A number of KTH athletes were involved in the McCAIN UK INTER COUNTIES & UK CROSS CHALLENGE FINAL which was held in the customary location of Birmingham’s Cofton Park on a very wet and heavy course on Saturday 09th, and as usual Sky TV broadcast all of the races live on Sky Sports 3.
First race off was U20 Men where the sole KTH interest was 800m specialist Matt Stewart, now fully recovered from Ankle Ligament damage and looking to just complete the course Matt was satisfied with his 191th position in 31:55 over the very tough 8km course.
Next off were the U13 Boys, and the single athlete from KTH was Travis Bowley who ran well in his first major competition to complete the 3km course in 12:17 for 242nd position.
In the U15 Boys race over 4.5km Jack Hope suffered slightly from not pacing the tricky start correctly, and went off a little too quickly paying for it in the middle part of the race, Jack was 2nd Northants scorer in 103rd position in 17:39 helping Northants to 29th in the team competition. Ethan Mehmet competing for the first time in the Inter-counties ran well for 233 in 18:39.
In the U17 women’s team KTH had 6 of the 8 runners representing the county and produced some great performances to help Team Northants to the best team position of the day in highly credible 21st position. Top scorer for KTH was Claudia Kelsall who a terrific race to finish the now treacherously slippery 5km course in 90th position in 22:13 (second N’hants scorer) with great support from Abigail Coleman enjoying an excellent race to finish in 125th (22:46). Competing in her first National XC competition Jess Gordon enjoyed a fine run to finish in 161st (23:34) and final scorer for Team Northants, and also enjoying her best performance in an Inter-Counties race was Fran Ashworth who finished just behind her club colleague in 164 (23:39), with Lauren Mehmet finishing in 210th (25:03). It was a sad day for Kayli Walford, as she lost one of her spikes in the now ankle deep mud at the start of lap 2 and had to retire from the race.
In the U13 Girls race Tabatha Walford who has been in terrific form in recent weeks ran superbly to finish in 60th position over the 3km course in 12:19, and top finisher on the day for the Harriers squad, helping Team Northants to a fine 27th position. Rebecca Hughes bravely ran with her arm in plaster following a recent broken thumb to finish in 258th (13:44).
In the U17 men’s race, Liam Kirk again showed he is the top U17 in the county by running a solid race & finishing top scorer for Team Northants in 196th in 21:02 over the 6km course.
In the U15 Girls race Gemma Vaughan and Beth Goddard had a superb running battle throughout the 4km race to finish with an identical time of 20:10 for 197 & 198th position, with Gemma just getting the nod on the finishing line. Both girls scored for Team Northants helping them to a respectable 34th position in the team event.
The last race of the day was the men’s 12km race with two representatives for the Harriers. Phil West improved on his run last year, completing the course in 42:10 for 261st position and 5th scorer for Team Northants. Steve Thompson, competing for the County for the first time, clocked a creditable 43:13 for 276th place.
Final Cross Country race of the season for 12 of the KTH middle distance squad is the English Schools Championships being held on 16th March at Catton Park Derbyshire, Good Luck to all competing.