18th October 2017
RUGBY AND NORTHAMPTON MAKE WINNING START
IN BID TO RECLAIM CROSS COUNTRY TITLE
Club dominate WMYACCL season opener in Leamington
Rugby & Northampton made the perfect start to the West Midlands Young Athletes Cross Country League, cruising to victory in the first match of the 2017/18 season.
The season opener was hosted by Leamington CAC, taking place at Hatton Country World, where 20 clubs competed. After last year’s second-placed finish, R&N got up and running with a huge winning total of 6798 points, 546 more than reigning champions Wolverhampton & Bilston.
Five of the club’s eight age groups emerged victorious, with the Under-17 men adding to clean sweeps from the two U11 and U13 teams. Both U15 teams finished third, and the U17 women were fourth to cap a stunning day in Warwickshire.
The U13 girls were the stars of the show, with Alice Bates, Olivia Williams and Elspeth Unitt finishing first, second and third in the race, with the latter pair just one and two seconds behind Bates, who crossed the line in nine minutes and 33 seconds.
Another individual winner was Arthur Tilt, who led the way in the U11 boys’ race, finishing in 4:25, seven seconds clear of his closest competitor, and eight clear of fellow R&N runner Lewis Robson, who secured third spot.
There were top-three finishes in both U17 races too, with Muss-Ab Hassan second for the men. The standard was set high with a winning time of 15:17, but Hassan fronted the chasing pack, clocking 15:42. Amy Walker impressed for the women, with a time of 14:15 comfortably securing third in her race.
R&N had won the competition for seven straight years before the last campaign, and this was the ideal performance as the club bid to get their hands on the title once again.
