National
Cross Country Champs, Leeds, 21 February 2004
Junior
International Faye Fullerton
was a convincing winner of the National U20 Cross Country title over a very hilly 5km course in bitterly
cold windy conditions at Leeds on Saturday. After a sluggish start in which she was way down in about 40th
position, she soon worked her way through the field to come through in the
latter stages for a clear win by 15 seconds from steeplechaser Bryony Frost. It
was the 19-year-old student’s second national success, after her u17 title at
Durham in 2001, which led to her first international vest. Faye now heads west
for Cardiff this weekend where she tackles the 3000m race in the British
Universities indoor championships.
Also
on the podium was Megan Foley whose late charge took her past well favoured Charlotte
Browning to win u17 girls'
bronze, and she finished 15th overall in the combined u17/u20 race just over one
minute behind Faye; Robyn
Matson ran well for 31st. Megan’s consistent performances at top
level this winter have caught the selectors’ eyes and she has been selected by
England Schools for the World Schools Cross Country Champs Under 19s to be held
in Lyon France on 4th April.
With
Ashley Reece missing again, the rest of the u15
boys’ team set out
determined to finish high in the individual and team stakes. Ross Clarke once
again ran confidently and was always near the leaders, performing brilliantly to
finish 5th. The improving Matt
Watkins ran most of the race
in the 20s but a late surge brought him through to a magnificent 19th place,
while as usual Bradley Tungatt
ran a very solid race to finish 57th. Chris
Maclachlan and Scott Tungatt
battled for most of the race for the fourth scoring position, before Chris
pulled away to finish in 188th to Scott's 273rd. The team finished in 11th which
was excellent in a tough race.
With
Southern Champion Matt Bloy missing due to a school trip, it was going to be
interesting to see how the rest of the u13 boys team
would do in their first experience of National competition. After some brilliant
performances in tough conditions it was a case of so near yet so far.
As usual Grant
Twist led the Havering charge
up the first hill, emerging just outside the first 10, with the rest of the
boys in close support. With Grant hold his position throughout, Joe
Webster led Steve
Maclachlan up to the last
hill, both in the mid 20s. Grant Twist held 14th position to the end, recording
his best ever performance, Joe Webster also had his best ever race to come home
in 17th, with Daniel Winters
also running a great race in 53rd. Unfortunately Steve was unable to finish and
so the team did not manage a fourth and final scorer.
Ingrid
Deane's
45th was highest placing for the u13
girls, with Michaela
Roberts a good 73rd, and
Georgia Davis and Trachel Kerr gaining good experience as the team were 28th;
Lauren Clark (108th)
was the sole u15 girls competitor to travelled north.
Andrew
Meech in 128th flew the flag for the u17
men - but only just - coming home with cut feet having lost both
his spikes in the sticky mud!
For
the seniors Nikki
Barnett (132nd) and
Lesley Felton (172nd) did well
for the ladies,
while Matt Bland
393rd was fastest of four senior
men in action, with Rob
Warner (423rd) ahead of the Collins brothers Tony (676th)
and Neill (818th) of the 1400 finishers
Results
Senior Men
393rd - Matt Bland - 50:48; 423rd- Rob Warner 51:11; 676th - Tony Collins 55:00; 818th - Neill Collins - 57:01
Under 17 Men
128th - Andrew Meech
Under 15 boys
5th - Ross Clarke 14:22; 19th - Matthew Watkins - 14:51; 57th - Bradley Tungatt - 15:26; 188th - Chris Maclachlan - 16:43; Team 11th 273rd - Scott Tungatt - 17:51
Under 13 boys
14th - Grant Twist 11:05; 17th - Joe Webster - 13:45; 53rd - Daniel Winters 11:34
Senior Women
132nd - Nikki Barnett - 38:51; 172nd - Lesley Felton - 40:06
Under 20 Women
1st - Faye Fullerton 18:47
Under 17 Women
3rd - Megan Foley 20:04; 31st - Robyn Matson
21:39
Under 15 Girls
109th - Lauren Clark - 18:13
Under 13 Girls
45th - Ingrid Deane 12:41; 73rd - Michaela Roberts - 12:57; 197th - Georgia Davis - 14:06; 288th - Rachel Kerr 15:22 Team 28th