Whanganui duo George Lambert and Daniel Sinclair win places in the eight-strong New Zealand Secondary Schools Team

Runners George Lambert (left) and Daniel Sinclair have joined a large, but elite group of Whanganui Collegiate athletes to make the New Zealand Secondary Schools Team. Photo / Rob van Dort

Whanganui Collegiate athletes George Lambert and Daniel Sinclair are virtually all dressed up with nowhere to go after being named in the eight-strong New Zealand Secondary Schools Team.

Lambert gained some consolation for missing out on the Covid-cancelled ISF World Schools Cross Country last April by being named in the New Zealand Secondary Schools Team on Saturday.

This followed his excellent fourth in the Senior Boys New Zealand Schools Cross Country in Hawera. The muddy farm course at the Hawera A&P Showgrounds in persistent cold rain proved to be a huge test for the almost-200-strong field, with runners from 50 schools contesting the senior boys title.

Lambert went with the leading group throughout to finish an outstanding fourth. The demanding conditions suited the tough Hunterville athlete, who was never out of contact with the race leaders.

Lambert will be joined in the New Zealand team by his Collegiate teammate, 15-year-old Daniel Sinclair, who finished eighth in his senior debut after an outstanding run. Sinclair got himself up to fifth with just over a kilometre left in the 6km race before slipping on a particularly muddy section of the course. He held his eighth place in the frantic run for home.

The eight-strong team will not be travelling anywhere because of Covid-19, but runners have access to training grants, which the Whanganui pair will use to travel to the Athletics New Zealand Championships in Dunedin in early August.

In a Covid-free world, the New Zealand team would have competed in the Australian championships, but that is now off the agenda.

Lambert and Sinclair become the 46th and 47th Whanganui Collegiate athletes to be named in a New Zealand Secondary Schools Team since Chris Fallows back in 1974.