The 2019/20 cross country season finished with a busy day on 14 March as athletes raced at the English Schools Championships at Sefton Park, Liverpool and at the final North East Harrier League fixture in the Lambton Estate.

The club was well represented at the English Schools with runners competing for both Durham and Northumberland.  Competition was as intense as ever and the relatively flat course and shorter distances created faster conditions than experienced in recent championship races.

  • In the senior girls Chloe Wellings led the Northumberland team in 20th while Amy Baker was 2nd Durham counter in 79th
  • Ines Curran and Rosie Hughes competed for Northumberland with Ines first counter in 29th
  • In the Intermediate Boys, Ethan McGlen was 49th with training partners Charlie Daley and David Race also finishing in the first 70 runners
  • The under 13s found it hard going but well done to Theo Dragoi, representing Northumberland, and Jessica Milburn and Annabel Milburn running for Durham and all competing in their third national level race in recent weeks.

The harrier league programme on a mixed trail type course at Lambton started with Alex Lienard winning the under 11 Boys, chased hard by Harry Garrett in 2nd.  With Patrick Moran 15th and Ben Forster 29th it was another good showing in this age group, despite Matthew Waters not making it because of the traffic problems.

Matthew Das was the fastest runner in the under 13 Boys, finishing 6th.  Supported by Sonny Lewins and Samson Oliver, the team finished 5th.

Iona Johnstone was a clear winner of the under 13 Girls.  Starting from the fast pack there were further good performances from Millie Watson in 8th and Elle Sperring in 23rd so that the team finished 3rd on the day.

In the under 15 Boys, Oliver Ezeoke was an encouraging 7th while Cassius Dornan was 28th, running from the fast pack.  In the under 15 Girls, our only runner was Lucy Oliver who finished 14th.

Jack Garrett was 12th in the intermediate men running from the fast pack for the first time. Two days earlier, he had run 60 meters in a creditable 7.75 seconds!

Thanks to the race officials, marshalls and host clubs for organizing the event.

Congratulations go to Annabel Milburn and Matthew Das, winners of the under 13 individual North East Harrier League Grand Prix competitions.  Both fully deserve the awards for their consistently strong performances throughout the winter.

The cross country season is now finished with all fixtures cancelled or postponed for the foreseeable future.  Thank you to everyone who has supported the club’s athletes and teams and assisted in making it another successful season for our young athletes.

Please try and keep fit during the enforced break while following public health guidance!

 

 

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