The 16 Harriers competing at the Inter-Counties cross Country Championships performed well at the now familiar Prestwold Hall venue at Loughborough. Representing Northamptonshire in the unfamiliar white vest, the athletes acquitted themselves well on a tough course, which although wet in places was a massive improvement in the quagmire conditions seen in 2018.
The top performance of the day was from top year U17 Emily Williams who ran a strong race to finish inside the top 50 in a field of 264. Williams started well to avoid the bottle neck caused by the start doubling back on itself, and benefited from some clear air over the first 2km section of the course. Williams was unable to maintain her position and she dropped back towards the closing stages on a course which she always finds difficult, but she finished well to complete the 5km course in 21:02 for a fine 31st place.
Emily Williams another fine performance to finish in 31st place
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The only other Harrier in action in the junior age groups was bottom year U13 Magdalena Gancheva who also suffered a poor start which hampered her race somewhat. Gancheva, right at the back after the first 600m, fought back well to finish strongly in 279th place in 15:53 over the tough 3km course.
The U15 Boys race saw x 5 Harriers in the Northants 8 man team, and with all of them well back in the starting pen, a good start was next to impossible. Idayi Jumbe, a late reserve in the team, run well in his first National Championship to finish in 146th in over the 4km course in 14:51, with josh Geddes 225th (15:21) also running well, closely followed in by Josh Clutton in 251st who only finished 15 seconds after this club colleague (15:36) such is the number of athletes finishing together. Callum Cox & Luke Cole also put in respectable performances in 270th (15:52) & 276th (15:59) respectively.
Idayi Jumbe (1707) fine placing in 146th in his first National Championship
The three Harriers in the U13 Boys team also got a baptism of fire with all three again struggling to get away in a good position from the start. Dylan White was top Harriers home in 225th in 14:18 over the 3km course, with George Separovic & Lucas Rogers both finishing in an identical time of 14:30 for 250th & 251st respectively.
For the older boys U20 Jack Watson had a fine race to finish ahead of club colleague josh cannel in 144th place in 35:22 over the 8km course with Cannell finishing in 154th (35:59). U17 Dylan Bowley struggled a little in the conditions but battled through to finish the 6km course in 180th place in 21:38.
For the seniors there were just competitors in each race, for the men Stephen Thompson was top finisher for the Harriers in 268th 40:42 over the 10km course, with Edward Cannell in 292nd in 43:46. The senior women run the identical distance as the men and Krisztina Kurucz ran well on limited training for 260th in 54:41 with Trudi Pike in 263rd (58:03).
It was a tough day for all the harriers competing, and for many the last XC race of the season will be English Schools in a weeks’ time being held at temple Newsome in Leeds before their hard earned short break.
Well done to everyone who ran.