Stratford AC trio score fine wins at latest cross country league fixture

ATHLETICS

STRATFORD AC’s Alex Adams, Georgie Campbell and Tessa Parkin all scored wins in their respective age groups at the latest West Midland Young Athletes’ Cross Country League fixture held in Nuneaton, reports David Parkin.

Success for the trio also meant it was the first time that the athletics club had picked up three individual wins in a league meeting.

On top of that, the club finished third on the day and now sit second in the league table with an impressive 18,631 points, just 18 behind rivals Wolverhampton & Bilston going into the final race in February.

The U15 girls were led home by another fine performance from Charlotte Marshall (2nd, 14:09), her best placing of the year, and sufficient to move her into joint-first position in the league going into the final race.

Olivia Robinson (6th, 14:33) couldn’t quite keep up with Marshall, but secured her second top ten finish of the season.

Molly Bullock (41st, 16:33) ran well with a fighting finish for her best place of the year while Abigail Skinner (46th, 16:46) and Holly Newton (53rd, 17:22) made up the scoring positions, with Georgie Pridham (76th, 22:18) completing the team.

The U13 boys had a tough day, with several athletes struggling to get through the congested pack in the first half of the race.

James Day (34th, 10:44) was first home for the team, with William Mayes (38th, 10:46) chasing hard, but not quite able to reel him in.

Seb Hillard (46th, 11:09), Joe Lewis (52nd, 11:14) and Henry Wheeler (60th, 11:28) made up the scoring positions.

Alex McMillan (69th, 11:43), in his first outing of the season, and Hugh Markham (85th, 12:39) comprised the remainder of the team.

In the U13 girls’ race, Stratford were weakened by injury to county champion Niamh Hillard, but Maddie Linfoot (9th, 10:34) had a consistently strong race, finishing in the top ten for the second outing in succession.

Abbi Cooper (22nd, 10:56) ran the first lap in close formation with Caitlin Boyle (34th, 11:20) before Boyle slipped back and a persevering Maisie-Joy Spriggs (28th, 11:01) moved impressively up the field.

Tilly Campbell (47th, 11:38) improved again for her best performance of the season and worked hard throughout alongside Emma Francioni (48th, 11:40).

Lucy Thomas (52nd, 11:46), Martha Peters (55th, 11:50), Ella Peeke (78th, 12:48), Katie Pridham (85th, 13:37) and Ruby Edwards (86th, 13:42) completed the Stratford team.

Alex Adams (1st, 12:17) won the U15 boys’ race by a considerable margin, leading from the start and giving him an unprecedented 17th successive league win.

Theo Skirvin (20th, 13:30) meanwhile secured his first top 20 position of the season.

Taylor Stubbins (34th, 14:04), Adam Taylor (38th, 14:06), Caleb Spriggs (40th, 14:09), Tom Francioni (42nd, 14:14) and Edward Holcroft (54th, 14:53) were well bunched in the middle of the field.

In a fast, bunched start to the U11 girls’ race, Annie Silvers took a tumble and despite running valiantly for much of the race, wasn’t able to finish.

Parkin (1st, 08:05) accelerated into first off the top of the last climb to secure her second successive win.

Overall performance of the day went to Marijke Tear-Verweij (9th, 08:38) who claimed her best ever league position.

Lois Ford (31st, 09:24) struggled at the start to find her position, but continues to have an excellent debut season.

Amelia Peeke (44th, 09:52) ran almost the entire race with one shoe, and the team was completed by Ava Sheppard (51st, 10:03) and Lily-Mai Pagan (78th, 12:13).

The returning James Mucklow (16th, 19:20) added strength to the U17 men’s squad.

Tom Crowfoot (19th, 19:29) and Will Crowfoot (21st, 19:37) worked hard together for much of the race before Crowfoot pulled away in the final lap.

There was a strong Stratford contingent in the middle of the race, with Cameron Thomas (28th, 20:03), Josh Dobedoe (31st, 20:31) and Ned Campbell (34th, 20:49) particularly catching the eye as they made solid inroads up the field.

Fin Hutchinson (38th, 21:49) had a positive outing while Thomas Mayes (40th, 22:15), Cameron Black (41st, 22:18) and Harry Gravelsons (48th, 25:05) put in good performances to make up the team.

Maxime Verstraeten (10th, 08:15) has battled illness for much of the Christmas period, but had a solid return to racing, starting well and holding his position throughout the U11 boys’ race.

Joshua Davies (26th, 08:52) had another consistent run, followed closely by Samuel Plumb (34th, 09:04) who achieved his best result to date.

Aran Cooper (41st, 09:17) led in a flurry of yellow and black Stratford vests, with Harry Francioni (50th, 09:28), Arthur Mansbridge (54th, 09:31) and Alfie Musk (55th, 09:31) close on his heels.

Josh Harrison (64th, 09:44), Henry Sims (77th, 09:54) and Ewan Sparrow (96th, 10:24) completed the team.

The U17 women’s team were weakened by the loss of Ellen Taylor, but fielded a full team nonetheless.

Campbell (1st, 15:50) led from the start and eventually won by a dominant 40 seconds from Louise Hackett of Wolverhampton & Bilston, the biggest winning margin of the day.

Gigi Thomas (20th, 18:53) ran very well and secured her highest position of the season, with Charlotte Gravelsons (42nd, 23:00) completing the team and scoring positions.