In the Under 17 Ladies event Faye Fullerton, running in her own age group in a domestic cross country race for the first time this winter, cruised to a clear victory and the individual gold, never looking back after taking an early lead. Her team mate Lauren Deadman ran a strong race in her wake but had to settle for runners-up spot and individual silver. There was however consolation as the Havering Mayesbrook girls claimed the team gold, with newcomer Georgia West placing 12th and Laura O'Neill completing the scoring four in 18th. Michelle Groom (20th), Faye Powell (22nd) and Emma Baglin (26th) completed the HMAC entrants.

Double gold also came in the senior ladies' event as international Debbie Sullivan won comfortably, with her sister Jo also claiming a podium place with a bronze medal winning third place. Nikki Barnett was just out of the medals in fourth with Hayley Hawes in 13th ensuring that the Havering Mayesbrook ladies were easy winners of the team gold. Veterans Lesley Felton and Ruth O'Sullivan placed 19th and 35th in the same race.

There was a strong performance from Havering Mayesbrook's incomplete team of two competitors in the under 20 ladies race as Lydia Comley took individual silver, with Helen Biscoe placing sixth. No team medals were awarded, as no club was able to field four athletes in this age group.

This completed Havering Mayesbrook's amazing dominance in these two-day county championships, the first day of which for young athletes and veterans was held before Christmas.  The latest exploits of Upminster and Barking based distance squad took their tally to eight individual and team golds, with double success in each of the ladies under 13, under 15, under 17 and senior ladies events, missing individual and team gold only in the under 20s and veteran ladies, in which individual medals were won. This is a remarkable achievement for the athletes and their coaches  Dave Naylor, Pat Gahagan and John Deacon.

Unfortunately the men have been overshadowed by the ladies success. The HMAC senior men's team, missing Gavin Maley, could finish only seventh, with John Barker (17th), Matt Bland (20th) and Graham Pritchard (29th) being the highest placed.

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ESSEX COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS

LEAD results from the Essex County Championships held at Claybury.

Men (7.5M)

1 N Wetheridge (Bas) 39:44; 2 N Bangs (Thurr) 41:19; 3 T Bartrum (Col H) 41:40; 4 K Murphy (WG&EL) 42:10; 5 S Sterling (Bas) 42:30; 6 D Carroll (Bas) 43:05; 7 J Burrell (Chelms) 43:16; 8 A Huckson (Chelms) 43:28; 9 K Harris (S’field) 43:47; 10 D Tullett (Chelms) 43:57; 11 A Lingard (Bas) 43:59; 12 P Clinch (Ilf) 44:17; 13 G Chatterton (Chelms) 44:27; 14 P Dobson (S’field) 44:34; 15 M Flannelly (WG&EL) 44:38; 16 J Brame (Chelms) 44:50; 17 J Barker (Hav M) 44:57; 18 J Turner (Chelms) 45:02; 19 G Riddell (Bas) 45:14; 20 M Bland (Hav M) 45:27; 21 G Deacon (Bas) 45:34; 22 J Sear (WG&EL) 45:38; 23 C Hardy (Thurr) 45:42; 24 L Crispen (Thurr) 45:46; 25 D Jordan (Ilf) 45:52; 26 T Seakins (Col H) 45:54; 27 N McGregor (Thurr) 46:04; 28 N Berrill (Ilf) 46:06; 29 G Pritchard (Hav M) 46:09; 30 S Williams (Thurr) 46:17; 31 J Gentry (NEB) 46:25; 32 K Goodwin (Ilf) 46:28; 33 T Pamphilon (WG&EL) 46:35; 34 C Lewin (Col H) 47:00; 35 D Rose (Walth) 47:05; 36 E White (Col H) 47:10; 37 J Wallis (WG&EL) 47:19; 38 A Vince (Orion) 47:20; 39 R Holland (WG&EL) 47:36; 40 N Heppel (Bas) 47:45; 41 G Mills (Thurr) 47:47; 42 P West (Col H) 47:49; 43 C Miles (S’end) 48:02; 44 S Henty (Dag 88) 48:10; 45 V Spain (S’field) 48:12; 46 S Langley (Col H) 48:17; 47 R Dickenson (Hav M) 48:21; 48 J Nunn (Bill) 48:24; 49 D Brock (Orion) 48:29; 50 D Lawless (Thurr) 48:34

