Stratford AC's youngsters making excellent progress
STRATFORD AC’s juniors sealed their third consecutive third-place finish in the final West Midland Young Athletes’ Cross Country meeting of the season at Wolverhampton’s Aldersley Stadium.
Progress has been made as the distance behind the leading teams has reduced compared to last year.
If a full team can be fielded over the entire season and the collective performances continue to improve, then second place is a realistic goal for next season.
A bright, but cold day greeted the under-17 women as they lined up for their 4km race.
Emily Field (7th, 16.05) made the most of the tough uphill start and soon placed herself in seventh, a position she maintained throughout the rest of the race.
Imogen Sheppard (20th, 17.01) held on strongly, battling against challenges from two competitors in the final straight to ensure she achieved top 20 finishes throughout the entire season.
Daisy Musk (28th, 17.47), Abi Wootton (38th, 18.32) and Olivia Hall (39th, 18.35) battled with each other over the first lap and a half, with Musk demonstrating her strength over the final lap.
Edie Hutchinson (47th, 19.54), enjoyed her last league race as a junior, completing the team that finished fifth on the day and maintained fourth position overall.
With the course having been used for the senior league cross country event the day before, and a fair amount of recent rain, the ground was decidedly soft and extremely muddy in places.
This did not deter the under-11 boys, who raced over one large lap that was probably just short of the declared 1.6km.
Flynn Dathan (25th, 5.45) led the team home with his best performance of the season by some margin.
Henry Wheeler (33rd, 5.55) finished strongly picking up a place on the uphill finish. Hugh Markham (48th, 6.07) showed amazing energy over the course, and in particular at the finish where he ensured no one was going to pass him. Seb Hillard (51st, 6.11), James Day (52nd, 6.12), Alex McMillan (72nd, 6.27), Ollie Hemming (85th, 6.31) and Ed Twyman (94th, 6.39) all had good races that echoed their very consistent season.
The under-11 boys’ team finished in fifth place on the day and remain in sixth place overall, just missing out on fifth place by three points.
One more than the minimum three required for a team of under-17 men represented the club over the 4.8km, with Owain Jones (19th, 17.19) leading the team home completing his hat trick of top 20 season finishes.
A real intra club battle saw Rhys Mahon (44th, 19.30), get the better of Ben Jones (45th, 19.45) and Adam Bayliss (46th, 19.51) over the final lap.
The under-17 men’s team finished seventh on the day improving their position to eighth place overall.
The under-11 girls have displayed real strength and depth all season and this continued into the last match with 13 representing the club.
Maddie Linfoot (9th, 6.02) made a strong start and held on well to achieve her fourth consecutive top ten finish.
A brilliant run from Caitlin Boyle (16th, 6.07) was the start of a flurry of Stratford AC juniors including Scarlett Richardson (19th, 6.09), Niamh Hillard (21st, 6.11), Tessa Parkin (26th, 6.19), Maisie-Joy Spriggs (27th, 6.20) and Lucy Thomas (33rd, 6.25) all of whom continue to dazzle.
Ruby Edwards (52nd, 6.41), Tilly Campbell (54th, 6.43), Olivia Hawkyard (67th, 6.56), Harriet Black (76th, 7.00), Kate Pridham (88th, 7.13) and Ella Peeke (96th, 7.27) demonstrated what a superbly strong team the under-11 girls are. The team finished third on the day and deserve their third place medal over the entire season.
The under-15 boys’ team continued to show its healthy intra-club rivalry. Tom Crowfoot (39th, 12.02) led the team home, closely followed by Will Crowfoot (41st, 12.06), both running fluently.
At one stage seven Stratford U15 boys were in consecutive positions battling between themselves over the 3.2km.
Cameron Black (48th, 12.30) made his move half way through the first lap, and put a little distance ahead of Cameron Collins (50th, 12.33) who managed to stay ahead of fast finishing Ollie Adams (51st, 12.34) and Fin Hutchinson (52nd, 12.34) who both raced as hard as they could to beat one another with Adams just staying ahead with no daylight to be seen between them.
Ned Campbell (57th, 12.45) continued his recent improved form, keeping ahead of the solid running from Josh Angus (59th, 12.49) and Sean Mata (61st, 12.58). The under-15 boys’ team finished sixth on the day, securing sixth overall.
The under-13 girls’ team were one short of the required five scoring positions, but each individual raised their performance in an attempt to make up some of the lost points.
Ellie Deaner (10th, 9.27) started strongly and continued in the same vein over the 2.5km leading the team home followed by Tulah Searle (19th, 9.42), who secured her first top-20 finish with Holly Newton (53rd, 10.26) and Georgia Pridham (95th, 11.49) both raising their game compared to earlier races in the season. With a member short, the team finished ninth on the day, and ended up seventh overall.
In an unassailable position for the overall individual under-13 boys’ championship, Alex Adams (1st, 8.03) had the luxury of a “race of honour”, and enjoyed the occasion by putting in a relaxed, dominant performance to secure his seventh straight league win.
Adams has now won across age groups in successive years and has the chance to defend his title in the under-13 age group next season.
Louis Kendrick (15th, 8.38) ran fluently for a great top-20 finish with Adam Taylor (23rd, 8.56) battling strongly and finishing well.
Theo Skirvin (47th, 8.40) showed his consistency by finishing in the same position for the second consecutive race following a very strong and determined finish, with Caleb Spriggs (65th, 10.08), Alfie Organ (74th, 10.23) and Sam Bloomfield (87th, 12.23) all producing solid runs to help the under-13 boys’ team finish sixth on the day, ensuring a sixth-placed finish overall.
With the absence of Ella Semple from Wolverhampton & Bilston, Georgie Campbell (1st, 11.35) had the luxury of only needing to finish in the top two to secure the outright under-15 girls’ individual championship.
However, Georgie, in her usual fashion, simply dominated the race, enjoying the occasion of successfully defending her title.
Ellen Taylor (17th, 12.31) started strongly but then struggled slightly to hold her position over the second lap of the 3.2km course, while Gigi Thomas (40th, 13.37) stayed ahead of Ellie Bryan (41st, 13.38) both battling hard over the, now, very soft conditions.
Hope Lawton pulled up injured and after checking that her team-mate was not too distressed, Charlotte Gravelsons (61st, 15.01) carried on, through a freak hail storm, knowing that she needed to finish, as the first five in the team are scoring places, for the overall under-15 girls’ team to be in with a chance of a medal.
However, a great performance on the day from Rugby & Northampton AC, meant that they pipped Stratford AC’s under-15 girls’ team into third place overall by just four agonising points.
