Lexington senior cross country runner Maddy Cross competed in the International Games track meet between the United States, Australia and New Zealand in Brisbane, Australia over three days last summer. He competed in the 800-meter and 1500-meter races, finishing third in the 1500 meters.

1. How did you get selected to participate in the event?

Answer: They picked the participants from state track meet results in last year’s meets. They gave everyone a year to fund raise and everything. We went for about a week and got to sightsee and everything. The meet lasted for three days at the end of the week.

2. How cool was it to participate in a track meet in Australia?

Answer: It was awesome. I had never competed outside of Alabama. Competing with the rest of the country was pretty cool. I got to meet the other people from other countries and got to talk with them.

3. Was there a bit of a culture shock?

Answer: Yes, a little bit. Mainly we spent a lot of time talking with other people, learning about all the differences in cultures. The vocabulary was one big difference. Every time we said McDonalds they would laugh at us because they cal it Maccas. They also found it hilarous that we called the back of the car the trunk. They call it the boot. They made us say trunk over and over because they thought it was so funny.

4. Did you try any different foods while you were there?

Answer: I didn’t get to try it, but they had Koala burgers. I never tried it but we did see it on the menu. I wasn’t adventurous enough to try that.

5. What was it like winning a medal in the 1500?

Answer: It was great. I wasn’t even really expecting to place, I was just going more for the experience. I knew it would be really good competition. I got the chance to run against an Olympic hopeful. He was trying to qualify for London at the time. He wasn’t in my event, but I got to watch him before I ran, and it got me excited to run.