The 2016 Olympics have been awarded to Rio and on Sunday’s Shropshire Young Athletes League Cross Country, young runners who are looking beyond London 2012 had their first race of the season. 150 athletes took part in the Shropshire Star sponsored event and this season the older runners race first so that the crowd can watch them over the longer courses. The lack of rain and hard conditions made racing even faster than normal and in the Under 15/17 girls race it was race favourite Harriet Grandfield who led from the front. The field of runners split after the first lap and it was in the Under 15 age group where the closest race was to be. It is a strong age group and it was triathlete Lauren Pestana of Telford AC who led the field home with a strong run, behind her Amy and Zoe Partridge of Wenlock Olympians kept the battle for second place in the family, with Zoe beating her sister by just 6 seconds. Another triathlete from Ludlow Runners, Eilish Gilbert, held off county athlete Evie Bentley for 4th place. This year it is definitely going to be very close for individual medals in the four race series in this age group. Telford are very strong in this section but on the day Shrewsbury High School, competing in the league for the first time, came a close second. Harriet Grandfield of Telford won the Under 17 race by 9 seconds from team mate Chloe Murphy and with Harriet’s sister Emily in 5th it looks like a good year for Telford in this age group as well.
The small Under 17 boy’s field provided the most exciting race of the day with the group of leading runners staying together for the first two laps. It was only at the beginning of the third and final lap when Guy Gregory of Ludlow Runners took the lead. Last years league champion Ryan Heath of Telford AC suffered with cramp in the hot conditions and rallied to finish 3rd behind another Ludlow Runner Russell Adams. The team title looks to be between Ludlow and Telford and the next race will be interesting to see if Ryan can regain last year’s dominance. The Under 15 boys saw two runners break away early and it was Joe Morris of Oswestry who secured the win by 6 seconds form Wrekin College’s Haydn Gleave. Ben Ashcroft the county 1500m champion moved up an age group this year to come 3rd and he looks likely to challenge the older boys as the season progresses. Seven teams contested the race and it looks too early to say who is likely to emerge as champions but Telford won here from Oswestry Olympians with Shrewsbury AC close behind.
In the Under 11 race the crowd thought that it was going to be a close race but Hattie Jones of Ludlow Runners, who came third last year, was running brilliantly, and giving a worried hare a run for their money. Hattie ran the mile course in 6 mins 12 seconds and won by eight seconds from Katherine Smith of Shrewsbury AC and Meg Davies of the Newtown based Maldwyn Harriers in third. In this age group it is not unusual for different athletes to win each race and so team race results are unpredictable. This time it was Oswestry Olympians with 168 points to Telford AC with 165 and Wenlock Olympians third.
The Under 11 boys’ race normally starts with a mad dash as the youngsters jostle for the early lead and this race was no exception. This time the leading two runners never seemed to slow down and it was a sprint for the line with the judges finding it difficult to separate the first two. In the end, newcomer, Joel Roura of Telford was given the decision over Joseph Crutchley of Maldwyn Harriers by just one second in a time of 5 minutes 43 seconds with Will Evans also of Maldwyn taking the bronze medal position. This time four teams seem to be in contention for the three medal positions with Maldwyn and Shrewsbury joining Telford and Oswestry in the top group.
Many of the parents and supporters stayed to watch the last two races of the day and the warm weather meant that support was spread out all around the course. The Under 13 boys had to run 3000 metres and all the field were home in 15 minutes. It was Telford dominating the front end of the field with six runners in the first ten places. It was a Telford one, two with Alex Burrows holding off his team mate Jack Forrester with Oswestry Olympian, James Morris, sprinting home in third. Not surprisingly Telford look set to dominate this age group but they didn’t have it all their own way in the last race, the Under 13 Girls. Isobel Bradley of Telford ran from the front to win the 2000m race in 6 minutes 12 seconds but Emma Tilley of Oswestry and Emma Clarke of Ludlow will be training hard to try and close the gap in the next race. It is Oswestry who have taken the early lead in this age group, and with four runners to count in the team it is often the fourth place runner who makes the difference. This time it was Oswestry’s Emily Ball who brought her team home with eleventh place.
Colin Lancaster
The small Under 17 boy’s field provided the most exciting race of the day with the group of leading runners staying together for the first two laps. It was only at the beginning of the third and final lap when Guy Gregory of Ludlow Runners took the lead. Last years league champion Ryan Heath of Telford AC suffered with cramp in the hot conditions and rallied to finish 3rd behind another Ludlow Runner Russell Adams. The team title looks to be between Ludlow and Telford and the next race will be interesting to see if Ryan can regain last year’s dominance. The Under 15 boys saw two runners break away early and it was Joe Morris of Oswestry who secured the win by 6 seconds form Wrekin College’s Haydn Gleave. Ben Ashcroft the county 1500m champion moved up an age group this year to come 3rd and he looks likely to challenge the older boys as the season progresses. Seven teams contested the race and it looks too early to say who is likely to emerge as champions but Telford won here from Oswestry Olympians with Shrewsbury AC close behind.
In the Under 11 race the crowd thought that it was going to be a close race but Hattie Jones of Ludlow Runners, who came third last year, was running brilliantly, and giving a worried hare a run for their money. Hattie ran the mile course in 6 mins 12 seconds and won by eight seconds from Katherine Smith of Shrewsbury AC and Meg Davies of the Newtown based Maldwyn Harriers in third. In this age group it is not unusual for different athletes to win each race and so team race results are unpredictable. This time it was Oswestry Olympians with 168 points to Telford AC with 165 and Wenlock Olympians third.
The Under 11 boys’ race normally starts with a mad dash as the youngsters jostle for the early lead and this race was no exception. This time the leading two runners never seemed to slow down and it was a sprint for the line with the judges finding it difficult to separate the first two. In the end, newcomer, Joel Roura of Telford was given the decision over Joseph Crutchley of Maldwyn Harriers by just one second in a time of 5 minutes 43 seconds with Will Evans also of Maldwyn taking the bronze medal position. This time four teams seem to be in contention for the three medal positions with Maldwyn and Shrewsbury joining Telford and Oswestry in the top group.
Many of the parents and supporters stayed to watch the last two races of the day and the warm weather meant that support was spread out all around the course. The Under 13 boys had to run 3000 metres and all the field were home in 15 minutes. It was Telford dominating the front end of the field with six runners in the first ten places. It was a Telford one, two with Alex Burrows holding off his team mate Jack Forrester with Oswestry Olympian, James Morris, sprinting home in third. Not surprisingly Telford look set to dominate this age group but they didn’t have it all their own way in the last race, the Under 13 Girls. Isobel Bradley of Telford ran from the front to win the 2000m race in 6 minutes 12 seconds but Emma Tilley of Oswestry and Emma Clarke of Ludlow will be training hard to try and close the gap in the next race. It is Oswestry who have taken the early lead in this age group, and with four runners to count in the team it is often the fourth place runner who makes the difference. This time it was Oswestry’s Emily Ball who brought her team home with eleventh place.
Colin Lancaster
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