Junior Races
On Saturday 21st Rugby and Northampton AC took part in the annual Midlands road relay championships held at Sutton Park, Birmingham against the best clubs from the Midlands and beyond. Each team consisted of three runners, each doing one lap of the 3.8km course.
For the U13 boys, Oliver Bell ran an outstanding first leg, bringing the team home in 7th place in a time of 14min 35, which was overall the 9th quickest time of the whole competition. The team finished in a very creditable 14th position and was completed by Will Gower and Lyall Lambert. The U13 girls faired even better, with the team of Jemima Cooper, Sophie Hancock ad Georgia Gercs eventually finishing in an outstanding 9th position.
The U15 boys fielded two teams, with the B team of Jasper Cooper Louis Starr and Oliver Carrol finishing in 24th place, whilst the A team of Dominic Evans, George Rogerson and Ben Carrol all running really strongly to finish in 12th position. Of the R and N athletes, George Rogerson, making his debut for the club, was fastest with 14 min 10 secs. The U15 girls were led off by Madeleine Jacks and she was joined by Elspeth Unitt and Jemima Lambert to finish in 11th position. The U17 girls finished in 12th position, with Sophia Hill, Megan Stenhouse and Claudia Searle all producing solid performances.
The U17 men started the race with high expectations of a medal and they did not disappoint! Tom Tyler led off the team bringing them home in an outstanding 5th position and Noah Bennett consolidated this position before Fergus Scott produced a simply stunning run to tear through the field to eventually finish in silver medal position only 40 metres behind gold. This was the best ever performance by any R and N team and reflects the hard work the boys have put in over the years. R and N also fielded a really strong B team (Finlay Ward, Matthew Everett and Aiden O’Brien) which finished in 17th position.
Well done to all those that took part!
Senior Races
The Midlands Counties Road Relays, held over the traditional loop of Sutton Park has seen Rugby and Northampton Athletics Club, take part in the senior men’s for decades, and in this time, 18th was the best ever position the club had produced but this result was eclipsed by their performance on Saturday!
Alistair McDonnel was in sparkling form on the first leg, finishing in 9th position. He handed over to Elisha DeMello who gained a further place. Ben Musgrove then held this position with an outstanding run and Dominic Jones then took another place to put R and N into 7th position. Ben Hope, making his senior debut for the club, maintained this position and Jack Bond on the last leg brought the team in an outstanding 8th position overall. A simply outstanding performance from a young team full of talent, which bodes well for the future!
The Masters team went one better finishing in 7th position with Michael Salisbury and Stephen Marks, the outstanding performances.
The Senior Ladies event at the Midland Counties Road Relay Champs was over a distance of 4.33k for each leg at Sutton Park. Rugby & Northampton AC turned out three teams with the ‘A’ team finishing in a creditable 38th position, which duplicated their placing from the 6 stage event back in March. Caroline Carroll ran the opening of four stages and recorded exactly 19 minutes in 61st spot before handing over to Abigail Pearce who gained nine places in a time of 19:06. The third leg saw Lucy Stevens clock the fastest time of the day for the club with 17:31, which advanced her 14 places and then saw Tilly Lea hold that position on the final stage in 18:55.
Fastest athlete in the ‘B’ team was veteran Tamara Hardman who ran the first leg in 19:22 to cross the line in 66th place. Rhea Cooper took over and recorded 21:06 to hand over to Angela Copson BEM who made up 10 places with 19:54. Olivia Sheehan began the final stage in 62nd position, which she held to the finish when recording 20:41.
Zoe Shepherd was the quickest for the ‘C’ team in 20:09 for 77th on leg 1 and was followed by Louise Bennett who moved up to 73rd with 20:28. Helen Jones was then timed at 20:10 for another advance of 6 places which Minerva Chesser maintained on 21:53 for the team to finish 67th.
