Xanthe Cogan and Jesse James travelled to Hobart representing New South Wales in their individual age groups.

The weather in Hobart was described as absolutely freezing, with constantly changing conditions of sun and rain all day.

Cogan placed 14^th in the 11-years girls three kilometre individual race on the Saturday, and on Monday went on to run in the NSW team relay.

“Overall the NSW 11-years team placed third at Nationals and in the relay we each ran 1500 metres and ended up placing second,” she said.

Cogan was happy with her results and said they were very similar to her efforts at last year’s national cross country.

“It was nice meeting new people and making new friends.”

She will now prepare for the NSW CPS Polding Athletics in Newcastle, where she has qualified to run in the 800-metre event.

Meanwhile, James raced in the Australian Multi-Class Athlete (AMCA) 12-years boys as a classified athlete.

He was the second NSW boy over the line and the first 12-year-old to finish, as the boy in front was 11-years old.

“Overall he placed eighth in the 12-years boys and the NSW AMCA team came second,” his mother Kelly said.

James participated in a time trial for the 12-years boys relay and placed fifth.

“It was a great experience for him, usually he wouldn’t be exposed to this level of competition and he had so much fun.

“Competing in the AMCA event gave Jesse an even playing field and I think that was a great opportunity for him,” Kelly said.

He will now focus on regional athletics where he has already excelled in the 100, 200 and 800-metre track events as an AMCA athlete.