A small group of juniors travelled to the rearranged venue of Prestwold Hall, on the Derbyshire/Leicestershire Border to take part in this years Midlands Cross Country Championships. The undulating parkland course, chilly weather and increased standard of participants made for good hard races throughout the age groups.
In the U/13 Girls race Misha Twardochleb was our only competitor and she ran strongly (despite smoke billowing across parts of the course from nearby bonfires affecting her breathing) to finish in 52nd position in a time of 16.12, less than 2 minutes behind the winner.
The U/15 Girls had three competitors from the club, and continuing her return from injury Alex Oakley was our first finisher in 50th position, next back was Charlotte Moore in 65th followed by Elizabeth Clarkson (also returning from injury) in 80th. Unfortunately we needed just 1 more person running to complete a team.
The U/17 Ladies race saw four of our team compete in a combined race with the U/20 women. Our first finisher in a fine 15th position was Rebecca Twardochleb in 23.28, next back was Sophie Goodfellow in 30th position in 25.22, closely followed by Shannon McCue in 33rd position (25.47) and Gabby Trotman in 44th (28.36). This meant the U/17 Ladies finished as the 7th Team in the Midlands.
The U/15 Boys race saw a reversal from the Staffs Championships three weeks ago and were led home this time by Jacob Droogmans in 17th in a time of 18.25 (just 1.18 behind the winner), closely followed by Jordan Nixon in 22nd position in a time of 18.47. Our third finisher was Lewis Nagington, who again ran strongly in his first experience of racing at this level to finish in 42nd place in a time of 19.57 Unfortunately we needed one more runner to finish a team.
Well done to all 11 athletes who represented the club at these championships, you all ran extremely well and, like us, should be proud your achievements against the very best athletes from the Midlands.
