ESAA Cross country 2009

From our racing correspondent

 

Saturday 21st March saw the eagerly anticipated 49th boys and 41st girls annual English Schools Cross Country Championship, this year held at Stanford Hall, Leicestershire.

Many Wells and Yeovil athletes represented their county in this prestigious event, which is the peak of the Cross Country Calendar for juniors. It is a great achievement in itself to be selected amongst the top 8 runners in the county and compete against the top runners in England.

The afternoon’s proceedings commenced with the intermediate girls at 12.45, and were the first to embark on this challenging, undulating course. Whilst the setting of Stanford Hall could be described as delightful, the course awaiting the athletes was anything but. “A proper cross country course,” said our team managers….

Nevertheless the girls tackled the course with enthusiasm, and returned home with commendable results. With the first Somerset runner finishing in 72nd, Lizzie Hart of Yeovil finished in 160th and 3rd home from Somerset. Jess Potter, also of Yeovil, came home in 215th and a strapped up Jessica Woods soldiered across the line to result in being the 6th Somerset runner in, and final scorer for the team who finished in an overall place of 32nd.

The junior boys followed the girls off at 1.15. This for some juniors being their first experience of this bustling, high profile event, and the only word to describe your opening English Schools race is daunting.

Yet Sam Bedford of Millfield School and Wells finished in the highest position of the day of all Somerset athletes in 15th place, 5 places off a potential international call-up. Curtis Stevens of Wells Harriers backed up his team mate to finish 132nd and Matt Cole despite being badly spiked was also the final scorer as the 6th Somerset runner home in an overall position of 288th.

The junior girls followed the corresponding boy’s race and Emily Smith produced a tremendous performance to finish the season with 40th in these championships. Fellow Wells athlete Kayley Kennedy resulted in 294th place.

The climax of this race represented the half way point of the championships, and as the grass becomes muddier, the races become tougher. Next to take to the challenge were the intermediate boys. The first Wells and Yeovil athlete home was George Harris, finishing in 235th and 4th for Somerset. Tom Thick closely followed in 262nd and Cameron Rafferty was 319th.

The final two races saw the seniors take centre stage and some of these veteran athletes were competing in their 5th or 6th championships.

Firstly, the senior girl’s took to the course and came back to Somerset with the best team result of the day finishing 2nd overall. A fantastic achievement for a grade C category county such as we are, with a school population of less than 60,000.

The county team consisted of two Wells and Yeovil athletes, Nicola Morgan who led the team home in 16th and Leighanna Chappell who was the final team scorer as 6th Somerset runner home finishing in 102nd.

Finally, after over a 3 hour wait, the senior boys wrapped up the day’s proceedings and with two late withdrawals of Nathan Young and Tom Lawson, the team did a decent job as Alex Wiltshire finished 104th to be Somerset’s 2nd runner in, John Richardson packed in close behind in 129th. Chris Symons followed John as the 4th athlete home in 168th and Ben Venus concluded the 6 scoring runners in 233rd for a final team position of 26th.

After a not surprisingly tired bus home, all of the athletes can feel very proud of their weekend efforts as the juniors look forward to the forthcoming track season.

Congratulations to all athletes involved and a big thank you to all team managers who made the weekend the success it was.

Final positions – all Somerset unless stated:

Junior Boys

15                    Sam Bedford

132                  Curtis Stevens

288                  Matthew Cole

 Junior Girls

40                    Emily Smith

178                  Siobhan Stewart (Dorset)

209                  Lauren Willows  (Dorset)

294                  Kayley Kennedy

Inter Girls

160                  Lizzie Hart

215                  Jess Potter

235                  Jess Wood

Inter Boys

235                  George Harris

262                  Tom Thick

319                  Cam Rafferty

Senior Boys

104                  Alex Wiltshire

129                  John Richardson

233                  Ben Venus

Senior Girls – well done silver medallists!

16                    Nicky Morgan

102                  Leighanna Chappel