Emily shines as Rugby & Northampton Athletic Club compete
at Midlands Cross Country Relays
Emily Waugh led the way for Rugby & Northampton Athletic Club at last weekend’s Midlands Cross Country Relays, as a number of R&N representatives took to the Walsall countryside to battle it out against some of the finest athletes from across the Midlands.
Waugh made up one third of the ladies’ senior team, who finished 11th out of a 32-strong field in the Women Seniors & Masters event. Waugh’s opening leg was the fifth-quickest run of the day, clocking a time of 23 minutes and 16 seconds. She was joined by Tilly Lea (27:39) and Georgia Barrett (29:50), resulting in a combined time of one hour, 20 minutes and 45 seconds, just 10 seconds short of a top-10 placing.
The ladies’ masters team were not far behind, as Angela Copson, Helen West and Catherine Williams recorded a time of 1:26:25 between them, which resulted in an 18th-place finish. Copson ran the opening leg in 27:09, followed by West in 28:56. Williams finished off with a time of 30:20 to cap an impressive day of running for the R&N ladies.
In the Men’s Senior & Masters event, R&N finished 15th amongst the 49 competing teams. Paul Birch kicked things off with a time of 21:58, with Gary Wallace running the second leg in 22:23. Vincent Carroll clocked a time of 22:51, before John Gercs (22:13) rounded it off for a total of 1:29:25.
Just over three minutes behind them were the men’s senior (A) team, with Elisha De Mello’s 21:23 the fastest run out of the R&N men. Stephen Marks (21:51), Terry Egan (25:06) and a 24:11 from Neil Willsher made up a combined time of 1:32:31, which was enough for 18th place.
The men’s senior (B) team consisted of three runners, and therefore didn’t qualify for a final position. However, Colin Durrant (26:17), Peter Thomas (24:50) and Max Chippington (26:08) ran well.
