The Harriers put in some brilliant performances in the opening winter XC fixture and "test Cross Country event" the National primary school championship held in the private grounds at Prestwold Hall in Loughborough. 9 year old Bella Lamb ran a fantastic race to record an impressive victory in the 94 strong field in the Year 4 girls race. This was her first ever XC race victory and the 9 year old who has been training with the squad for just 1 year showed her undoubted potential.
9 Year Old Bella Lamb stormed to her first XC race victory in the yr 4 race.
The event, the first cross country race under the covid restrictions, worked well with athletes kept within a secure area for a pre-race warm up and x4 separate race starts merging after 400-500m after which the runners had separated, to ensure this was a genuine race experience.
Lamb got off to a great start and settled in the top 5 after the start and she remained in contention throughout the short, but challenging course. She worked her way into second place with 400m to go, and showed maturity beyond her years to make a concious decision to sit on the leader and bide her time before producing her finish, and what a finish it was with the line in sight Lamb produced a sprint finish to pass the leader who tried to respond but Lamb proved too strong, crossing the line 10m ahead of her rival in 7:55. Sadly there were no medals for the first three athletes to encourage them to disperse, but Lamb secured a goody bag from the sponsors for her efforts.
Brilliant racing from Bella Lamb to win the yr 4 girls National Primary Schools Championship
Jess Lamb, elder sister to Bella, also enjoyed a fantastic race in the year 6 girls event to finish in 5th place, the 2nd highest placing on the day from the Harriers. The 2 times Northants (U11) XC County Champion showed her class and got a great start remaining in the top 5 throughout the race, sadly she was unable to remain with the breakaway group to remain in contention for a podium position, but she held off a late challenge to secure a fine top 5 finish over the 2.5km course in 9:39. Club colleague Peyton Almond also featured well in the race with a terrific run to finish in 21st place (10:22). The final member of the Lamb clan, 12 year old Nathan competed as a bottom year in the secondary school race (year 8/9/10) over 3km and put in a terrific performance against the older competition to finish in 21st place in 13:54.
Successful day for the Lamb clan, Jess 5th in yr 6, Bella 1st yr 4 & Nathan 21st yr 8/9
The Year 7 boys race features x4 Harriers and saw a very close battle between George Sharp & Finn Currie who were locked in battle throughout the 2.5km course with Currie just opening a 10m gap with 60m to the finish line, but Sharp put in a fantastic effort to just overhaul his club colleague on the line, which produced a spectacular mud slide from 11 year old to finish in a splendid 12th place with Currie placing in 14th place, both finishing in an identical time of 9:16. Finlay Brooker & Zachary Scott also enjoyed a fine battle both finishing in highly respectable positions in 28th (9:46) & 29th (9:49).
Yr 7 Boys George Sharp (12th) Finlay Brooker (28th) Finn Currie (14th) & Zachary Scott (29th)
The Year 7 Girls race saw a fine debut for new Harrier Iona Ellwood who finished in a fine 21st position with a strong race, and she will no doubt continue her strong improvement curve after joining the squad 1 month ago. Maggie Gancheva had to race in the year 7 race despite being a year 8 due to an admin error, and she fared well finishing in 16th place in 10:15, but sadly the result will not be recognised officially. Year 6 Harlee Hooker just 2 week in the squad made his Harriers XC debut ran a fine race to finish the 2km course in 29th place 10:11, and clearly there will be much more to come from the youngster once he adapts to the training. Harris Ellwood also making his KTH debut ran a fine race in the Year 5 boys to finish in 29th place in 8:53.
Fantastic running from the Harriers and with the future of cross country running unknown with an imminent Nationwide 1 month lock down, the athletes may have to be paitent for a while as the next event/s are uncertain at this time.
Well done to evryone who ran.