Staffordshire Cross Country Championships 2016 – 9/1/16

Yesterday saw our Juniors competing against the very best athletes from all over Staffordshire at a muddy Sandwell Valley, West Bromwich. With Individual and Team County honours at stake every race was keenly contested, with the bonus for the first few finishers being picked to represent Staffordshire in the prestigious Inter-counties Championships in March.

The first race of the day was a combined Boys and Girls U/13 Race held over 3km. In the Boys Race Louis Wakefield was our only competitor, finishing in 23rd position in his first Staffs Championships. In The Girls race Misha Twardochleb was first back in 7th position, followed by Scarlett Cotton in 19th and Abigail McHugh in 23rd. The girls finished just out of the medals in 4th position (just 8 points off 2nd and 3rd position).

Next Race was the combined U/15 Girls and Boys race, held over 4km. In the Boys race first finisher was Jordan Nixon in a fine 4th position, and the team was completed by Jacob Droogmans in 13th and Lewis Nagington in 15th, giving the team 32 pts which put them into 3rd position claiming bronze medals. In the Girls Race, Alex Oakley was first finisher in 19th, with Charlotte Moore giving chase throughout finishing just 15 seconds behind in 20th. Lola Cotton and Elizabeth Clarkson completed the team in 28th and 29th positions respectively. The Girls finished as the 6th best team in the county.

The U/17 Men and Ladies race was run within the Senior/Veteran Ladies Race over 6km. In the U/17 Mens competition James Fradley was our only competitor but he ensured his Inter-counties selection and individual Bronze with a strong run in 3rd position. In the U/17 Ladies race Rebecca Twardochleb led home our team in a fine 2nd position to claim silver, and with Sophie Goodfellow in 6th, Shannon McCue in 10th and Gabby Trotman in 12th the Ladies comfortably won Team Gold with just 18 pts. As a mark of how well the U/17 Ladies ran, they were to the fore in the combined race and they all finished between 9th and 50th overall!

All Newcastle Results can be found HERE

Congratulations to all those who competed in these Championships for the club and well done to those who claimed Individual and Team Honours and have been selected to represent Staffordshire at the Inter-counties in March.