RUGBY & NORTHAMPTON IMPRESS
AT CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Athletics Club do the region proud at Inter Counties event in Loughborough
Rugby & Northampton AC had 29 athletes taking part at the Inter Counties Cross Country Championships held at Prestwold Hall in Loughborough over the weekend.
All seven members of the Northamptonshire team in the Under-15 Girls squad consisted of R&N athletes, with Molly Williams leading them home over the four-kilometre course in 17:55, taking 165th place.
Just 12 seconds behind was Abigail Pearce in 185th spot, while Holly Walker was next across the line in 217th, recording a time of 18:28. The rest of the team consisted of Isabelle Rippon (222nd – 18:30), Amelia McMurtrie (242nd – 18:51), India Phipps (284th – 20:01) and Emma Barker (285th – 20:02).
The club also had the first four athletes across the line in the U13 Boys Northants team with Aidan O’Brien finishing in 97th after covering the 3k distance in 13:03.
He held off club-mate Louis Buttrick, who finished 101st, by two seconds, while Noah Bennett arrived next in 192nd (13:33) with Michael Corbett recording 13:52 for 236th. The fifth R&N member was Jake Hope (267th – 14:09).
Matthew Chronicle was the top athlete for Northants in the U17 Mens 6k event, finishing 79th on 21:50. Two of his R&N team-mates, Joe Musgrove (119th – 22:25) and James Wizard (184th – 23:12), were next in the squad, before William McMurtrie (248th – 25:14) got in on the act.
There was a real battle for top honours in the Senior Mens 12k race, where R&N pairing Dominic Jones and William Gardner both made the top 100. Jones just got the better of the club champion by 10 seconds, leading home the Northants team in 91st spot courtesy of 42:04, with Gardner 97th. Robert Male was the fourth county man over the line (238th – 46:06).
The highest placing by any R&N athlete came from Ben Musgrove in the U20 Mens 8k, producing an excellent run of 30:04 to secure 61st position, making him the fifth athlete from the club to lead home a Northants team.
Ben Hope, running for Northants, finished in a time of 17:45 to cover the U15 Boys 4.5k course in 151st, while Cian Hutton – representing Warwickshire in the same race – was 218th in 18:26. Also, running for Northants were Tobias Heayns (252nd – 19:00), Matthew Blomley (276th – 19:52) and Joe Baker (294th – 22:02).
After getting knocked down at the first corner, all three R&N girls in the U13 3k event got up and battled to the finish. They were Claudia Searle (129th – 14:27 ), Olivia Williams (148th – 14:33) and Alice Bates (210th – 15:00).
Last but not least, representing Buckinghamshire was 19-year-old Rebecca Leadbeater, who competed in the Senior Womens 8k race, delivering a superb run to finish 220th in 38:37.
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