Emily Williams continued her excellent start to the Cross Country campaign with her second (back to back) win in the North Midland League held at Wicksteed park on a typically wet and blustery day, fitting conditions for XC!
There were also a number of excellent individual and team performances from the squad, and a healthy number of youngsters tasting XT for the first time.
The first race of the day U13B and U15 girls race over the 3.3km course saw Henri Codling run a much improved race to lead the race out over the first 1.5km, and eventually finish one place ahead of his first outing in 4th with 12:41 (just ahead of the remarkable U15 Girls winner Jasmine Cooper) closing down the eventual winner, Rushcliffe’s Finn Moffatt, winning margin to just 19 seconds. Henri was supported well with Dylan Bowley also enjoying a better race and finishing strongly for 11th (13:31), and Ethan Nellis in his first XT outing running well for 20th (13:59) and 11 year old Rory Pateman also in his first U13 XC race also running well for 29th (15:46). The U13 boys team (top 3 scorers) took second position behind Amber Valley
In the U15G race it was Sophie Moss who again was top finisher in a strong race (with both shoes this time) just beating local rivals Mollie Watson (Harborough AC) & Ellie-Mae Hatherway (Corby AC) to the line with a superb sprint finish for 10th (14:11), Sophie was supported well with Chloe Hearn also enjoying a fine run for 13th (14:21) and Amy Robinson in 25th (15:00) to help the team to 5th
In the U15B & U17W 5km race Jake Trent in his first XC outing was the best of the Harriers, Jake ran a strong race to finish in a fine 7th in 18:49, with debutant Fynn Batkin running well for 18th (20:43). In the U17 W race there was again a single KTH athlete, Hannah Winstone, who ran a strong race for 12th (23:21) but without the winner of the opening race, Claudia Nevett, out through a foot injury, and the missing Ella Palmer there was no team position.
In the U20/ Senior women 6km race there were some excellent runs from the Harriers U20 contingent with Jess Gordon in her first XC outing recording a fine 20th overall (7th U20) with 25:05, and Claudi Kelsall also with her XC seasons debut just behind Jess with a fine run in 21st (8th U20) in 25:09, and Fran Ashworth a much improved 2nd XC outing in 24th ( 10th U20) in 25:30 ensuring the U20 team were second behind Derby. For the seniors Trudy Pike was the top scorer in 69th (29:11) with Alison Moxey & Roxanne May in 82/ 93rd receptively ( 31:46/ 35:08).
In the U17 M 6km course, Jack hope in his first XC outing ran an excellent race to finish in 4th with 21:37, luckily Jack was un troubled in 4th as he had the added challenge of having to weave his way through the 41 strong U13 girls field due to the odd decision to start the U13 girls race just as Jack was starting hi second lap, Jack had the odd experience of KTH’s Emily Williams keeping him company for the first km of their race! Edward Cannell enjoyed a better race finishing in 18th with 23:16.
The senior men’s race over 9.5km saw just two Harriers competing in a large field of 213 athletes, with V45 Martyn Winstone top scoring in 147th with 44:44, and V50 Peter Goring in 161st with 45:45.
There was a healthy contingent of U11’s from the Harriers in the 2km mixed U11 race, which was a shame as some of the field Including KTH’s Ollie Read who was second at the time were mistakenly send on the additional loop the SM had to complete, this meant some or all of the front runners were disrupted and had to complete a longer distance than required! Never the less there were some super performances with Hal Robinson leading the charge with a superb 2nd place just behind the winner, Alex Coleston-Sheild from Charnwood, in 8:12, with Cole Sinnott running well for 24th (9:06) and Ollie Read making up remarkable ground to finish 3rd KTH boy (43rd overall) with 9:41. The rest of the U11 up and coming were Zac Horrow 48th (10:00) William West 51st (10:09) Bram Marlow 52nd (10:10) Tom Richie 54th (10:13).
In the U11G Race Mia Brockway was the first Harrier home in an solid 13th position (9:14) closely followed by Freya Batkin in 14th (9:18) and Millie Houghton 18th (9:27) with Sophie Toseland 23rd, Emma Robinson 24th, and Leah Parrott 25th all finishing together, and Maddison Moxey in 32nd.
It was a case of saving the best till last with the sole winner of the day coming in the U13 G race with Emily Willims again leading from gun to tape with a superb display of controlled running, with a little in the tank Emily eased her way to victory from Wreak Runners Hollie Gamble by 8 seconds, finishing the 3km course in 11:40. Jennifer Robinson who is improving by the race provided great support with a fine 11th (13:16) and younger sister Daisy also running a solid race in 16th (13:48) helping the team to 2nd position behind Rushcliffe AC. There was a healthy contingent of U13 competing in their first XC of the season with Millie Toseland running well for 23rd, Izabell Moxey in 28th, Blainne Conway, Fay Robinson, Harriet Drake-Lee and Madison Cox in 28th /31st/ 33rd/ 40th respectively.
Well done to all the athletes who competed, most hopefully will now have their sights set firmly on the KTH promoted Charity Cup on 29th November. If you can help at this event (setting up, marshalling, taking down), please let adam henley know on [email protected] - the more people involved, the easier it will be!