PRESS RELEASE
20th October 2015
RUGBY & NORTHAMPTON MAKE HOME ADVANTAGE COUNT
WITH CROSS COUNTRY SUCCESS
Athletic Club win Round 1 of West Midlands Young Athletes Cross Country League
Rugby & Northampton kicked off the defence of their West Midlands Young Athletes Cross Country League title by hosting and triumphing in Round 1 of this year’s event last weekend. Over 700 runners competed across eight races on a glorious day at Abington Park, and the hosts proved to be the dominant force.
The under-15 boys led the charge by taking the top four places in their race. Adam Caulfield was first over the line in 11 minutes and 26 seconds, and he was closely followed by Adam Searle (11:30), Joe Musgrove (11:48) and Rhys James (11:56). Muss-Ab Hassan completed the scoring for the team, finishing 10th in 12:14.
The under-11 boys also triumphed with the five finishers placing in the top 11. Louis Buttrick (5th – 6:49), Henry Woodward (7th – 6:53) and Lewis Gurney (8th – 6:54) all broke the seven-minute barrier, before Oliver Birch and Finlay Heard secured 10th and 11th with respective times of 7:03 and 7:04.
R&N continued to impress with the under-13 boys and under-17 men earning second-place finishes, which were matched by the girls, who finished as runners-up in the under-11, under-13 and under-15 races.
Noah Bennett (7th – 9:50) and Isaac Thorman (9th – 9:58) secured top-10 finishes in the U13 race, while Joshua Lay was the star of the show for the under-17s, with a top-three placing after a strong run of 17:26.
For the girls, Olivia Williams (4th – 7:23) was the top performer for the under-11s, with Xcena Pasqualin, Anna Farrow and Elspeth Unitt all close behind with respective efforts of 7:40, 7:41 and 7:43 to finish 12th, 14th and 15th.
Molly Williams was runner-up in the U13 race in 10:09, and she was joined in the top 10 by Claudia Searle (8th – 10:36), and there were two more top-10 finishers in the U15 contest – Amy Walker crossed the line second in 13:07 and Poppy Carmichael took ninth in a time of 13:54.
The under-17 women rounded off the event with fourth place overall, but Emer Wintsch impressed by finishing third in a time of 16:53, . Lily Carmichael narrowly missed out on a top-10 finish, taking 11th spot in 18:25.
Elsewhere, the Midland Cross Country Relays took place at the weekend, and both the club’s men and women impressed among a strong field in Uttoxeter.
Emma Bond (20:26) was seventh-quickest in Stage 1 to set the women on their way; Katie Clubb then ran Stage 2 in 20:32 – the sixth fastest of the stage – before Rebecca Ledbetter secured a top-10 finish for the team after a Stage 3 time of 22:22 – an impressive effort from the trio who are all under 19.
The men finished 11th out of 29 competing teams, with Ben Musgrove and Jack Bond racing around Stage 1 and Stage 2 in 16:47 and 16:49 respectively. Peter Currington was the seventh-quickest man over Stage 3 in 18:22, and Jonathan Burke rounded off a good team effort by completing the final stage in 18:54.
The event was capped off by the Men’s Masters team – Paul Birch (18:25), Gary Wallace (18:12), Vince Carroll (18:53) and Terry Egan (19:21) securing fifth place.
– Ends –
