Although we had fewer youngsters taking part this year than in the previous two years, we did have entries in each of the 8 junior races, and the picture is generally encouraging. Three of our teams achieved an overall position: the U11 Boys were 6th, U11 Girls 8th, and Under 15 Girls an outstanding 1st, our first team victory in my time as Team Manager.
Also on the positive side, those who did compete were far more consistent, with 25 of them running 3 times, and 13 of them running all four races.
Individual performances have been fully covered in other reports on our website, but I do feel that all the runners listed below deserve a mention, beginning with our under 11 Boys, and our individual champion, Alex Flaherty, who was totally dominant in all his races. He was ably backed up by Oliver Peace and Harry Miller, with Ben Rees and Callum Watson both making fine progress in the course of the series.
Our Under 11 Girls, Grace Dawson, Emma Cowley and Riannon Appleyard, also progressed steadily, saving their best team performance until the last race.
At U13 level we did struggle for numbers, but Ruby Firth and Joseph Carnelley, both in their first year in the age-group, showed real promise, while Jack Bradley deserves a great deal of credit for his consistency and loyalty. I should also mention Dylan Thornton and Joseph Childs, who both suffered because of the League’s bizarre U11/U13 eligibility criteria: their turn will come next year.
The Under 15 Boys performed extremely well at times, but unfortunately they did not manage an overall position: Matthew Merrick had two outstanding victories, Reuben Mantle one superb run and Adam Thompson improved steadily.
Lack of numbers was also a problem at U17 level: Abi White found herself as our sole representative in her races, but to her credit was an ever-present, as was Tommy Thorp, who showed some real battling qualities. The same applies to Ryan Bradley who could always be relied on, even when there was no complete team. Emile Cairess took two individual victories, but unfortunately his other outstanding run came as a guest in the Senior race!
Sarah Dewhirst, at U20 level, was certainly one of our most improved and consistent runners: she obviously relished the challenge of running with the seniors, and got better with each race.
Which brings me to our outstanding team, and I cannot stress that word too much. Indeed, only twice in the four different races did we have the same three counters, and the others were always pushing back scoring runners from other teams. Vicki Merrick had one fine victory, but was always an inspiration to her team-mates, and how they responded! Lucy Miller, another huge improver, was reliability itself, even when she was unwell; Katie Smith never stopped battling, and saved her best till last; Olivia Roper overcame her “aversion” to cross-country with some excellent performances;
newcomer Eliza Findlay impressed us all with her strength and her ability to come through in the latter stages of races; and Anna Whitehead improved with every race, running as well as I can ever remember. If they can all maintain this quality they have a real chance of medals in the Yorkshire Championships.
Congratulations to everyone who took part: we hope to see many of you taking up the even bigger racing challenges to come, at both Club and School level, in the New Year.
Overall positions (* indicates those finishing in all 4 races)
Under 11 Girls
12th Grace Dawson
29th Emma Cowley
34th Riannon Appleyard*
Under 11 Boys
1st Alex Flaherty
12th Oliver Peace*
15th Harry Miller*
39th Ben Rees*
40th Callum Watson*
Under 13 Girls
6th Ruby Firth*
58th Kiran Bashir
Under 13 Boys
16th Joseph Carnelley
42nd Jack Bradley
Under 15 Girls
2nd Vicki Merrick*
10th Lucy Miller*
15th Eliza Findlay
16th= Katie Smith*
16th= Olivia Roper
30th Anna Whitehead*
Under 15 Boys
2nd Matthew Merrick
27th Reuben Mantle
41st Adam Thompson
Under 17 Women
18th Abi White*
Under 17 Men
22nd Tommy Thorp*
26th Ryan Bradley
Under 20 Women
6th Sarah Dewhirst*
Tony Kingham