Lauren Deadman produced the greatest performance of her career when she placed fifth in the National Cross Country Championships at a very muddy Parliament Hill on Saturday.
Her fantastic run in the senior women's race compared to her 43rd place in last year's race and she was the only one of the bronze-medal winning team to compete this time.
Her performance was backed up by great runs by Harriet Scott, returning to her best in 25th, Robyn Matson 58th and Vicky Smith 132nd as the team finished in an excellent fourth position. Jane Hallam did well to place 344th in her first national.
The U15 Girls also did well as Ellie Bounds came home in a fine 15th place and Becky Stanley 54th, Rachel Sadler (103rd) and Amanda Blaxland (145th) completed the scorers. Shannon Sullivan (240th) also competed. Daniel Shanney was first of the U17 Men home in 87th, and Jamie Buckley-Stanton (166th), Joseph Waked (211th) and Thomas Shanney (218th) contributed to the team's 27th position.
Freddy Keefe 68th led the way for the depleted U13 boys who placed 34th thanks to the efforts of Mitch Chesterton (253rd), Finbar Smythe (301st) and Charles Hammond (307th). Amber Turner was 96th for the short-handed U17 Women and an improved run from Gemma Phillips placed her 117th ahead of Zoey Littlechild's 135th but there was no fourth scorer.
Lindsay McLachlan (134th) led the U13 girls home, with Lydia Hallam five places back and Avril Loynes (201st) and Rosie Brett (295th) making a scoring quartet who placed 30th. Hosea Gikungu was first club athlete to finish for the U15 boys in 137th. The team were 31st due to the efforts of Thomas Davis (171st), Josh Connors (224th) and Massi Dendami (244th).
Just two senior men tackled the daunting course. Rob Warner achieved his highest placing of 176th while Mat Bland ran his first national for a while in 441st out of 1500 starters.
Under 13 Girls: 134th - Lindsay McLachlan 14:39; 139th - Lydia Hallam 14:43; 201st - Avril Loynes 15:11; 295th - Rosie Brett 16:34 (Team 30th)
Under 15 Girls: 15th - Eleanor Bounds 15:36; 54th - Becky Stanley 16:33; 103rd - Rachel Sadler 17:01; 145th - Amanda Blaxland 17:41; (Team 6th) 240th - Shannon Sullivan 19:09
Under 17 Women: 96th - Amber Turner 23:51; 117th - Gemma Phillips 24:23; 135th - Zoey Littlechild 25:09
Under 13 Boys: 68th - Freddy Keefe 13:02; Mitch Chesterton 14:39; 301st - Finbar Smythe - 15:21; 301st - Charles Hammond 15:29 (Team 34th) 314th - James Wright 15:35
Under 15 Boys: 137th - Hosea Gikungu 17:54; 171st -Thomas Davis 18:12; 224th - Josh Connors 18:43; 244th - Massi Dendani 18:52 (Team 31st) 312th - Chris Hyde 19:43; 389th - Ben Thompson 23:36
Under 17 Men: 87th - Daniel Shanney 22:37; 166th - Jamie Buckley-Stanton 24:06; 211th - Joseph Waked 24:55; 218th - Thomas Shanney 25:53 (Team 27th)
Senior Women: 5th - Lauren Deadman 30:27; 25th - Harriet Scott 31:57; 58th - Robyn Matson 33:57; 132nd - Vicky Smith 36:17 (Team 4th) 344th - Jane Hallam 42:24
Senior Men: 176th - Rob Warner 44:48; 441st - Mat Bland 48:56
