A fantastic day for the club at the County Cross Country Championships 05/01/2019

The camaraderie of the club is always so lovely to see at races, with athletes of all ages mixing with parents and coaches there to support, and Saturday 6th January was no different! The race was held at Rotherby Farm for the second year in a row and was a stark contrast to the last year, with extremely dry conditions across the course for this time of year. The organisers were kind on the whole mapping a course that was relatively flat in the middle; a long stretch downhill on the far side of the course following a steep climb approximately 150m at the start of each lap. With this being the only sharp hill, the course and conditions combined made for very fast races on the day.

The day kicked off to an amazing start with the Under 17 Women racing across 5km of the course which consisted of two of the smaller laps. Both Rosie Timlock and Rachel Nealon set the tone for the rest of the day, with strong performances from both athletes. Although the numbers racing this age group were small, the race was not without excitement with both athletes tussling for their position through the race. Rosie had a bit of a battle with Harborough athlete but perseverance paid off and was able to pull away putting 9 seconds on the Harborough athlete along the bottom of the course and crossing the finish line in 3rd and Rachel in 5th. Rosie said, “I found the course tough but I enjoyed it, it suited me well and I felt strong so I had a good race”.

The second race of the day was the Under 13 Girls racing across a 3km course and Wreake and Soar made up 8 of the 25 athletes racing. The team was made up of Sophie Dunbobbin, Isabella Wrightam, Rosie Ashmore, Lyla Bryan, Harriet Lethbridge, Cassandra Dodge, Jorja White, and Jessica Keller. The girls delivered their best efforts and secured position 1st team position with only 9 points. Sophie Dunbobbin stormed across the finish line in first place with only 5 seconds between her and second finisher from Saffron AC. Both Isabella Wrightam and Rosie Ashmore finished within 2 seconds of each other in 4th and 5th positions respectively making the 9 points between them for the podium 1st place team finish. Finishing positions for the rest of the team were Lyla Bryan in 10th, Harriet Lethbridge in 12th, Cassandra Dodge in 14th Jorja White in 18th and Jessica Keller in 22nd.

From one stellar team performance to the next with the under 13 Boys also racing the 3km course and with 6 Wreake and Soar athletes representing on the day in a field of 27. The team was made up of athletes: Mackenzie Bloxham finishing in 2nd place, Joseph Pointon in 3rd with only 5 seconds between them, Ewan Russell in 12th, Will Inman in 16th, Richard Brotherton in 18th, George Mcmorran in 20th, and Riley Smith in 25th. Wreake and Soar valley took 1st team position with a sum total of 17 points, beating Charnwood in 2nd place, by 2 points.

The Junior, Senior and Masters Women competed over an 8km course consisting of one small lap, and two large laps of the farm. Tara Tomson was the only Senior athlete finishing in 15th place for her age group, and with rest of the women falling in the Master category. There was a nervous excitement leading up to the race with three athletes debuting at this year’s county champs and the Masters team was made up of athletes: Nichola McGlinchey finishing in 18th, Claire Bryan in 21st, and Vicki Galbraith in 25th of a 43 strong field of Master women. Claire said, “she enjoyed the race more than she thought she would” and following the race all three women signed up for the next Midland championship race having had so much fun in this one!

The under 15 Girls raced over a 4km distance covering 2 of the smaller laps on the farm. The Wreake and Soar team was made up of athletes Katie Parker, Olivia Bailey, Eliza Weselby, and Isobel Orenchas. The team took a convincing victory over rival team Charnwood with a 4 point lead to take Team Gold. Katie crossed the line in 2nd place with a 9 second lead on 3rd place Corby athlete, and

Olivia Bailey finished in a strong 4th place 20 seconds in front of two Charnwood athletes, Eliza Weselby finished in 8th and Isobel Orenchas in 11th. When asked about the course and the race, Katie Parker said, “I am very happy with how my race went, and that we took team Gold. The race conditions were perfect and the course was challenging”.

Lucas Spence approached his start line for the under 15 Boys race nervously to undertake a challenging 4km course alone, with no other team mates in his race on the day, however proved he could handle his nerves finishing in 4th place overall 8 seconds behind 3rd place position. His brother Zach Spence took his start line in a similar position with no other Wreake and Soar team mates in the Under 17 Men’s race across a 6km course. He had a very good race also equalling his position in last year’s race of 8th but in a much faster race this year with the dry conditions. Zack enjoyed his race, but also said “he enjoyed cheering everyone on, and was proud of all of WASV AC, and the fact that we got so much success”.

The final race of the day was the Junior, Senior, and Master’s Men competing over a 10km course consisting of one small lap, and three large laps. The men’s race was exciting to watch with its fast pace keep us all on our toes shouting support across the course. Wreake athletes Tom Mahon, Jake Harrison and Richard Botting took the challenge on this year without a team behind them, however delivered some fantastic personal performances. Tom Mahon would admit he is stronger on a boggier course, but battled on regardless, finishing in 5th position for his Senior age group with a field of 81 behind him! Tom said, “I started conservatively and moved through the field, although I think I was the only person who wished the race was both further and muddier!”. Jake Harrison finished in a solid 11th place and was happy with his performance after a bout of illness over the Christmas period. Richard Botting finished in 69th and when asked what he thought of the course, Richard Botting replied, “loved the course apart from the hill 4 times! and just happy to be running injury free after a long layoff…a great result” but then went on to joke that he needs to work on his sprint finish!. Richard Botting came close to taking a last-minute position ahead of where he finished but was unfortunately outsprinted on the finishing incline!

To close this report on a fantastic day for WASV, John Skevington was asked his thoughts on the day as a whole, and he said:

“It was a truly great day for the club. Some great individual performances combined with strong packing for the teams. I was particularly thrilled by those coming through who were not necessarily near the front. Great progress is being made throughout the whole squad”.

John Skevington

Thanks, should also go to the many parent and coach supporters of the club that turned out on the day. Their cheers contributed to the positive and enjoyable atmosphere always experienced on race day for WASV.

Author – Tara Tomson