PRESS RELEASE
17th November 2015
DOMINANT RUGBY & NORTHAMPTON STORM TO SUCCESS
IN WEST MIDLANDS CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE
Club victorious in Wolverhampton while Jacob Allen breaks club record in Leeds
Rugby & Northampton’s youngsters produced a commanding performance in the West Midlands Young Athletes Cross Country League, cruising to victory in Round 2 at Wolverhampton at the weekend.
The under-15 runners were the stars of the show, with Adam Searle leading home the boys in first place with a time of 10 minutes and 44 seconds, closely followed by Joe Musgrove (10:54) and Adam Caulfield (11:00) in third and fifth place respectively. Completing the scoring for the team were Rhys James (10th – 11:16) and Matthew Rushton (16th – 11:30) as the boys raced to team victory.
Continuing with that age group; Amy Walker also earned personal glory – a time of 12:19 saw her take top spot in the girls race. The team took second position overall with Hollie Moore (11th – 12:54), Georgina Woodward (19th – 13:14), Abigail Pearce (20th – 13:16) and Poppy Carmichael (25th – 13:25) rounding off the scoring.
The under-17 women recorded a narrow team success, pipping RSCAC to victory by just two points. Two runners secured top-six finishes – Emer Wintsch, a Great Britain triathlete, and Ella Rose Bromley, an England hockey player, posting respective times of 16:26 and 16:34 to earn them fifth and sixth spot. The team win was secured by Lily Carmichael, who crossed the line in 15th place with a time of 17:55.
Success continued for the under-11 boys, with three of the club’s youngsters positioned in the top 10. Henry Woodward (4th – 5:30) and Louis Buttrick (5th – 5:32) were closely followed by Oliver Birch (5:39) in eighth, before Lewis Gurney (15th – 5:53) and Arthur Tilt (16th – 5:56) sealed the team triumph.
Neve Satchwell put an impressive performance, grabbing sixth in 9:28, as the girls took second place in the under-13 race. A trio of athletes crossed the line in close proximity – Holly Walker (9:36), Claudia Searle and Rebecca Edwards (both 9:40) took 12th, 13th and 14th, and Amelia Dickens crossed the line just seven seconds later for 17th.
Elsewhere at the event, the under-11 girls finished third, the under-13 boys secured fourth and there was a fifth-placed finish for the under-17 men as R&N secured a huge overall victory. The triumph gives the club a commanding lead after two rounds, with three events remaining.
Also on Sunday, R&N’s 21-year-old middle-distance star Jacob Allen competed in the Leeds Abbey Dash, a race which incorporates the English National 10km Championship. Allen, representing England, took third place in the race with a phenomenal time of 29:48, just five seconds behind the winner.
That time earned him second in the Championship, and the run knocked more than a minute off the previous R&N club record, which was set by Mark McKay 11 years ago.
– Ends –
