 27-person team representing ZSP Iwiny, strengthened by a 17-person group from Warta Bolesławiecka and Raciborowice, travelled to Krzyżowa (near Świdnica) for the Lower Silesian LZS Cross-Country Championships Final. All our children showed strength and fighting spirit to the best of their abilities! The high turnout at the competition was encouraging, as were the results! Competing among many schools, clubs and municipal teams, we performed brilliantly! In the nine categories in which we competed, we won seven medals (5 for ZSP Iwiny and 2 for SP Raciborowice)!
Preschool children took part in the first race, but we had no representatives there.
Next to start were girls born in 2014 and 2015. We had as many as seven competitors in this race. Ada Gładysz performed best, taking second place after a fierce battle!
Michał Różycki was our only representative among boys in grades I–II, but what a performance!!! He was no worse than Ada and also finished in second place.
But the excitement did not end there. The girls from grades III–IV had a very strong “group.” They fought tenaciously, and once again took second place—this time Milena Gładysz.
After this race, our appetites grew even more, because Bartek Różycki was about to start. After the starter’s signal, Bartek was boxed in and had to fight his way through to the front for the entire race. With every metre he ran, he moved higher up the field. On the final straight, he fought an incredible battle for a podium place, but fell just short and finished immediately behind it—in fourth place.
The girls in grades V–VI were late getting to the starting line and lined up in the second and third rows. This was the largest category (121 competitors at the start). The girls fought bravely, but ultimately none of them managed to break into the top ten.
What the girls failed to achieve, the boys accomplished successfully. Antek Pachnik followed the tactical plan very well and was beaten only narrowly by a boy from Lubin, winning the silver medal. Our other “chasers” also finished high.
In the 2008–2009 age group, we had a quiet favourite—Oliwia Hetnar—and she did not disappoint. She controlled the race throughout and… did not disappoint. She confidently “pulled away” from her rivals in the closing stages and won the gold medal for our team.
Sebastian Kilarski from the school in Raciborowice represented the boys in the 2008–2009 age group. He led for a long time, defended himself against a rival attacking him at the finish, and managed to hold on! Gold for Sebastian—congratulations. His older teammate Kamil Najdek achieved a similar feat in the boys’ 2006–2007 category.
The official team results are not yet available, but such excellent places achieved by our young athletes suggest that we will be ranked very high.
Dariusz Pachnik
P.S. The group supervisors were:
Waldemar Socha – SP Raciborowice, SP Warta Bolesławiecka.
Agnieszka Sadleja and Dariusz Pachnik – ZSP Iwiny.