Harriers win Medals galore at County XC Championships

See separate County Championships Results Listing

The combined Wells and Yeovil team were out in force at the Somerset Athletic Association’s Cross-country Championships this past Sunday at Hestercombe Gardens, near Taunton. The team of over 50 athletes came away with 8 individual golds, 4 silvers and 4 bronze medals. One of the Harrier’s Team GB athletes, Ben Tickner, ran away with the senior men’s race and there were other outstanding victories by u13 boy Oliver Fox and u20 woman Laura Parker amongst others.

The races were combined within the Gwent XC League and saw large fields of runners descending on the Hestercombe venue from across the region. The course had been planned and designed by Taunton AC and proved to be a real challenge to young and old competitors with plenty of twists and turns and varied conditions underfoot. Many thanks to the Gwent League officials and Taunton AC for their work. Thanks also to our volunteer recording crew and marshals who helped Paul as the Avon & Somerset County XC secretary administering the championships.

Ben Tickner literally ran away from the rest of the 260 strong senior men’s field to win outright in an excellent 33.54 for the 9.9km course. Another of the Harriers top athletes, Adrian Marriott, finished in 4^th place overall in 35.19 and was 2^nd in the County Championships. Jon James was 1^st V40 athlete and team-mate Dickie Wythe was 1^st V50, with Simon Prior, Ed Tickner and Rex Whitcombe all picking up minor medals in their respective age groups in the County Championships. Other finishers in the men’s event included Stuart Richards making his annual foray on the mud and helping the team to gain valuable points for the Gwent League, and u20 Ben Gibb finishing 40^th overall. See below for all men’s positions*.

Proceedings got underway with the Senior women’s races at noon. The Harriers top veteran female Jenny Moore finished 7^th overall on the day in a time of 22.39 for the 5.5km course and was 1^st in the County Championships, and with Alice Hector, 20^th, Katrina Prior,49^th, and Julia Hector,89^th all packing well and picking up County medals in various age groups.

In the u’13 boys race Oliver Fox once again stamped his domination on the event when he won convincingly in a time of 11.53 for the 3km course. That makes it 3 victories out of 3 in the Gwent League so far this season. Oliver thus won the County gold medal and had good support from the rest of the team, with Charlie Martin timed at 13.13 for 12^th, racing for the 2^nd time in 2 days after turning out for his school the previous day, and Luke Prior not far back in 16^th place in 13.31. Other strong runs came from James Bridge, 22nd^, Jonathan Greenwood, 27^th, Edward Lewis, 44^th and Dan Bowditch, 49^th. We wait to see if we have done enough to overhaul Cardiff AC at the top of the League rankings in this age group.

In the u13 girl’s race, team-mates Jemma Jones and Abigail Gibbons had a race-long tussle with Jemma just edging Abi for County silver in the final sprint with one second separating them. They were 8^th and 9^th respectively in the overall race and will continue to feature high up the League standings after the three fixtures to date. Annabel Arnold was 12^th, Rebecca Bowles, 26^th, Katie Chinnock, 31^st, Katie Packard 55^th and Amy Gibbons 63^rd overall. Fingers crossed that we have done enough to retain our premier position as top u13 girls team (after 3 fixtures) when the full results are out.

In the u15 girls race Emily Smith won County Gold with her 17.21 clocking over the 4.1km course. Emily was 3^rd overall in the League match, and team-mate Lily Hawkins was timed at 20.53 for 24^th in the League match, 7^th in the county. The u15 boys race saw 6 of the Harriers toe the start line to cover the 4.6km distance and the top placed Harrier was once again Matthew Cole who finished in 4^th place in the County and 16^th overall with his time of 17.47.Harry Lane was 21^st overall and then came Philip Bridge, 26^th, Sam Harding, 31^st, James Todd, 35^th, and Louis Stevens, 44^th. That’s some great packing! Commiserations to Sam Bedford who couldn’t be with us.

The u17 and u20 women’s races were again combined and an in-form Laura Parker, the club’s top Junior Woman athlete at the recent Annual Awards, was again well clear of the field to win outright in a time of 17.15 for the 4.5km course. She thus won the County Gold to add to her collection. In the same u20 age group Alice Murray-Gourlay won the County silver medal with her 12^th place overall. In the u17 division, Jess Woods won the County bronze finishing in 18^th place in the combined age-group race with team-mate Rosalie Dowding not far back in 24^th.

In the men’s u17 & u20 race, Tom Thick was again the best of the Harrier squad with his 22.42 clocking for the 5.5km course. He had the usual strong support from George Harris, Cameron Rafferty and Reuben Whitcombe who all came home within a few minutes of that time. This quartet of runners are incredibly dedicated and committed.

In the supporting races for novice boys and girls under 11, the Wells & Yeovil team had 8 youngsters out competing. In the girls races, Harriet Fox finished in 21^st place, with Madeleine Baldwin just behind in 22^nd, Emma Denham in 31^st and Kayleigh Sullivan in 38^th making her debut in this tough League. In the boys race finishing positions were Jonathan Ellis 18^th, Chris Ellis 23^rd, Harry Whitehead 29^th Drew Sanson 31^st. For many of this age group this would have been the toughest cross-country course ever!

Many thanks to all Team Managers and supporting parents. If anyone has any photographs please send them to Paul for the website.

Final positions for the team in the Gwent League will be confirmed in the next week or two. The next major Cross-country fixture is the South West XC Championships on January 10^th 2010 and all Harriers wishing to compete in the teams should contact team managers by December 15^th. Arrangements for the Coach to go to Parliament hill, London on Saturday 30^th are now being made and bookings for seats need to be finalized as soon as possible. Contact Paul or Annette if you’ve not already done so.

*Other Senior men’s Results

That was a great squad effort guys!

Commiserations to Jason Tuck who missed the start

12^th Elliot Haimes; 23^rd Tim Hawkins; 35^th Jon Gilling; 42^nd Alistair Lindsay; 53^rd Matthew Lewis;66^th Dickie Wythe; 90^th Nick Somerville; 116^th Simon Prior; 140^th Graham Goldsmid;147^th Ed Tickner; 162^nd Simon Arnold; 178^th Rex Whitcombe;182^nd Paul Chadwick; 184^th Karl Watts; 203^rd Geoff Cole; 214^th Pete Wright; 254^th Stuart Richards