Joe takes title at muddy Marl
ATHLETICS STEVE DUXBURY
THE final Red Rose Cross Country League’s final fixture took place on Saturday and the home advantage of a very wet and muddy Marl Pits came into play as the senior men’s team took their first victory of the season. It was also a case of “job done” for Joe Hopley in the U17 Men’s race in which he scored a decisive victory which secured his overall title.
The junior Harriers have experienced a tough learning curve with the majority of them in their first year of competition but there were signs of good things to come on Saturday.
Elliott Webster was the best of the U11 Boys in 31st place from 61 finishers and in the U11 Girl’s race Tilly Duffy had an excellent run for fourth position in a similar sized field.
Ava Colohan crossed the line in 12th spot and with Xara Lewis completing the team the girls were fourth out of ninth teams, their best result of the season.
The U13 Boys just pipped Bury to third team spot on the day with Rhys Dunn 11th, Riley Holt 15th and Daniel Cunningham 17th but Trawden ran out easy winners to secure their overall title. Lily Edmondson was the
●● best of the girls in 19th place with Elsie Haygarth and Daisy Halewood not far behind in 21st and 23rd places respectively.
Joe Ormrod secured his fourth top ten position of the season with fourth on Saturday when he battled his way through the two lap 4K course to come within just over 30 seconds of the winner after 17mins 04secs of running.
Oli Webster and Will Curry completed the team for fourth place but there were just two points separating second, third and fourth places.
However the boys have secured team Bronze in the league, with Joe in fifth place, a great result.
The girls haven’t had quite as strong a season but Evie Taylor has been the best of them with sixth place on Saturday.
Joe Hopley has steadily improved over the season with an eighth place at Leigh, second at Bolton and victories at Todmorden and Marl Pits, the latest where his winning margin was almost 40 seconds after 5K.
Victory was never in doubt as he led from the gun and with Charlie Taylor in sixth and Ryan Heneghan 11th it was enough to secure second team on the day and third for the season.
The U17 Women went one better with a second place in the league and a victory on the day thanks to Ellie Richardson, another athlete who has made huge improvements this season, in third position, Lily Haygarth in seventh and Iris Pick, 17th.
They scored a narrow victory over Bury on Saturday but it wasn’t enough to hold off Chorley for the overall tile, however Richardson will be pleased with her overall fourth position.
Emma Richardson, in 17th place from a total of 119 finishers, was the best of the Harriers’ women and she led her team to fourth place on the day. Sarah Longshaw was one place behind and will finish the season as fifth in her U20 category, a satisfying result given her recent return to racing on the country.
Anne Marie Hindle in 25th place and Natalie Murphy, 29th completed the team. The Veteran women narrowly beat Bury to third spot with the addition of Lynne Berbatiosis.
The senior men secured their overall second place in the league, well clear of Bury in third but well adrift of Blackburn Harriers. However, their only team victory of the season was one of Saturday’s bright spots and it also marked the senior debut of Matthew Mackay, who pushed Blackburn’s Ben Fish for most of the three laps over 7.8K.
Joe Waller’s ninth place, his best of the season, Ashley Holt in 11th place, Kurtis Mitton in 25th, Rick Solman in 27th and Ben Kirkman in 28th completed the winning team. For Mitton and Kirkman it was also their first season as U20s and both have made the transition from U17s well and will be rewarded with trophies for overall third and fourth places respectively.
Rossendale’s veteran men have dominated the league throughout the year with wins in each of the four fixtures. Asley Holt and Rick Solman with the addition of Alan Lunberg-Bury and Dave Haygarth completed the vets team and LundbergBury easily won his Vet 55 category.
On the roads Jon Cleaver continued his winning streak with a win in the Myerscough 10 miler on Sunday in 55mins 25secs, a creditable time considering the icy conditions underfoot.
●● Joe Hopley
●● Charlie Taylor