Relay fine display by Birtley’s brave girls
BIRTLEY athletes came within a whisper of lifting the senior women’s Northern Athletics CrossCountry Relays title for the first time at Graves Park, Sheffield.
Despite holding a slender lead on the final stage, Birtley had to be content with the runners-up medals after title-holders Lincoln Wellington managed to move into pole position in the final 600 metres of the 3x2-mile contest.
Despite losing out in the closing stages, it was a superb performance by a young Birtley trio who had to come through from 18th place at the first changeover.
Chloe Price faced the starter to tackle the lead-off leg against 63 rivals and she was no match for Warrington’s cross-country international Herriot Knowles-Jones, finishing nearly a minute and a half behind the trail-blazer.
While Knowles-Jones had no one to pass on too, Sophie Burnett was eagerly waiting in the pen for her incoming runner before giving chase to the teams ahead.
Burnett quickly cut into the deficit and, after recording the fastest overall time on stage two, had moved through into sixth position behind Leeds City, Hallamshire, Sale, Holmforth and Sale’s second team before handing over to Lydia Turner for the glory leg.
The gap between first and sixth was 25 seconds but fit-again Turner surged into the lead midway through the final two-mile mud-free circuit.
The danger to Birtley lifting the title for the very first time loomed dangerously behind for Lincoln Wellington’s Abbie Donnelly, who had been a member of the winning Lincoln trio in the previous two years, set off one place and six seconds adrift of the North East outfit and was closing significantly,
Turner managed to hang on desperately to the lead but, with around 600 metres to go to the tape, Donnelly eased on to Turner’s shoulder before pulling away to win by just two seconds.
Turner said: “I gave it may all but I was tired and after Abbie caught me I just had nothing left to give.
“Chole and Sophie ran ever so well just to give me a chance of getting into a medal position and once I took the lead it would have been nice to hang on for them.’’
The Birtley club was not the only trio from the region to contest the women’s relay - Morpeth making it home in ninth place.
Emma Holt ran the first leg, handing over after her stint in fifth after recording the seventh quickest time overall.
Gemma Floyd took over and, despite her struggles with a cold, managed to lose just five places before passing over to Josie Cram to run the last leg.
A steady performance by Cram, where she managed to move up one place, was all the more impressive against so many of the leading endurance clubs in the north.
Meanwhile, six clubs travelled down the A1 to contest the senior men’s four-stage contest over the same two-mile circuit as the women.
Pick of the bunch were Durham City, who finished in 16th place out of 74 starters with Lincoln Wellington adding the men’s title to that of the women’s. Dan Jenkin ran the first leg for Durham and was rewarded with their fastest time after handing over in eighth place.
Birtley were next home in 34th position with Adrian Bales their quickest.
Blackhill Bounders were next in 40th spot (Jordan Bell their best), closely followed by Houghton one place further back in 41st (Lee Diver their quickest).
Durham City’s second quartet were next home in 43rd place (Alexander Cook their best) and Darlington finished 49th with Gosforth, experiencing the senior race for the first time, ending up 54th with Andrew Hepple their best.