There were some outstanding performances from the Harriers at the 2nd round of the North Midland League held at Kettering Wicksteed Park, with a win and five top 5 finishes. The wet conditions were a sharp contrast from the opening round at Darby which was held in warm sunshine, but the course was firm despite the conditions with the slightly altered course providing a good test for the competing athletes.
Harriett Round was the only victory of the day for the Harriers squad; she produced another top quality performance to totally dominate the U11Girls race from start to finish. After suffering a defeat by the narrowest of margins in the opening race to Saffron AC’s Poppy Adkin Harriett, she made no mistake taking the 2km race on from the 300m start where she had opened up a 50m gap on the field. She continued to push hard and was untroubled extending her lead to 150m with a comfortable victory to underline her intent in her first XC season in 7:22. Harriett will next face a sterner test in the UK cross challenge in Liverpool where she will be facing some of the country’s best U11 athletes. Also running for the Harriers was Ruby McLeod in 28th, with Ellie Warboyd & Jasmine Anderson in 34/35th & Niamh Sinnott 38th.
Harriett Round with a dominanat win in the U11 Girls race
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In the corresponding U11 boys race Lucas Rogers also run a fine race, finishing 4th with a strong run over the 2km course in 7:19. Lucas was boxed in at the start and found himself in the lower half of the field but once he got into his running he staidly reeled in his competitors and was holding his own with the first 3 finishers, so he will take away a lot of confidence from the race. Also running for the Harriers was Dylan White (21st), Theo Crick (31st), Ellis Watts (38th) & Kaiden Ramsey (45th).
Dylan Bowley followed up his opening race win with a hard fought 3rd place in the U15 Boys race with a fine run which saw him closing in on the top 3 athletes in the closing stages to snatch 3rd place.
In the U20/ Senior Women’s race Claudia Nevett also enjoyed a superb race making significant gains from her opening race of the season with a superb 8th place overall & 2nd U20 in the 6km race in 24.34. Making her Harriers XC debut U20 Lily Carmichael also ran a fine race in her first 6km outing, and she will take confidence from her 2nd lap where she took a significant number of places with a strong finish for 32nd overall (7th U20 in 27:19). Kerry Munn ran a fine race for 40th (27.46) and first V55 with Trudi Pike in 55th, Yvonne Mehmet 62nd, Amanda Marlow 72nd & Evelyn Clawson in 78th.
The U13 Girls race saw Mia Brockway & Frey Batkin both putting a terrific performance for 3rd & 4th respectively in 12:49/12:57, with strong runs over the 3km course. Freya made the better start but Mia proved too strong on this occasion surging ahead of her club colleague after 1.5km and holding onto the small lead.
In the U17 men’s race Fynn Batkin, a bottom year U17, enjoyed a fine opening race of the season to finish in 4th position in 21.43, with Josh Cannell 17th in 23.38, Thomas Jawad 20th in 24.46 also running well over the 6km course, & Jack Watson did well making his Harriers debut finishing in 22nd place.
U20 Edward Cannell put in a typical gutsy display to finish in a superb 45th place in the SM/ U20 race, with another strong run over the tough 10km course in 37.40 and was the leading Harrier. Senior man Phil West ran a fine race and was the next Harrier home in 73rd (39.48) with Andy Clawson (107th), Ross Brown (120th), Kemal Mehmet (132nd), Martyn Winstone (145th), Vince Gaziano (167th), Paul Young (170th, Alan Rain (172nd) & Steve Geary (177th) making up the large contingent of Harriers.
In the U17 women’s race there were good runs from Sophie Moss top Harrier home in 13th place in 22.38 over the 5km course, Harriet Jolley, Amy Robinson & Charlotte Maywood all put in decent performances for 21st, 24th & 28th respectively.
In the U13 Boys race there was a great performance from Josh Geddes finishing in a fine 13th place and top Harrier in 14.23, with Brandon Raulia just a second behind in 14th. Ben Brooker & Ryan Raulia were next Harriers home in 16th & 19th respectively & Alfi Frayne in 23rd all running well. Adam Jawad (30th), Josh Clutton (31st), William West (36th), Harry Clarke (38th, & Daniel Short (41st) packing well for the Harriers.
In the U15 Girls race over 3km Daisy Robinson was top finisher in 21st in 16:02, with sister Jen Robinson running well in her first race back from a long term injury in 23rd, with Natalie Short also running well in her opening XC race in 27th.
Further afield, U15 Emily Williams ran well at the opening UK Cross Challenge in Milton Keynes despite being slightly off form with a virus, finishing in a respectable 8th position.