The Rugby & Northampton ladies team gained promotion to Division One of the Midland Women’s Cross Country League when the final race of the season was hosted by Bromsgrove & Redditch at Ipsley Meadows.
The club were lying in third place in Division Two going into the race and knew that they needed to defeat local rivals Coventry Godiva to secure promotion. Their 3rd spot on the day achieved just that, which will see them compete in the first division next season after a five year absence.
Leading the way for R&N was Tilly Lea who finished in 10th spot over the muddy 6k course in 26:42, which was her third top ten placing of the season making her the Club XC Champion for the second time. Veteran Lorna Hession achieved her highest position in 17th on 28:21 and hot on her heels was Kat Hemmington (21st in 28:38 ) with both ladies finishing 8th and 10th respectively in the over 35 section. Closing out the scoring team was Junior athlete Sophia Hill whose 5th spot in her age group saw her finish 42nd overall in 30:53. Sophia also secured 3rd Junior athlete over the whole season. Helen Jones was the third member of the master’s team (62nd in 32:33), which finished third on the day, but a superb second in the final league standings.
Backing her up were veterans Tracey Donaldson (73rd in 33:35), Minerva Chesser (87th in 34:40) and Tricia Garner (141st in 39:08)
