Stratford AC produce strong showing at Midland Cross Country Championships
The U13 boys’ race was first on the agenda, with five Stratford AC athletes finishing the race.Josh Angus (38th, 14.27) led the team home demonstrating the high standard he has consistently shown all season.
Cameron Collins (73rd, 15.47) battled well with the conditions, followed by Ned Campbell only a few places behind, but has yet to be given an official finishing place or time.
James Bexson (93rd, 17.42), Fin Hutchinson (94th, 17.54) and Harry Gravelsons (97th, 18.21) all had good, solid races over the 3km that they should be proud of in such a competitive field. Overall the team finished in ninth place.
The U13 girls’ race was an exciting affair with Warwickshire county champion, Georgie Campbell (8th, 14.32) and Ellen Taylor (34th, 15.42) both making incredibly fast starts.
The team was completed by Millie Perkins (84th, 17.48), who will gain a large amount of experience from this race that she will be able to draw upon in the years to come, and Charlotte Gravelsons (85th, 18.01), who improved on her overall ranking from the previous year’s race.
The U13 girls’ team finished seventh overall maintaining the position achieved in the 2015 championship.
Two U15 boys took on the 4km course — the extra 1km coming in the form of an adjacent undulating field.
Owain Jones (64th, 21.23) continued his journey of improvement in recent months, keeping ahead of Archie Musk (67th, 21.40) who battled hard to achieve a good result.
The U17 and U20 women raced together over 5km. Hannah Bexson (46th, 28.46) was the sole Stratford AC representative in this category and enjoyed testing herself against the competitive field, finishing ahead of three U20 women.
By the time of the U15 girls’ race, the sun was fully in control of the sky, lighting up the course, but unfortunately not winning the battle with the icy cold wind that kept whipping the athletes at every turn.
Imogen Sheppard (34th, 22.06) started well, struggled in the middle section, and then regained her composure to pass a number of athletes in the closing stages, including Abi Wooton (40th, 22.20), who continues to impress with her improved running. Olivia Hall (62nd, 23.28), Daisy Musk (68th, 23.52) and Edie Hutchinson (72nd, 24.01) all ran well with Edie closing the gap on her club rivals and also improving on her 2015 ranking. Overall the U15 girls’ team finished in ninth.
Three U17 men tackled the 6km course. Fergus Allison (17th, 25.03) and Oscar Barbour (22nd, 25.16) continued their sparkling form with two further fine performances, finishing higher than their County Championship position might have predicted.
Seb Hopper (44th 26.40) competed in an exciting finish with three athletes battling it out to the line, passing and then being passed, Hopper did all he could to gain that extra place.
The senior women and men’s teams finished the day with some notable performances from the few athletes who chose to race. Lisa Dallisson (92nd, 38.00) had a tremendous race with Sarah Odell (117th, 44.04), in the women’s 8km race. Odell had Dallisson in sight the whole race but couldn’t close the gap as both finished ahead of expectations.
In the men’s 12km race, Tim Hutchinson (115th, 46.49) led the men’s team home in fine style improving his relative performance compared to last year’s race by a number of places.
Kieran Tursner (187th 50.21) battled with the tough conditions and was followed home by an in-form Malcolm Bowyer (196th, 50.51) who seemed to revel in the challenges the course posed.
Mike Sheppard (248th 53.21) struggled to maintain his form and relative position, whereas Neil Musk (334th, 1.05.48) will be delighted with his first ever cross country race.
The ever-reliable Phil Marshall (345th, 1.07.52) completed the men’s team, that finished 28th on the day, despite carrying an injury from a fall the previous Sunday.
The team’s position was an improvement of four places compared to 2015.
The next stage is the National Cross Country Championships where all three regions meet and a number of Stratford-upon-Avon AC athletes will test themselves against the country’s top cross country runners.