Maisie Green produced the best performance by a Kettering Town Harriers athlete when she finished third in the Anglian Schools Cross-Country meeting at Corby’s Rockingham Triangle.
The meeting, held on a flat course made challenging by strong winds, served as a selection event for the English Schools Championships. As well as competing against four other counties, local athletes were also aiming to finish amongst the top six Northants finishers, in order to claim a place at the prestigious national races, to be held this year in Nottingham.
It was a splendid final sprint that took Maisie into the bronze medal position in the Junior Girls race, and she almost caught the second-placed athlete from Suffolk. Fran Ashworth ran really well for 12th place and Gemma Vaughan may well have secured selection for Nottingham, as she came home 26th.
Also booking their places for Nottingham were Kayli Walford, who finished a fine 13th in the Inter Girls race, and Kelly Barnett, whose 25th place in the Senior Girls slotted her in as 6th Northants finisher (a great improvement on her 11th in the County Schools). Sophie Munn (32nd) and Imogen Stokes (34th) will have to wait to see if they are selected.
In the absence of Josh Cara who was nursing an injury, Jack Hope was second Northants finisher in the Junior Boys race; he came 18th in a very congested section of the field. Daniel Waples (57th in the Inter Boys) and Dan Thompson (38th in the Senior Boys) also put in sound efforts.
There were also races for Under 13 athletes. They do not compete at English Schools, and this is their first taste of inter-county competition. Tabatha Walford gave a further indication of her potential, as she matched her sister’s 13th position. Hannah Winstone (56th) and Isobel Cara (57th) gained valuable experience. In the Boys race, Jim Beaty finished a superb 20th. Ethan Mehmet was 44th and Gabrial Smith 53rd.