Cross Country, SYAL, Much Wenlock

Cross Country, SYAL, Much Wenlock

With the Cross Country season now in full swing, our young athletes made the short journey to Much Wenlock for the penultimate SYAL race this weekend.

Despite a couple of athletes missing through illness, there was also an air of confidence in the squad as a number of our runners were still on a high from some very impressive Schools results in the past week. Katharine Smith maintained her impressive debut season form with a win, while Ross Kirby 2nd, and Luke Howes 6th, earned themselves selection for the Shropshire Schools squad (u13)to compete in an Inter County fixture in a weeks time where they will join up with club mate Ben Ashcroft (u15).


U15 boys
Ashcroft and Dan Lucas were first in action on the new course at William Brookes School. 2 large laps which took in an aggressive hill climb with an equally testing decent split the field wide open. Ashcroft maintained his standing toward the top of this category with a 5th place finish, while Lucas made up ground through the field during the final 2 laps to earn a creditable 9th place and return to form.


U11
As in the previous fixture, we were able to field a full team at this age in both the boys and girls races.
Led by Katharine Smith, a supporting team of 6 more girls donned the club vest for the flat 2 laps. Always at the head of the race, Smith finished a strong 2nd and has cemented her position in the individual placings. With a strong team ethic the girls packed out field with Olivia Gibbs next up in 18th, Isobel Lewington 21st and Hannah Burton 23rd in hot pursuit. Eve Lucas was next up in 28th with a good run throughout, Emily Carter 31st, and Emily Lightwood 39th.

The u11boys team again is tightly knit group of athletes, all very closely matched and consistent throughout the season.
Another strong team run earned valuable points for the team competition where they currently lie third. Led by another good showing from Eddie Brittleton (7th), all five boys finished in the top 14. Only 13 seconds covered the remaining four boys with Freddie Turner 10th, H McCartney 11th, A Wetton 13th and T Turner 14th.


U13g
Fresh from representing her school the previous day in Warrington, Becky Peet turned out as our sole athlete in this race. A competitive run on tired legs was good enough to earn 19th place.

U13b
Our boys have represented themselves impressively in the 3000m event, with all the lads competing strongly against last years U11 boys and also against their rivals a year older.
With Luke Howes missing through illness, Ross Kirby led the charge with a fine run to 8th place, his second consecutive race inside the top 10. The hill climb was clearly to his liking as he made headway, as did Stuart Duff (20th), both boys picking off places in the final lap and both finishing with a strong kick at the home straight.
Andrew Hickman found the hill more of a challenge, though he improved after to secure 23rd.



Final race in the series is on 6th December at Bridgnorth. Please ensure your availablity for this fixture.