PRESS RELEASE
2nd February 2016
RUGBY & NORTHAMPTON AMONG THE MEDALS AT MIDLAND CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Athletics club continue good form at Loughborough and Lea Valley events
Rugby & Northampton’s young athletes were back among the medals at the Midland Cross Country Championships held at Prestwold Hall over the weekend.
The club had an impressive 54 athletes competing at the event near Loughborough, selected after the Stafford Common course became waterlogged, and returned home with one individual and four team medals.
Adam Searle led the Under-15 Boys team to victory, with the reigning champion settling for silver on this occasion in a time of 17 minutes and 13 seconds. His gold medal winning team-mates over the four-kilometre course were Joe Musgrove in sixth place with 17:43, Matthew Chronicle (13th – 18:14) and Thomas Hughes, who was just one place and two seconds further back.
The U13 Girls won the silver medals with Molly Williams just missing out on an individual gong, placing fourth over 3k, with a time of 14:21. Williams had back-up from Neve Satchwell in 12th position (14:53), Holly Walker in 17th (15:05) and Rebecca Edwards, who placed 28th in in 15:25.
There was good grouping from the U15 Girls to secure the bronze medals – leading them home over 4k was Poppy Carmichael in 24th, in a time of 21:12. Completing the team were Abigail Pearce (27th – 21:24), Hollie Moore (29th – 21:37) and Lucy Stevens (31st – 21:54).
No club in the U20 Women’s 5k race could field a full team, therefore the 11th and 12th-placed pairing of Kirsty Goddard and Tilly Lea came away with the bronze medals, posting respective times of 26:31 and 27:03.
The R&N quartet in the U17 Men’s race covered a distance of 6k and just missed out on a podium place, finishing fourth. James Wizard recorded 26:06 for 34th position, while Joseph Childs (43rd – 26:39), Joshua Thorman (50th – 27:55) and Finn Hutton (51st – 28:02) closed out the scoring for team.
Gabriella Moriarty was making her Senior debut in the Championships and led home the Ladies in 25th, covering the 8k course in 31:34 and helping the squad to sixth place. Tamara Hardman clinched the R&N Club Veteran title in 37th spot in 32:39 and was followed by Lorna Latimer (66th – 35:46) and Helen Jones (96th – 38:15).
The U13 Boys were led home by Noah Bennett in 27th place, crossing the line in 14:09, and the 3k race was completed by team-mates Harry Boynton (45th – 14:45), Michael Corbett (58th – 15:10) and Lawrence Saunders (86th – 16:40) – earning the team seventh spot.
The Senior Mens’ race over seven miles saw four athletes achieve their highest ever positions with 49-year-old Brendan Moen leading them home in 45:03, his 84th place bettering his previous best of 92nd set 10 years ago.
Alistair McDonnell and Mike Andrews made the top 100 for the first time, finishing in 92nd and 97th respectively with times of 45:27 and 45:59. Richard Latimer came next in 46:35 for 109th and 14 seconds further adrift was Vince Carroll in 116th. Completing the team that clinched ninth spot was Nigel Roberts, who posted a best-ever finish of 126th position in 47:22.
Ben Musgrove was the only entrant for the club in the U20 Mens’ 8k race and finished 19th in 27:32m, while Lily Carmichael was the sole runner in the 5k for U17 Women (42nd – 27:32).
Elsewhere over the weekend, the London Games, Senior and U20 competition took place at Lea Valley Athletics Centre.
Rico Ewer starred in the U20M 60-metre sprint, breaking the seven-second barrier in a dazzling time of 6.91 seconds to set a new Personal Best. That achievement was matched by Danny George in the Senior Mens’ event and Dahlia Folwell in the U20W, who posted respective PBs of 7.31 and 8.16 seconds over the same distance.