TEAM: 1 Basildon 63; 2 Chelmsford 72; 3 Thurrock 147; 4 Woodford Green & Essex Ladies 150; 5 Colchester Harriers 187; 6 Ilford 240; 7 Havering Mayesbrook 257; 8 Springfield Striders 293; 9 Orion 363; 10 Woodford B 519

U20 (5M)

1 R Smith (Bas) 28:33; 2 D Fewell (Chelms) 29:47; 3 J Weaver (S’end) 30:05; 4 M Clarke (Orion) 30:47; 5 C Bond (Bas) 31:12; 6 C Coates (Dag 88) 32:23; 7 G Nkrumah (NEB) 33:15; 8 J Mohammed (NEB) 34:45; 9 J Lutano (NEB) 35:58; 10 M Maskard (Chelms) 38:37

U17 (3M)

1 J Young (Orion) 15:55; 2 J Tydeman (Bas) 15:57; 3 B Hellmer (NEB) 16:01; 4 C Reynolds (WG&EL) 16:26; 5 A Hayward (WG&EL) 16:58; 6 T Windley (Chelms) 17:04; 7 J Briggs (Thurr) 17:06; 8 A Philbrick (Col H) 17:07; 9 R Smith (Chelms) 17:15; 10 C Sellens (Col H) 17:31

TEAM: 1 Chelmsford 48; 2 Orion 51; 3 Colchester Harriers 52

Women (5M)

1 D Sullivan (Hav M) 31:33; 2 R Eddy (C&T) 32:36; 3 J Sullivan (Hav M) 32:58; 4 N Barnett (Hav M) 33:28; 5 L Higgs (Col H) 33:37; 6 K Smith (Thurr) 34:00; 7 S Bridger (Thurr) 34:10; 8 A Berrill (Ilf) 34:39; 9 E Newman (C&T) 35:38; 10 L Groves (Col H) 35:53; 11 A Mussett (C&T) 35:59; 12 S McCann (C&T) 36:02; 13 H Hawes (Hav M) 36:11; 14 S Williamson (Ilf) 36:17; 15 E Engahl (Thurr) 37:02; 16 C Hayes (Chelms) 37:11; 17 D Kennedy (WG&EL) 37:24; 18 S Sompor (Ilf) 37:27; 19 L Felton (Hav M) 37:25; 20 S Chapman (WG&EL) 37:27

TEAM: 1 Havering Mayesbrook 21; 2 Colchester & Tendring 34; 3 Thurrock 56; 4 Ilford 70; 5 Colchester Harriers 84; 6 Chelmsford 94

U20 (3M)

1 S Raven (S’end) 19:23; 2 L Comley (Hav M) 19:45; 3 H Stubbs (WG&EL) 20:06; 4 K Wood (Bas) 20:12; 5 R Clifton (S’end) 20:47; 6 H Biscoe (Hav M) 21:26; 7 L Regan (Lough) 22:48; 8 Z Watson (WG&EL) 23:08

U17 (3M)

1 F Fullerton (Hav M) 17:26; 2 L Deadman (Hav M) 18:19; 3 S Ward (Bas) 18:27; 4 J Walker (WG&EL) 18:35; 5 A Joel (Bas) 19:00; 6 E Muggeridge (E&H) 19:08; 7 L Welham (C&T) 20:11; 8 R Brown (NEB) 20:30; 9 M Hughes (C&T) 20:44; 10 S Slade (Lough) 20:53

TEAM: 1 Havering Mayesbrook 33; 2 Chelmsford 63; 3 Colchester Harriers 97