Sixty athletes took part for Rugby & Northampton AC in the English National Cross Country Championships, when the eventwas held at Parliament Hill Fields in London last weekend.
The highest team placing came from the 13 Girls who finished in ninth spot over a three-kilometre course. Alice Bates flew theflag to claim 39th place in 13 minutes and 25 seconds, with Olivia Williams just six seconds behind in 46th position.Completing the quartet were Alice Bennett (109th – 14:07) and Madeleine Jacks (179th – 14:34).
The U13 Boys over the same distance were placed 18th in the team race, with Arthur Tilt leading the way in 76th position in12:46. Half a minute behind was Jenson Buttrick (163rd), and hot on his heels were Louis Buttrick (206th – 13:30) and CianShea (239th – 13:41).
Matthew Chronicle covered 6k in 21:10 to head the U17 Men when he crossed the line in 37th position, with Muss-Ab Hassanrecording 21:52 for 78th. With Ben Hope finishing 111th in 22:20, and Joe Musgrove in 189th in 23:19, the squad secured anexcellent 13th place.
The U17 Women claimed 22nd spot, and the four athletes that took part were led home by Amy Walker in 84th place with21:23. The other team members who completed the 5k route were Rhea Ellen-Cooper (207th – 23:48), Georgina Woodward(216th – 24:04) and Emma Barker (225th – 24:26).
Also finishing in 22nd place were the U15 Boys, over a distance of 4.5k. Noah Bennett recorded 17:17 for 107th spot and waschased home by Finbar Myers (147th – 17:35). Closing out the team were Lewis Panter (205th – 18:01) and Ben Willison(235th – 18:17).
Claudia Searle led home the U15 Girls over 4k in 116th in 16:34, with Molly Williams next with a time of 16:57 (160th). Theyhad back up from Holly Walker (233rd – 17:38) and Isabelle Rippon (298th – 18:07), which helped the team to finish 31st.In the Senior Mens 12k race, Dominic Jones became the first athlete from the club to make the top 100 when his time of 43:12helped him to finish in 87th place. The newly crowned club champion was followed home by veteran athlete Nigel Roberts whomade the scoring six for the fifth year in a row when he was timed at 51:33 (757th). Jonathan Taylor became the R&N veteranclub champion and finished in 890th spot in 52:55, with Joe Lantsbery coming home next on 53:41 (959th). Team manager Vince Carroll scored in the team for the 20th time (1159th – 55:29) and Adrian White was the sixth man on 61:27 (1713th) –they finished in 84th position overall.
The U20 Men were one man short of a complete team, but Ben Musgrove in his last race as a Junior successfully defendedhis Club title when he had a good run in 90th spot over 10k with a time of 36:50. Joining him in the race were James Wizard(173rd – 40:36) and Adam Bebbington (212th – 44:11). Two R&N athletes also competed in the U20 Womens 6k, with Emma Bond finishing 36th in 27:38 and Rebecca Leadbeater in 30:34 for 90th spot.
