Caitlin has reason for debut cheer

CAITLIN McCarney shone on her Burton AC debut.

In the under-11 girls 1.6k race at Shipley Park, she finished third in 6.58 without any specific cross-country training going into the event.

But there was frustration for Maisie Trueman in the U13 girls 3.4k race.

She went into the race at Shipley in joint first in the standings after a win and a second place in previous meetings, while her training partner Paige Barker was joint fourth after sixth and fourthplace finishes.

It all seemed to be going to plan with 1K to go with both Burton girls in the leading pack.

Then disaster struck as Trueman had to retire from the race due to illness.

Barker was tracking Sarah Bourne, the other joint leader, and the Burton runner used her strength to break clear on a long downhill section before driving up the final hill to gain her first cross-country victory in 14.04, winning by 16 seconds.

In the same age group, Millie Clarke ran well to finish 23rd in 16.56, leaving Burton in third place.

In the combined U13 boys and U15 girls 3.4K race, Lauren Ford made her debut for the club and was using spikes for the first time.

She finished 19th in 16.01, while Lily Trueman was 35th in 19.35 as the team finished fourth.

In the U13 boys, Freddie Kugelmann was 20th in 16.05, Toby Hedges 26th in 16.40 and Todd Blissett 33rd in 19.38 as the team finished ninth.

In the U17 mens 6.1K race, Jack Shorten ran a well-paced race to finish 9th, his best position so far, in 23.39 to move to eighth in the league standings.

The combined U20 and senior mens race had over 240 runners.

Callum Abberley was 17th in 35.40 to stay in the lead in the U20s. Matt Lear started strongly and finished 53rd in 38.42, Jonathon Dumelow was 179th in 47.53 and Rob Sharratt was 221st in 54.18.