The third race in the League took place at Cliffe Castle, Keighley, and conditions underfoot were difficult, to say the least. Nevertheless, there was a fine turnout of 27 Juniors, and it was very encouraging to see so many Seniors running – I hope they enjoyed the support.
Once again we were represented in every race, and we had four scoring teams: the U11 Girls came 6th, the U11 Boys 4th, the U15 Girls 3rd, and the U15 Boys 7th.
As to individual performances, there was great deal with which to be impressed: wonderful victories by Alex Flaherty, showing a real fighting spirit in the U11 Boys, and by Emile Cairess, imposing his class in the U17 Men; a much improved run from Joseph Carnelley, looking more like his old self; great consistency from Grace Dawson, Ruby Firth, and Lucy Miller; and a real breakthrough by Eliza Findlay, who gets better with every race.
I could, and perhaps should, mention other pleasing performances: suffice it to say, we on the coaching side were proud of the way in which everyone gave their all.
There is one more League race to come and, if the present team spirit is maintained, there is every reason to hope that we can achieve some excellent overall results – let’s go for it!
U11 Boys: 1st Alex Flaherty; 18th Oliver Peace; 26th Harry Miller;
42nd Callum Watson; 47th Ben Rees; 57th Samuel Mantle
U11 Girls: 7th Grace Dawson; 36th Emma Cowley; 39th Riannon Appleyard
U13 Boys: 13th Joseph Carnelley; 57th Joseph Childs
U13 Girls: 8th Ruby Firth; 54th Kiran Bashir
U15 Boys: 6th Matthew Merrick; 37th Reuben Mantle; 47th Adam Thompson
U15 Girls: 12th Vicki Merrick; 13th Eliza Findlay; 14th Lucy Miller;
20th Olivia Roper; 23rd Katie Smith; 29th Anna Whitehead
U17 Men: 1st Emile Cairess; 24th Tommy Thorp
U17 Women: 18th Abi White
U20 Women: 7th Sarah Dewhirst (52nd in the joint Senior/Junior race)
U20 Men: 10th Daniel Smithurst (69th in the joint Senior/Junior race)
Tony Kingham