Although there are a few gaps in our overall League performance I do think that we are making progress. We had entries in each of the 8 junior races, and four of our teams achieved an overall position: the U11 Girls were 8th, Under 13 Boys 6th, Under 15 Girls 4th, and U11 Boys a splendid 3rd, the best boys’ team result in my time as Team Manager.
Also on the positive side, those who did compete were far more consistent, with 21 of them running 3 times, and 15 of them running all four races.
I shall deal with the age-groups in the order in which they ran, which means that our U11 Boys will give to this report the fine start which they habitually gave us in the races. Theirs was a real team performance, with Oliver Peace and newcomer Jake Wallace always up at the front, ably supported by real battlers in Callum Watson and Alistair Trusselle. Waleed Raja, the least experienced of the group, made good progress during the series, and will certainly find things easier in the future.
Our U11 Girls were a very young team, but they showed admirable spirit with Elanor Dawson leading the way and a constantly improving Rebecca Flaherty hot on her heels. Our newest recruit Grace Ross, and our youngest runner, Lilly Smith, both showed real determination and I am sure that there is more to come from them.
Unfortunately, in the Under 13 Girls, we did not have a third runner to support the excellence of Ruby Firth and Grace Dawson, both of whom were impressively consistent.
Lack of numbers was not a problem with our U13 Boys, most of whom were in their first year in the age-group. Alex Flaherty ran splendidly throughout, and it was good to see Joseph Carnelley showing signs of getting back to his best. They were ably supported by ever-presents Dylan Thornton and Ben Rees, rapidly improving Samuel Mantle and a determined Joseph Childs.
Our U15 Girls, whilst they were not able to retain the title they won last year, once again showed real team spirit and great fighting qualities: Eliza Findlay, who has continued to improve, led the way; Lucy Miller, despite the fact that she was not always well, never let us down; Katie Smith was as consistent as ever; and Kiran Bashir, the youngest in the group, made good progress.
Jonathan Sutcliffe and Reuben Mantle were our only representatives in the U15 Boys, with Jonathan achieving a very creditable overall position, whilst Reuben was only able to run in two of the races.
Abi White, who played a lone hand in the U17 Women last year, was joined this time by Vicki Merrick, and the two of them performed resolutely throughout the whole series – it’s such a pity that we did not have a third counter.
In the U17 Men Matthew Merrick did find himself without a team-mate. At his best, as at Wakefield, he looked majestic, and we hope that he will be able to reproduce that form in the bigger races to come.
Well done to all those who took part : we look forward to seeing you all keeping up the good work, at both Club and School level, in the New Year.
Overall positions (* indicates those finishing in all 4 races)
Under 11 Girls
17th Elanor Dawson
21st Rebecca Flaherty*
45th Lilly Smith*
Under 11 Boys
6th Oliver Peace*
7th Jake Wallace*
27th Alistair Trusselle*
57th Waleed Raja
Under 13 Girls
8th Ruby Firth*
12th Grace Dawson
Under 13 Boys
4th Alex Flaherty*
17th Joseph Carnelley*
39th Dylan Thornton*
45th Ben Rees*
Under 15 Girls
10th Eliza Findlay*
17th Lucy Miller*
19th Katie Smith*
32nd Kiran Bashir
Under 15 Boys
20th Jonathon Sutcliffe
Under 17 Women
11th Vicki Merrick*
20th Abi White*
Under 17 Men
6th Matthew Merrick
Tony Kingham