Club secures team and individual honours

THE final fixture of the West Midland Young Athletes Cross Country League season saw Stratford AC finish fourth on the day, fifth out of 21 teams for the season and pick up a trophy, a team bronze and two individual medals, reports David Jones.

Throughout the season the club’s young athletes have worked hard, showing great commitment, racing and training tirelessly and braving all weather conditions.

First home for the u17 women was Annie Silvers (19th/17:30) with Brooke Rossney in 30th (18:50). Completing their last ever WMYACCL event before moving to the seniors league next season were Martha Peters (41st/20:36) and Hannah Wilkinson (43rd/21:16).

The next race saw a large field of 112 runners compete in the u11 boys event. Dexter Sharpe was first Stratford runner home in 30th in a time of 7:45. He was followed by Rafe White (48th/8:05), Oliver Hollis (49th/8:06), Lewis Cowley (50th/8:07), Simon Zawada (52nd/8:09) and Luca Armstrong (101st/9:38).

There was a celebratory buzz around the u17 men’s race. For Zak Lambert, James Day, Will Mayes and James Mayes it was their last junior league match. Sam Lambert finished third in 16:40 ahead of Tom Fisher (8th/17:28) and Will Mayes 11th/17:46. Zak Lambert, who had not fully recovered from illness, was 17th (18:14) ahead of James Day (21st/18:27), James Mayes (29th/19:14) and Josh Davies (36th/20:18).

The result meant the u17 men finished as WMYACCL champions with Sam Lambert taking the individual silver medal. There were also top 10 finishes for Zak Lambert (6th) and Tom Fisher (10th).

Next up were the u11 girls. Elsie Pipitone was 12th (7:47) followed by Saskia Atkins (33rd/8:17), Poppy West (51st/8:42), Sara Clewer (52nd/8:42), Marnie Short (73rd/9:04) and Layla-Rose Sparrow (98th/10:40).

For the u15 boys there was a third place finish for Will Hovell in 11:48. Arthur Williamson’s shoe was spiked, meaning he had to stop to replace it, so he did exceptionally well to finish 12th in 12:28. He was followed by Joe Ledgard (13th/12:29), Sam Plumb (30th/13:33) and Max Rossney (55th/16:50) as the team claimed bronze for the season with Hovell taking individual bronze. There was also a top 10 finish for Ledgard in ninth.

Next were the u13 girls and first home was Amelie Marshall (13th/10:19) ahead of Maggie Silvers (17th/10:27) and Eliza McLeod (23rd/10:40). Emily Lambert, recovering from illness, was 42nd (11:10) and Jasmine Mothershaw 44th (11:12). Marshall was 10th overall for the season.

First for Stratford in the u13 boys race was Charlie Cassells (35th/9:58). Debutant Harry Coulson was 49th in 10:20 ahead of Toby Wilkinson (51st/10:26) and Toby Ledgard (57th/10:43).

Finally the u15 girls event saw an unwell Marijke Tear-Verweij come home in eighth (13:52) followed by Lois Ford (28th/15:10), Rachel Sparrow (45th/16:16) and Georgia Sharpe (54th/17:00). Tear-Verweij finished sixth overall for the season.