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West Yorkshire Cross Country League 2014: Juniors

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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