Essex CC Champs 2015: Young Athletes

Heavy rain and a mudbound course that had stretches of lying water on it greeted our athletes at Claybury, however it was shining silver for three of our individual athletes plus a bronze medal for another athlete. In addition our Under 15 girls won bronze.

The first race off, Under 13 Boys, saw a field of 60 get under way. We had seven athletes starting. Hayden Maleary had his best run to date by claiming 8th spot and now must wait to see if he gets one of the three discretionary places open for selection after the first five are automatically selected. In 25th place young Elliot Betts, only 11, had an excellent race with his older brother Oliver coming in 40th, just one place down on Max Holmes in 39th. George McPherson placed 42nd with Fred Taylor 46th. Our boys showed such grit and determination in atrocious conditions. Sidnie Ward, after two fine wins at 10 out of 10 600, started well and was in the top 10 until a twisted ankle forced him to retire. The team finished 5th.

 

The next race, the Under 13 Girls, with 50 starting, saw Siena Taylor run strongly throughout to claim automatic selection for Essex with a great 5th place. Hannah Page 19th and Holly Henbury 20th were just over a minute down on Siena but claimed placings in the top half of the field.

 

The Under 15 Boys race saw us with just two starters. James Wakefield in a good forward position was forced to retire, but Chis Hogg, reliable as ever, gave his all for 33rd, again with 50 starting.

 

The Under 15 girls had seven Woodies starting. Isabella Hoy, fighting off a cold in recent days, slotted well into 2nd place behind the highly rated Malanga from Chelmsford, where she remained, just 30 second behind the Chelmsford runner. Louise Gilbert was another to run above expectations with a fine 13th place, with Olivia Corbett, also recovering from a nasty cold, in 17th. With Millie Finch running way above expectation to claim 21st spot, the girls scooped bronze medals with three of the four runners bottom year. Kyesha Robinson stuck to her task in excellent style as she uses this as training in preparation for the forthcoming track season with 24th spot. Two girls we must hugely praise are Mia Hirons in 31st and Julia Sokol in 32nd. Again there were about 45 starters in this race.