Spruit sweeps to cross-country title
Freya Spruit completed a clean sweep of victories to seal a perfect season in the Gloucestershire Cross Country League. With a runner’s best three results from the four league races counting towards the overall standings, the Team Bath teenager had already wrapped up the under-17 women’s title before the final fixture at Pittville Park, Cheltenham, on Sunday. But Spruit showed no signs of taking it easy as she produced another strong performance to finish fourth overall in the senior women’s race to leave her U17 rivals trailing in her wake. In terms of position it was her second best finish this winter having achieved a high of third in the penultimate match at Dursley in December to go, with sixth and 13th places in the opening fixtures. But as far as her own peer group goes Spruit was imperious with a perfect four wins out of four to seal a memorable league season. “I am really proud of myself and very satisfied that I have done so well,” said Spruit. “When I started cross country three seasons ago I was finishing tenth or 11th so to now come top feels really cool and I am so pleased.” Spruit was Team Bath’s headline success story individually as the league reached its climax but there was disappointment for Ella Treby as she saw third place in the U15 girls’ age group cruelly snatched from her grasp. Treby ran really well to finish third to back up her second and fifth places in the opening two matches, but that didn’t prove enough to keep her in third as she missed out on the podium by a single point. Alex Parsons made his first appearance in the league this season and ran strongly to finish second overall and top U17 in the race, whichwas combined with the U20 men, while Toby Baker was seventh in the U15 age group. On the team front the club’s senior men held on to second place overall despite only finishing sixth, their poorest result of the campaign as the squad suffered from missing runners. “We hung on to finish second for the third successive year so we are pretty pleased with that,” said team captain James Donald. “A few of the guys were saving themselves for the national next week and others wanted to concentrate on their long runs as they prepare for the Bath Half Marathon.” Donald led by example as he finished first scorer in 18th and junior Otto Copping, in his first season racing at senior level, was a creditable 33rd. Mike Dooley, who was top veteran over 50 overall, Eliot Ball, Mark Mackintosh and Tim Hill completed the scoring. In contrast the most disappointing result was the senior women failing to finish a team in the final match – Spruit wasn’t able to score being an U17 – so losing out on a podium finish having enjoyed a share of second place with the Forest of Dean after the opening three fixtures. Team Bath’s Alberto Lapedriza opted for a trip to southern Spain to run the Seville Marathon and was rewarded with a super personal best of 2hrs 58mins 17secs. Lapedriza’s time, which saw him finish 636th, took him under the landmark barrier of three hours for the first time as he previous best stood at 3:11:49 recorded in London last year. It was his third marathon having clocked 3:18:36 on his debut in the short-lived Bristol to Bath Marathon in 2015. Behind him clubmate and over45 veteran Stuart Henderson finished in 3:03:19 and Vicky Cooper recorded 3:25:52, just 47 seconds outside her PB. Team Bath international Tom Gale received an invite to the Muller Grand Prix with the hope of reaching the qualifying height of 2.26m and win selection for the European Indoor Championships, but on the day had to settle for another solid effort of 2.16. Damian Hall opens his 2019 racing programme this weekend at the Transgrancanaria Ultra in the Canary Islands. While the Box international trail star enjoyed the best year of his career in 2019, rising to seventh in the world trail rankings, he is not listed among the favourites for the race that starts at 11pm on Friday. “Looking at the entry list I am only ranked 26th on current points and that suits me fine,” said Hall. “No-one is paying me any attention at all and to be honest that suits me just fine. I will wear my underdog hat which fits me nicely. “As the name suggests the Transgranaria event crosses the entire island of Gran Canaria including seven mountains totalling 24,000 feet of ascent in 79 miles. “I feel I am in in good shape and I am very excited about the race as I think it will suit me even though it is looks to be quite rocky underfoot.” The Chronicle’s athletics coverage is sponsored by Running Bath. Bath’s premier running shop. Visit Running Bath at 18 High Street, or call 01225 462555 for more.