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West Yorkshire XC League Race 1: Junior Report

In a break from tradition, the opening fixture of the League took place at Cleckheaton, and conditions underfoot were ideal, though the grass was a little long in places.

The number of those taking part (14) was rather disappointing, and we had no runners at all in three of the junior races. That being said, the performances of all those who ran were extremely pleasing, and we had some of our best-ever league results: two team wins, one individual win and three individual second places was more than we could have hoped for, and we all hope this is the beginning of a very successful season.

We had the best start possible in the U13 Boys, where Logan Walker, Charlie Robinson and Harry Cook, ably backed up by Robbie Temple, had a fine win. This was followed by promising runs from Mia Naylor and Abby Clay in the U11 Girls.

Sadly, we had no U13 Boys, and there were some absentees from the U13 Girls, though there were excellent performances from Martha Jackson and Rebecca Flaherty, with the ever-dependable Holly Walters ensuring a sound team result.

In the U15 races we had no girls and only three boys. However, those three, Alex Flaherty, Ben Rees and Theo Clay, all performed splendidly to secure a very clear-cut team win.

In the U17 Women’s race Emily Field continued her excellent form with an impressive win. She was followed in second place by Ruby Firth who ran with real aggression. It is such a pity that these two are lacking a team-mate who would help them secure the team results they deserve: are there any U17 women out there?

The individual results were as follows:

U11 Boys:

2nd Logan Walker

5th Charlie Robinson

12th Harry Cook

37th Robbie Temple

U15 Boys:

2nd Alex Flaherty

9th Ben Rees

14th Theo Clay

U11 Girls:

12th Mia Naylor

20th Abby Clay

U13 Girls:

2nd Martha Jackson

3rd Rebecca Flaherty

38th Holly Walters

U17 Women:

1st Emily Field

2nd Ruby Firth

Well done to all the above, and many thanks to parents and supporters; this is only the beginning, but it’s certainly very promising.

Tony Kingham

Junior Cross Country Team Manager