RUGBY & NORTHAMPTON SENIOR MEN’S TEAM CLAIM
FIRST MIDLANDS CROSS-COUNTRY MEDAL
Third-placed finish achieved in annual cross-country relay
The senior men’s teams from Rugby and Northampton Athletic Club took part in the Midlands cross-country relay in Wolverhampton on Saturday.
A total of 63 teams took part in the race with Rugby and Northampton teams finishing in third and 10th place.
Abedom Beyene ran first for Rugby and Northampton with a time of 19:33 and brought the team back in seventh place, not far off the pace of the leading runners. Alistair McDonnell (19:29) produced another outstanding performance to pull back another place before handing over to Adam Searle. On his debut for the senior team, Searle (19:59) ran a very strong third stint, and climbed a further two places, up to fourth.
William Gardner completed the race for Rugby and Northampton, scorching around the lap in a time of 19:11,
overtaking third place in the process. On the final stretch, Gardner came close to snatching second from Stoke but just missed out. All four runners put on a great performance with a combined time of 1:18:12 as Rugby and Northampton claimed their first medal in this competition.
The individual performance of the day went to Muss-Ab Hassan, competing for the B team. He was the quickest of all the Rugby and Northampton athletes and finished fourth in the opening leg with a time of 19:09. Haydn Arnall (20:11), Joe Musgrove (21:47) and Sam Blackshaw (22:13) all put in strong performances as the
Rugby and Northampton B team came home in a very respectable 10th place.
