Saturday 4th January saw the Staffordshire County Cross Country Championships taking place at Betley. The undulating farmland course was surprisingly firm underfoot which allowed the athletes to race fast for county honours and Intercounties selection. The U/20’s, Senior and Veteran Women all raced together as did the U/20, Senior and Veteran Men. Our Junior Athletes also competed and their race report and results can be found in the Juniors News section of the website.
In the U/20 Women we had three competitors with Lauren Charlton racing to victory in 25.52. Lizzie Clarkson finished 6th in 29.43 and Grace Ranford Completed our team in 7th in 30.51. Congratulations to our U/20 Women who were clear Staffordshire Champions!
In the Senior Women’s race Sophie Goodfellow was our first finisher finishing in 5th (25.32), U/20 Lauren Charlton was 8th (25.52) closely followed by Rebecca Twardochleb in 9th (26.05), with U/20 Lizzie Clarkson completing our scoring 4 in 28th (29.43). Grace Ranford was 33rd (30.51), Jade Watson was 38th (32.19), Jan Cassidy was 40th (32.33 and 16th Vet), Rachel Wakefield 42nd (33.10 and 18th Vet) and Belinda Riley completed our team in 52nd (37.15 and 25th Vet). Our Senior Women finished in 3rd position, congratulations to all that competed and represented the club.
In the U/20 Men we had just 2 competitors with Lewis Nagington finishing a fine 2nd in 34.20 and Jacob Droogmans finished in 8th in a time of 36.34.
In the Senior Mens race U/20’s Lewis Nagington finished 12th (34.20) and Jacob Droogmans was 26th (36.34), Matthew Basnett was 28th (36.48), Andy Walker was 37th (38.00 and 7th Vet), Ben Brereton was 44th (38.42) just pipping Craig Taylor in 45th (38.43), with Jerome Stevens just four seconds behind in 47th (38.47 and 9th Vet), Scott Zikmanis was 55th (39.36 and 14th Vet), Neil Gerrity was 73rd (41.29), Andrew Brownsword was 76th (42.12 and 30th Vet), Martin Bailey was 77th (42.17 and 31st Vet), Jon Ranford was 79th (42.27 and 33rd Vet), Mark Cotton was 91st (44.08 and 42nd Vet) with Chris Nixon just 2 seconds back in 92nd (44.10 and 43rd Vet), Stuart Cassidy was 95th (44.22 and 46th Vet), Pab Maddox was 99th (45.43and 49th Vet) and Matt Way completed our squad in 106th (46.56). Our Senior Mens team finished in 5th position but our Veteran Men gained Silver Medals to finish Second in the Over 40’s Category. Congratulations everybody that represented the club at the Championships today. Photos Below courtesy of Bryan Dale (www.racephotos.org.uk)
Following these races the Staffordshire Team was selected for the upcoming Inter Counties Cross Country Championships and congratulations go out to:
Sophie Goodfellow, Lauren Charlton and Rebecca Twardochleb (Senior Women’s Race)
Lizzie Clarkson (U/20 Womens Race)
Jacob Droogmans (Senior Mens Race)
Lewis Nagington (U/20 Mens Race)
Good luck to you from us all at the club!
