Some great results and some clear signs of progress for those athletes turning up to training session in, session out…. Well done everyone. (Pictures and results at the foot of this page…)
U13 Girls – Rebecca went in to the race as favourite and lived up to that in style with a commanding victory, spreading the field out and opening up a winning margin of 23 seconds. Rebecca was 4th in the race last year. I hope you can follow in the steps of last year’s U13 winner who stepped up the training and finished 2nd in this year’s U15 race. Ella was 3rd in her first county XC, a continuation of a fine winter. Kirsty’s eighth place was another good run and resulted in a much deserved team win for the girls, defending the title we had won the previous two years.
U13 Boys – Jivendra and Jamie were expected to feature strongly at the front of the race and so it turned out. I was stood on the sharp hill 2/3 of the way through the course and was surprised to see a strong looking Ealing athlete leading it out. A closer look revealed that Jivendra was holding one of his spikes in his hand and he had run the 2nd half of the race with only one shoe! Well done on sticking in, I’m sure you’ll keep your promise to beat him next time… and it is almost track time! Jamie has come on so much training with Jivendra and the Under 15s and thoroughly deserves his bronze medal. The fact that you were so close to Jivendra should fill you with confidence going forward. It has been great to see Jacques return to training after a long-term injury problem. The bronze team medal was down to his brave run and he will soon be back to he form he showed earlier in the winter I’m sure.
U15 Girls – Sky Draper went off hard as expected with Christina and Lauren chasing and pulling clear of the rest of the field early on. Going out to the back section of the course Sky pulled away further while Freya from SBH was closing on Lauren and Christina. A fall saw Christina loose ground and Freya caught Lauren coming off the final climb. Lauren finished in 3rd place, a fantastic run in her first county championships for SMRAC. Christina was caught on the line and finished 5th. Both of you should be proud of your committed performances. Who knows, a more conservative start might have lead to higher finishes, but with fitness improving all the time, you’ll soon be fit enough to keep that start going. Just outside the top 10 there was a good battle between Jocelyn and Bella to be the club’s third counter. Jocelyn just held off Bella and the club finished in 2nd place. This was a satisfying result, with two of last year’s winning three not running at the moment. Jocelyn – a great run, I hope we’ll see you at some more races soon! Bella – well done, a year young and just outside the top 10 – you’ll be an important part of the scoring team next year.
U15 Boys – Our U15 boys have really been running well recently, training sensibly, and rarely missing runs. The race was great to watch, with blue and white vests packing so strongly near the front. Eoin ended up in 4th, having made a brave effort to catch the leading two runners up the final climb. It may be that such a big effort cost him a medal in the final run in, but 4th place was an awesome improvement of 25 places from last year! Triathlon specialist Luke was next home in 6th (up from 23rd last year). Tomm was making his county championship debut and finished in 8th, a very solid run, only 8 seconds behind Eoin in 4th. Rory was next home in 11th as our first four runners finished within 18 seconds. Robert had his first run for the club in 27th and has already shown in training that he has the right attitude to improve further. The team picked up silver medals for their efforts. Something for the boys to think about – Bradley was 4th and Jack 7th last year in the U15 race – the next step up is achievable and our job is to sit down with you at the end of the season and plan the next steps to help you continue to progress.
U17 Women – A couple of last minute illnesses denied us a team unfortunately but two strong individual performances were good to see. Molly was 18th in the U15 race last year but has improved massively with the desire to run fast on the track. Her commitment was rewarded with 3rd place on a course that wouldn’t have been her favourite surface. Big things to come Molly! Florence is another who is at every session and her 4th place is great progress from 24th in last year’s U15 race! Well done both of you, you’ll still be U17 next year so who knows what might happen….
U20 Women – Again, late illness stopped us finishing a team but Kate came down from her University base to pick up the silver medal. Her run, finishing ahead of two very strong athletes was very impressive. Talking to Kate, she is obviously benefiting from running with lots of people in Loughborough. This is exactly what many of the squad are finding out and as a coach it is great to hear that people are meeting up to do their running between sessions together. In Kate’s words, it is a lot easier in a group! Lucy took a day off work (thanks!) and finished in 6th for a place on the Middlesex team.
U17 Men – Bradley went off harder than he has done before and gave himself a real chance of causing an upset. English Schools 3000m Silver medalist Tadgh Grant was widely expected to win following a good run in Cardiff, but Bradley ran him close, never letting the gap grow too much and closing to only 3 seconds at the line. Bradley – this run should give you real belief going in to the Southerns, I/C and English Schools – keep giving yourself a chance – an England vest is a real possibility. Jack was next home in 6th. Jack didn’t have his best run of the year but the fact that he was a place higher than he was as an U15 last year shows how high he sets his standards. You’ll get a chance to ‘put things right’ next week! Adam completed our team in 9th – a fantastic run in his first County Championships and reward for his decision to step things up and train with Ross, Bradley and Jack. The team were 2nd, easily our best ever U17 performance and very encouraging as Bradley and Jack will still be U17s next year.
Full results are available HERE.
Some excellent action photos taken by Grant are available HERE.
Loads more photos HERE.
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Thanks for all your encouragement Noel!
…and well done to Noel for coaching these guys and getting the best out of them! Great work Coach!