There was plenty to choose from at the weekend and the club was out in force, but a fixture clash with the Midlands Cross Country Relays and the Young Athletes Cross Country League meant in some cases there were just too many options.
We’ll kick off this week with a home game as we hosted the Derby Runner sponsored Midlands Counties Cross Country Relays over our well-trodden fields at Aldersley. The fixture clash meant that the U13s, U15s and U17s races passed without any home club interest, but there were plenty pulling on the vest in the Seniors and Masters races for both genders. And it was great to see male and female teams both coming away with medals.
The Senior ladies team were disappointed to miss out on silverware placing 5th in a total time of 1.12.41 with Lucy Calrow running the first leg in 24.21, Beth Tabor got the club up into 2nd place with a 23.22 leg and Holly Baddeley finished things off with 24.56. Only about 20 seconds off the bronze medal and just over a minute from the win against some strong teams from Nuneaton Harriers, Rugby & Northampton, Halesowen and Tipton Harriers.
The Senior men were in a similar position placing 5th in 1.22.12, exactly a minute off Tipton Harriers who took bronze, with Luke Maskew running a superb 20.45 on his club debut for the 1st leg, Harry Dyall ran 20.56 to move the club into 12th place, Louie Lambeth clocked 20.14, handing over the Jack Bonser in 7th, Jack moved the club forward two position with a 20.15 final leg. The B team 25th in 1.33.27 with Joe Flatley running 25.26, Paul Marson 23.32 after a very fast start, Joe St Quinton running 21.06 and Tom Pryor finishing things off with 23.21.
The Masters mens A team placed 3rd to claim a bronze medal behind Tipton Harriers and BRAT finishing in a total time of 1.28.48, holding of Nuneaton Harriers and the Tipton B team. Rob Meredith ran 20.43 for the 1st leg, James Wright 21.52 for 2nd to move the club into the silver medal position, Dan Brazier ran 22.55 and Ashley Atkinson ran a 4th leg in 23.16 to bag the medal. The B team of Derrick Milligan 23.27, Tony Cheema 24.51, Rob Cartwright 22.49 and Greg Asbury 23.41 placed 10th in 1.34.50 and the C team of Garry Palmer 23.28, Darren Owen-Jones 25.36, Jay Patel 25.42 and Dave Norman 27.33 placed 15th with 1.42.20. An incomplete D team of 3 runners finished things off with Andy Dyall running 25.17, Rob Edwards 28.07 and Lee Partridge 27.02.
The Masters ladies team picked up a fantastic silver medal behind Bromsgrove & Redditch with a total time of 1.17.02. Hannah Creamer went off first with a leg of 25.52, Vicki MacKay ran the fastest of the day picking up an individual gold medal with 23.46 to take the lead and Sabrina Thomas ran 27.23 on the final leg. The B team placed 7th in 1.23.37 with Veronika Foster leading them out with 29.13, Emily Simmonds ran 28.46 and Lorna Hulme 25.37. There was a good battled between the C and D teams with the D team just shading it in 1.46.12 in 16th place with Vanessa Landreau Barnes finishing in 30.30, Julia Condon in 38.01 and Leny Hall in 37.40. The C team was 17th in 1.47.09 with Jo Lane in 30.29, Julia Cooper in 38.50 and Imogen Harley in 37.49. And there was an incomplete E team of Mary Soloman in 39.09 and Danni Braine in 32.35.
There was more cross-country action twenty fours hours later as the younger athletes got their season underway with the first fixture of the West Midlands Young Athletes League at Walsall. There was a win for Isobelle Jones in the U17 women’s race in 15.26, Megan White was 5th in 16.25, Jessica Yang placed 19th in 17.36, Scarlett Willoughby 24th in 17.50, Ruby Buggins 31st in 18.45 and Millie Williams 43rd in 19.50. Good enough for a 3rdplace finish in the age group.
There was another win for the club with Seb Palmer leading home the U11 boys race in 5.31, Cameron Guest was 18th in 6.12, Elias Thomason 30th in 6.27, Evan Nash 46th in 6.36 and Edison Bowden 50th in 6.38, Frankie Mason 76th in 6.58 and George Hines 112th in 8.55. The club coming 4th in the age group.
There was another victory in the U17 mens race with Oliver Cresswell crossing the like first in 15.16, Kane Carrington was 54th in 19.34. And another first-place finish in the U11 girls race with Lila Pearce taking the win in 5.46, Alba Jones made it a 1 – 2 for the club in the runners up spot in 5.56, Biba Guest was 5th in 6.16, Adelaide Southall 18th in 6.36, Chloe Cashmore-Jones 35th in 6.54, Isla Gaunt 83rd in 7.30, Hero Johnson-Woods 97th in 7.46, with the club placing 2nd in the age group.
Sam Thursfield was 3rd in the U15 boys race in 10.29, Jack Stockton placed 7th in 10.46, Will Hughes 15th in 11.05, Sam Southall 23rd in 11.33, Jayden Burdish 35th in 11.54, Joshua Hill 63rd in 12.58, Aryan Kumar Pal 67th in 13.05, to place the club 2nd. And in the U13 girls race there was a 24th place finish for Erin-Mia Nash in 10.16, Heidi Hayes was a place and one second behind in 25th in 10.17, Kiki Guest was 27th in 10.18 and Gracie Billett 30th in 10.23. Clara Butler-Montero was 41st in 10.37, Phoebe Bridgen 47th in 10.46, Amira Moulder finished in 48th in the same time and Kaleah Moulder was 48th also in the same time, Maya Jelic Ramesh was 53rd in 10.48, Evelyn Haines 55th in 10.48, Alice Cattell 66th in 11.02, Amiyah Kumar Pal 86th in 11.28, Beatrice Simpson 108th in 12.02, Katy Camilleri 113th in 12.28, with the club 3rd in the age group.
In the U13 boys event Rocco Hawley placed 2nd, only 6 seconds behind the winner, in 8.38, Jonathan Yang was 5th in 8.53, Theo Ulfig 13th in 9.10, Tyla Stephenson 50th in 10.00, Aaron Guest 66th in 10.39, with the club in 3rd. And in the U15 girls race Grace Hendy placed 8th in 12.10, Eleanor Simpson 17th in 12.45, Ronni Read 20thin 12.48, Maisie Roberts 27th in 13.05, Esther Smith 32nd in 13.17, Lucy Horton 41st in 13.38, Maisie Evans 69th in 15.22, to place the club 3rd in the age group.
Overall, the club placed 2nd, just over 50 points behind the leaders Rugby & Northampton AC.
Elsewhere, James Neilson travelled north in the early hours of Sunday morning to take part in the Leeds Abbey Dash 10k. His early morning was rewarded with a 67th place finish in 31.58. And closer to home Ben Rawlings finished 8th in 38.53 in the Bridgnorth 10k, Emily Rawlings was 105th in 50.38.
Dave Norman
