CROSS COUNTRY: Rugby & Northampton AC send 60 athletes to national championships

ENGLISH NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

PARLIAMENT HILL FIELDS, LONDON - FEBRUARY 24, 2018

Sixty athletes took part for Rugby & Northampton AC in the English National Cross Country Championships when the event was held at Parliament Hill Fields in London on Saturday.

The highest team placing came from the U13 Girls who finished in 9th spot over a 3k course.

It was Alice Bates who flew the flag to claim 39th place on 13:25 with Olivia Williams just six seconds behind in 46th position. Completing the quartet were Alice Bennett (109th in 14:07) and Madeleine Jacks (179th in 14:34).

The U13 Boys over the same distance were placed 18th in the team race with Arthur Tilt leading the way in 76th position on 12:46. Half a minute behind was Jenson Buttrick (163rd) and hot on his heels were Louis Buttrick (206th in 13:30) and Cian Shea (239th in 13:41).

Matthew Chronicle covered 6k in 21:10 to head the U17 Men when he crossed the line in 37 th position with Muss-Ab Hassan recording 21:52 for 78th. With Ben Hope finishing 111th on 22:20 and Joe Musgrove in 189th on 23:19 this put the squad in an excellent 13th place.

The U17 Women claimed 22nd spot and the four athletes that took part were led home by Amy Walker in 84th place with 21:23. The other team members who completed the 5k route were Rhea Ellen-Cooper (207th in 23:48), Georgina Woodward (216th in 24:04) and Emma Barker (225th in 24:26).

Also finishing in 22nd place were the U15 Boys team over a distance of 4.5k. Noah Bennett recorded 17:17 for 107th spot and was chased home by Finbar Myers (147th in 17:35). Closing out the team were Lewis Panter (205th in 18:01) and Ben Willison (235th in 18:17).

Claudia Searle led home the U15 Girls over 4k in 116 th on 16:34 with Molly Williams next on 16:57 (160th). They had back up from Holly Walker (233rd in 17:38) and Isabelle Rippon (298th in 18:07), which helped the team to finish 31st.

In the Senior Men’s 12k race Dominic Jones became the first athlete from the club to make the top 100 when his time of 43:12 helped him to finish in 87th place.

The newly crowned club champion was followed home by veteran athlete Nigel Roberts who made the scoring six for the fifth year in a row when he was timed at 51:33 (757th).

Jonathan Taylor became the R&N veteran club champion and finished in 890th spot on 52:55 with Joe Lantsbery coming home next on 53:41 (959th).

Men’s team manager Vince Carroll scored in the team for the 20th time (1159th in 55:29) and Adrian White was the sixth man on 61:27 (1713th). They finished in 84th position.

The U20 Men were one man short of a complete team, but Ben Musgrove in his last race as a Junior successfully defended his Club title when he had a good run in 90th spot over 10k with a time of 36:50. Joining him in the race were James Wizard (173 rd in 40:36) and Adam Bebbington (212th

in 44:11).

Two R&N athletes competed in the U20 Women’s 6k with Emma Bond finishing in 36th position on 27:38 and Rebecca Leadbeater with 30:34 for 90th spot.