Athletes from Wolverhampton & Bilston AC were back in cross country action as the seniors took part in their second fixture of the league season.
The ladies got things underway in the West Midlands Ladies League at Betley Farm, just north of Stoke, and although they missed a couple of names from the previous fixture they were able to dip into their ever increasing squad to field a strong team. Isabelle Price made her seasonal debut with a 29th place finish in 26.04, Vicki Mackay was chasing her to the line, only a place and a handful of seconds adrift in 26.18, Lucie Tait-Harris was not far behind in 40th in 26.50 and Millie Williams made up the A team scorers in 178th place in 29.33. Sabrina Thomas was 82nd in 29.42, Maria Calleia was 88th in 30.13, Emily Simmonds was 96th in 31.40 and Veronika Foster brought the ladies home in 101st in 32.03.
This was good enough the place the club 8th on the day and only 4 points behind local rivals, Tipton Harriers, and 3rd in the Masters Division behind City of Stoke and Bromsgrove & Redditch.
Two races in and at the halfway point the club sit exactly mid table in 9th place of the 18 team league, that’s if my calculations are correct and the formulas in my spreadsheet work, and looking at the teams ahead of them a top 6 finish is certainly not out of their reach.
The men travelled to Hinckley in Leicestershire for round two of the Birmingham League at a very muddy Burbage Common and although they were forced to relinquish their lead at the top of the table to a strong Cannock & Stafford team, they are not too far adrift to be able to turn that around in the next two fixtures.
James Neilson proved that his previous top 10 finish was no fluke coming home in 6th place in 38.10, Jon Hart was 14th in 39.52, Luke Maskew claimed family honours in 19th in 40.20 with Dan Maskew 21st in 40.27, Dan Turner made a welcome return in 31st in 41.24 and Ben Foster completed the A team scorers in 47th place in 42.16. Dylan Illidge was first back for the B team and not far away from an A team spot in 49th in 42.25, Gary Worrall was 53rd in 42.39, Derrick Milligan was 68th in 43.57, Paul Marson 74th in 44.10, Alex Kelly 77th in 44.19, Steve Newman 78th in 44.27, Ashley Atkinson 80th in 44.35, Tom Pryor 106th in 47.10, Dan Vaughan 120th in 47.58, Adam Guy 128th in 48.35, Tony Cheema 137th in 49.18, Andy Dyall 170th in 53.28, Rob Edwards 176th in 54.00, Dave Norman 178th in 54.32, Paul Clarke 181st in 55.02 and Lee Partridge 198th in 61.19. Russ Blair was unlucky enough to fall down a rabbit hole and had to drop out after a lap.
As previously mentioned, this placed the club in 2nd place on the day by a mere 32 points, not much in cross country terms, and in 2nd overall after two fixtures by only 8 points. They currently sit on top of the B team league table and lead the table in both the Masters A and B leagues because of the considerable numbers we have been able to muster. With the next fixture at Worcester and a home game to finish we are targeting finishing the season top of all four divisions, Seniors and Masters, A and B, which would be some achievement, but we have the squad to do it.
There was some action on the fells in Shropshire with Danny Malone tackling the Cardington Cracker, a race over 9 miles with 2602 feet of climbing, coming home in 82nd place in 1.51.1. And our marathon couple were in action again after a bout of Covid, this time travelling to Spain for the popular Valencia Marathon. Dave Joynson was 10151st which shows its popularity and 79th in his age group with a 3.20.42 finish and Gill Mitchell was 28454th crossing the line in 5.53.58.
Dave Norman
