On Saturday, our Coomera Rivers Crusaders participated in the Gold Coast 17km Kokoda Challenge. This is something our staff and students have been training for since Term 1. The Kokoda Challenge encourages students to form strong friendships with their peers and provides them with an opportunity to witness and experience the values of courage, endurance, mateship and sacrifice first hand. The Kokoda challenge is a team event that forces students to push mental and physical boundaries and we're happy to report, our students did just that. While some may think completing a 17 kilometre run isn't too bad, add to that the steep hills and rocky terrain of the Nerang State Forest, and you've got yourself a tough challenge.

Our 5 teams remained together throughout the course, encouraging each other and pushing themselves harder than any training session and what's most impressive is that they all finished with big smiles on their faces - even the coaches.

The minimum age requirement for the Schools Cup is that the competitor must be turning 10 this year. Our students were up against primary and high schools across the Gold Coast making them the youngest competitors on the day. We are proud to announce that we were not only the first primary school team to cross the finish line but Amity, Scarlett and Leyla were the first girls to finish out of the whole event! Go Coomera Rivers!

Check out these results!

Crusaders 1
Amity, Scarlett, Leyla, Max & Mr Burrows
Overall Finish: 2nd
Time: 2h 24min

Crusaders 2
Lucas, Elijah, Hayden, Dylan & Mrs Walsh
Overall Finish: 8th
Time: 2h 44min

Crusaders 3
Annabelle, Audije, Heidi, Angel-Rose & Mr Ken
Overall Finish: 15th
Time: 3h 06min

Crusaders 4
Maharleya, Kaysiyah, Harmony, Manaia & Ms King
Overall Finish: 16th
Time: 3h 06min

Crusaders 5
Rocca, Seantayne, Jacob, Tyelan & Mr Bradley
Overall Finish: 22nd
Time: 3h 15min

Reserve: Raff - a massive support to the Crusader 5 team on the day!

A big congratulations must also go to Maharleya who smashed the fundraising aspect of the program. While our student council provides our teams with the required fundraising expectation, Maharleya went above and beyond, raising $417 on her own. This placed her 7th overall out of the 347 competitors. A massive achievement. Well done, Maharleya.