Essex Cross Country League, Hylands Park,
Chelmsford, 2 November 2002
The spotlight was again on the under 13 boys race at the third round of the Essex Cross Country League, held at the Hylands Park course, Chelmsford today. Bradley Tungatt returned to winning ways after going off course in the second round fixture last week. This time the natural front runner was forced to follow a fierce early pace set by a guest runner but Bradley came through strongly in the second half of the race to again come home in front, with team-mate Matthew Watkins runner up in the club race. HMAC teams in this age group appear to be suffering a league jinx this season: in the first round Matthew Watkins had dropped out when in contention, while Bradley Tungatt lost his way last week when leading. This week the apparent jinx moved on to Scott Tungatt who dropped out with a leg injury early in the race. Despite the best efforts of Joe Webster and Grant Twist the team had to settle for third.
The under 13 girls ran out comfortable winners of the team event as their scoring four placed in the top eight. Rebecca Heath came through strongly late on to claim third place in the closing strides, while good team work from Clare Robinson (5th), Hayley Thomas (6th) and Michaela Roberts (8th) ensured the squad resisted all challenges for the team prize. Six other girls finished in this age group, with Francesca Clark (9th) also making the top ten.
Katie Richardson, who missed last weekends races due to ill heath, had to give second best to Orion's impressive winner Catherine Conway in the u15 race. But there was consolation as the foursome picked up second place in the team stakes as Vicky Smith placed ninth in her first outing of the winter, running away from teammates Robyn Matson (10th) and Charlotte Wood (12th) in the latter stages.
There was also a team runners up spot for the u17 boys who showed close packing with the scoring four all placing between 8th & 12th, as Andrew Meech (8th) was again first club member home, followed in close order by Rob Howe (9th), Joe Golding (10th) and Daryl Rogers two places back in 12th. There was also not much to chose between the under 15 boys as Ashley Reece (13th) edged out teammates Aaron Churchhouse (14th) and Ross Clarke (15th), with Paul Andrews returning to club action in 20th, the team coming home in third.
The senior women continued their strong showing as Laurie Cossey cemented her third successive top three place against stronger opposition than in rounds one and two. Lesley Felton was next home in 13th, while Nikki Barnett continued her comeback in 17th and Ellie Mole completed the scoring four in 24th. In the u17 girls race Ria Lyons improved considerably on the first two rounds to finish in sixth.
In the senior men's race, held at the end of the afternoon in wet conditions, Trevor Keys confirmed his good form with seventh place in a competitive field of over 150 runners, in which Graham Pritchard also made the top 20.
At the other end of the age spectrum hosts Chelmsford kicked off the meeting by holding boys and girls races for under 11s. Havering Mayesbrook youngsters showed promise with Elizabeth Berner winning the girls race with Becky Luck in third, and other club athletes making the top 10. There were also two top 10 finishers in the equivalent boys' race with R Berner in 5th and Jack Richardson in 7th.
Results
Under 11 Girls:
1st - Elizabeth Berner; 3rd - Becky Luck;
Under 13 Girls:
3rd - Rebecca Heath 13:39; 5th - Clare Robinson 13:43; 6th - Hayley Thomas 13:46; 8th - Michaela Roberts 13:55 (Team - 1st); 9th - Francesca Clark 14:04; 12th - Rachel Newman 14:18; 22nd - Alex Watkins 14:45; 27th - Louisa Wood 15:27; (B Team - ); 29th Lauren Newton 15:36; 37th - Nicola Hill 16:14. (Ingrid Deane - dnf)
Under 15 Girls:
2nd - Katie Richardson 14:02; 9th - Vicky Smith
14:41; 10th - Robyn Matson 14:50, 13th - Charlotte Wood 14:55;
(Team: 2nd Under 17 Girls/ under 20 women: 6th – Ria Lyons; 15th - Laura
Moore; 18th Emma Baglin (U20); 20th - Jennifer Szantai (Team: ).
Senior Women: 3rd - Laurie Cossey; 13th –
Lesley Felton; 17th - Nikki Barnett; 24th - Eleanor Mole; (Team 1st/2nd??)
32nd - Linda Smith; 39th - Ruth O'Sullivan
Under 11 Boys: 5th - R Berner; 7th - Jack Richardson;
13th - Harrison Ellis; 20th D Jackson; 29th Michael Stow Under 13 Boys: 1st - Bradley Tungatt 13:15; 2nd
- Matthew Watkins 13:38; 23rd
– Joe Webster 14:52; 24th – Grant Twist 15:03; (Team 3rd). 32nd - Simon Brown 15:45; 47th -
Philip Chang Under 15 Boys: 12th - Ashley Reece 17:07; 13th
Aaron Churchhouse 17:15; 14th- Ross Clarke - 17:18; 20th - Paul Andrews
18:10; 32nd - Christian
Newton 20:45 (Team 3rd) Under 17 Boys: 8th - Andrew Meech 26:24; 9th - Rob Howe
26:44; 10th - Joe Golding 27:12; 12th Daryl Rogers 27:53 (Team 2nd) Senior Men: 7th - Trevor Keys; 18th –
Graham Pritchard; 35th - Martin Heys; 36th - Rob Warner; 44th - Martin Chester 45th – Neil Collins;
66th - Russell Middleton; 68th - Andrew Hunter; 73rd - Tony Collins; 124th - Mike
Munson; 132nd - Kevin White; 147th - Jon Hart. Under 13 Girls: Under 15 Girls Under 13 Boys: Under 15 Boys
Start
of under 13 girls' race
L
to R: Clare Robinson, Hayley Thomas, Rebecca Heath
Rachel Newman
Alex Watkins
Michaela Roberts
Francesca Clark
Charlotte Woods
L to R: Helen Roche, Lauren
Clark, Charlotte Woods, Vicky Smith & Robyn Matson
Katie Richardson
Vicky Smith
Robyn Matson
Matthew Watkins, Scott Tungatt, Bradley Tungatt
Matthew Watkins & Bradley Tungatt give chase
Matthew Watkins
Bradley Tungatt
Start
of under 15 boys' race
Ashley Reece
Paul Andrews