Harriers race away at the Southerns….

Report of the Wells & Yeovil team’s performance at the South of England cross country championships Saturday Jan 30^th 2010

Great individual performances by many; fantastic team spirit; well done to those running here for the first time. Are we the best club from the South west?

There were some excellent individual and team performances by the combined Wells & Yeovil team wearing the Royal blue and yellow vests at the prestigious South of England Cross country championships held on Saturday Jan 30^th at Parliament Hill fields in London. Taking the results from across the day there is no doubt that the Club once again was the best from the south-west against teams drawn from as far as Cornwall in the west and to Norfolk in the east.

The top individual performances were by Oliver Fox, 7^th in the u13 boys, Laura Parker, 4^th in the u20 women’s race, and Ben Tickner, 10th in the senior men’s race. Best harrier team performance was by the u13 boy’s team who were 6^th.

It was an early start for many of the team as the coach left at 7.00am from Millfield School to get there in time for the first races off at 11.00am. The u15 boy’s race, as with all the others, saw the competitors charge up the first steep hill to crest the summit of Parliament Hill, and then set off on a loop of the Hampstead Heath, taking in hard frosty ground interspersed with muddy ditches, and undulating stretches through woodland. First home for the Harriers was new signing Matthew Dickinson in 103^rd place,18.07 for the 4.5km course, followed by Sam Harding in 181^st with19.23.. Neither Matthew Cole nor James Todd were able to finish this race, and hope to go well next week at the Somerset Schools championships with all the others.

Next up was the u13 girl’s race and we had two of the Club’s more experienced junior runners taking on the challenge with Abigail Gibbons and Jemma Jones giving it maximum effort to finish in 51^st and 75^th places in the field of over 200 runners in times of 13.58 and 14.17 respectively for the 3km course.

Then came the u13 boy’s race over the same distance with Oliver Fox working hard in the leading group to the top of the first great hill. Oliver is currently ranked at 23^rd across England for his 1500m middle distance performances in 2009, and he showed his ability here with a gutsy run finishing off with a final 800m sprint off the last hill to finish 7^th overall in a time of 11.43 just a few seconds outside of the medals. He was well supported by his team-mates with Charlie Martin finishing in 56^th in 12.45, Luke Prior in 68^th, 12.57 close behind, and then Tom Jones, 119^th in 13.38 to close the team of four for the excellent team position of 6^th. Making their debuts here for the Harriers at this class of event were Charlie Beake, 184^th for 14.56, and Michael Biss, just old enough to compete and giving away over 2 years to some of the field, who finished in 198^th with 15.22. Michael will be young enough to compete in this u13 boy’s race in 2 years time!

The u15 girls race over 4km saw Emily Smith, Siobhan Stewart and Lily Hawkins run really well for 25^th, 61^st and 129^th places in the large race. Emily’s time of 16.07 wasn’t far down on the overall winner. Siobhan was home in 17.05 and Lily ran well in her first Southerns with 18.36.

In the under 17 men’s race over 6km we had three of our most experienced runners out with George Harris leading them home in102nd, 23.58, Cameron Rafferty, 147^th in 25.33, and Reuben Whitcombe 178^th with 27.09. In the under 17 women’s race over 5km we had a quartet out to seal a team finish of 9^th in this race. Lizzie Hart finished well up in 40^th place, 22.21, then came great packing with Jess Woods in 75^th, 24.03, Jessica Potter, 103^rd, 26.10, and Rosalie Dowding, 112^th 27.54. Well done all.

The top individual finish by a Harrier was by Laura Parker who again ran exceptionally well to finish just outside the medals in the u20 women’s race with her 4^th place finish over the 6km course in 23.58. Laura was disappointed not to medal but this performance sets her up for a good run at this coming weekend’s British Universities Championships – good luck there!

In the senior women’s race over 8km, the top performance by a Harrier was by Jenny Moore with an excellent 54^th position in the huge field, in a time of 35.32. Anna Lewis came hoe in 129^th in 38.23 and then came Katerina Prior with a great run for 164^th position with 39.32.

The final race over the longest distance of 15km was the men’s race. There were over 1500 entries for this individual race and the three lap course was not to the liking of all but made for a good spectator event as the athletes could be seen on several occasions on the course. Ben Tickner stepped up to be first Harrier home with a great run for 10^th position in a time of 52.40 with the outright winner being Neilson Hall of Bedford & County in 50.57. Adrian Marriott was close behind in 17^th position, 53.20 and Eliot Haimes was next man in with his 58^th position in 56.49. Jon James finished in 70^th place, 57.23, and then Tim Hawkins, 168^th, 61.04 and Alistair Lindsay, 177th, 61.2. Just outside of the top 200 was Andrew Deamer with a good run for 218^th, 62.31. Dickie Wythe was 338^th in 66.04, with Neil Biss in 70.58 just inside the first 500 home. Simon Prior came home in 74.11 for 560^th, to complete the Prior team effort, whilst Paul Chadwick just snuck inside the first 600 with 76.05. Dave Stanfield was next in at 619^th with 77.30, just ahead of Rex Whitcombe in 631^st with 78.03. Paul Allen of Yeovil Town RR came in at 80.46 with Geoff Cole just a few paces behind in 684^th place with 80.52.

Well done to all. Take a look at the Rogues Gallery for photos of the event.

Many thanks to all team managers and parents for their support.

Next Club race is the Gwent XC League match on Saturday February 13^th at Brecon. We will have 2 minibuses going and there are races from u11 upwards. Please contact either Paul or Annette to book a place on the minibus.

Good luck to the juniors competing at this week’s Dorset or Somerset Schools Championships.