South of England CC: Young Athlete races
This year’s South of England Cross Country Championships took place on the Sussex Downs just outside Brighton. The chalk downland promised free draining conditions and there was little mud to be found despite the recent rain. However in return for the dry conditions, the runners were made to work exceptionally hard as the races negotiated the steep valley sides of Stanmer Park – some of the older age groups having to climb 70 metres on each lap. Fine views could be obtained from the hill above the start and finish area with the club flags fluttering below in the chilly easterly breeze and Brighton’s new AMEX stadium dominating the skyline on the other side of the valley.
Results (use the External Results link at the top of the power of 10 page)
The star result for our young athletes was Canaan Solomon’s win in the U13 Boys event; resisting the temptation to make the early pace on his own, he wisely sat in the leading group to share the work. With Aldershot coach, Mick Woods bellowing to his athlete Jack Boswell, that ‘he had it in the bag’, Canaan proved him wrong by making his break in the closing stages to come home 9 seconds clear of Boswell and the remaining 190 runners, picking up his first and well deserved, territorial championship. Aldershot did pick up the team prize in this event which was the only event where we fielded enough runners for a scoring team. James Wakefield (132nd), Harry Cavell (173rd), Taylor Reece (187th) and Chris Hogg (188th) all made their contribution and then followed up with welcome, vociferous support for our seniors later in the afternoon.
Amelia Barrett confirmed her credentials with a fine 10th place in the U15 Girls but, with the team denuded by illness, was only accompanied by Isabel Levine (only just fit to travel herself) who performed admirably for 89th finishing just a shade over two and a half minute down on the winner (which give an indication of the strength of the field). James Stockings also ran to form in the U17 Men’s race for 11th place, whilst Perry Rowan similarly our only competitor in his age group (U15 Boys) was hampered by a stitch in the closing stages of the race causing him to drop back but still managing 39th.
Our trio of U13 Girls, Rosie Poole, Jodie Ratcliff and Edie Preece finished 27th, 50th and 64th respectively in the biggest young athlete race of the day with 218 finishers. Bracknell AC made a name for themselves by taking the team gold with 4 scorers in 21 and showed strength in depth with a further two in 73.
Lauren MacGregor (U20W) made a promising start to her race and was at the head of proceedings for most of the opening lap but unfortunately again succumbed to the back pain that has affected her season particularly on hilly courses; she stuck to the task however completing the 6k course in 27th place. Emelia Gorecka (Aldershot) as expected, picked up the gold medal and the team gold besides as she and her team dominated with 4 in 7. It is a sorry state of affairs however, that only two clubs could field a scoring team from the 54 finishers; there are medals to be won if only we can field four scorers.
Aldershot also dominated the U20 Men’s race with 4 in 18; Darren Southcott (38th) and Liam Blaikie (62nd) were our only competitors battling against the red, white and green; similarly, in the U17 Women’s race Aldershot also took the team prize in a race that surprisingly saw Jessica Judd beaten to the line by Invicta’s Alex Clay, who took 14 seconds out of the Essex champion who had held the lead early on. Lucy Hayes (86th) and Stephanie Smith (90th) showed their commitment to the Woodford cause, both seeming to appreciate the long descent towards the finish (reminiscent of Parliament Hill) with Steph having to produce a sprint to see off a fast finishing Reading runner.
Overall, the collective verdict seemed to be that it was an excellent, if challenging, course and, as the weary competitors made their way home against the incoming tide of Albion and Newcastle supporters heading to the AMEX, they could content themselves with the thought that whilst the football had more supporters, we had more competitors.