Midlands silver for Dijkstra at Prestwold Hall
LOUGHBOROUGH triathlete Ben Dijkstra earned a silver medal at the Midlands Cross Country Championships at Prestwold Hall at the weekend.
Competing for Leicester Coritanians / Beacon Hill Striders in the Seniors race over a distance of 12km it was Dijkstra’s first cross country race in more than a year.
In a field of 528 runners Omar Ahmed (Birchfield Harriers / Ethiopia) took first place in a time of 36:44, Ben Dijkstra was second in 37:03 with Kadar Omar Abdullahi (Birchfield Harriers / Ethiopia) third in 37:18.
Dijkstra will now focus on triathlon for the rest of the season with his first scheduled race in March at the Mooloolaba World Cup, Australia.
GEMMA Steel led the way as Charnwood AC athletes picked up a number of medals at Saturday’s Midland Counties Cross Country Championships held at Prestwold Hall.
Steel comfortably took the senior women’s title in 29 minutes 30 seconds, with team mate Juliet Potter taking the bronze in 30:09. They also took the team gold, thanks to support from Elsie Butler in 13th with 32:11 and Aimee Seager 22nd in 33:08. Elaine Seager in 157th (43:58) completed the squad.
A fine team bronze medal was the reward for the Under 17 Women thanks to Lexie McLoughlin in 10th (18:15) Gemma Newport 11th (18:29) and Alice Walton 32nd (20:07) with the squad completed by Grace Hughes in 62nd (22:22).
A good squad performance saw another fine team medal for the Under 15 Girls, taking silver thanks to Isabel Oakland in 24th (14:41) Amelie McCann 28th (14:46) Gracie-Rose Walters 30th (14:48) and Rachel Newport 40th (15:00). Isabel Edwards in 61st (15:30) Alice McDermott 95th (17:37) Amy Blythe 97th (18:03) and Abigail Cook 104th (20:45) completed the squad.
In the Senior Mens race there were good runs from Tom Lupton to finish 21st (39:48), Tom Whitmore 23rd (39:54) and Mark Couldwell 36th (41:10). Michael Kingsbury in 140th (48:01) and Adam Lockton in 148th (48:35) made up the squad.
In a limited Junior Men’s field, good runs saw Ethan O’Shea take 6th (27:27) and Kieren Coleman-Smith 7th (28:11)
For the Under 17 Men, Colin Foord finished 29th (22:55) and Alex ColestonShields 41st (23:40)
In the U15v Boys event there was a sixth place for Tom Dixon (12:18) with Luke Talbot 58th (13:48) Harry Foord 61st (13:52) Sam Haines 86th (14:25) and Jake Blythe 107th (15:36) completing the squad, with the team taking 10th place.
In the Under 13 girls there was a 16th spot for Savana Smith (10:46) followed by Florrie Mitchell in 46th (11:23) Chelsie Locker (12:20) and Megan Harris 107th (13:16) to claim 13th team place.
Erin Suart in 108th (13:42) and Amelina Panni 109th (13:43) completed the squad.
For the Under 13 Boys, Finlay Martin ran well for 18th (10:05) followed by Daniel Oakland 72nd (11:04) Miles Foord 85th (11:14) and James Norman 90th (11:18) to make up the team, taking 12th spot.
Charlie ColestonShields in 107th (11:47) completed the squad.