It was a relatively quiet weekend for athletes from Wolverhampton & Bilston AC as the old hands left it to the young guns to do the vest proud. After weeks of running around muddy fields there was no let up for those of a certain age as the West Midlands Schools Cross Country Championships took place at Warley Woods. After the men had raced there in the Birmingham League on the previous weekend there were reports that the course was dry with a couple of muddy patches and this would have only improved after another week of no significant rain. It would be the closest a cross country course comes to a billiard table, and the club were certainly not snookered coming away with medals and some fantastic performances.
James Neilson was 7th in the U17s race covering the 4.8k distance in 16.59. Oscar Davis ran in the U15s race over 3.2k coming home 1st in his age group in 11.53, while Fred Jones was 1st in 8.30 and Sam Ball 3rd in the U13s over 2.5k. Isobelle Jones ran in the U20s race as an under 15 year old coming 1st in 11.53 over 3.2k, Beth Dyall was 2nd U20 in 13.09 and Jessica Yang was 10th as an under 15 in 13.32.
There was a flurry of Wolves vests at the front of the U15 girls race over 2.5k with Megan White crossing the line in first place in 9.52, Madison Farley was 3rd in 9.55, Zena Asbury 4th in 9.56, Ronni Read 6th in 10.11, Eleanor Simpson 9th in 10.40. And there was a 1-2 in the U13 girls race over 1.9k with Grace Hendy bagging the gold medal in 6.40 and Lucy Horton pocketing the silver in 7.04.
Further afield there was a second England vest for Louise Hackett in the Home Countries International Cross Country at the Billy Neill Country Park near Belfast, Northern Ireland. While Kenyan superstar Helen Obiri was claiming victory in the senior ladies races Louise was finishing 7th over a distance of 4k in 14.34 to claim 7th in the U20s event.
