The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
When the Harriers get cross they’re the team to beat
Athletics - North Midlands Cross-Country League
Nene Valley Harriers are rapidly becoming the team to beat in the North Midlands CrossCountry League after another fine showing in the penultimate fixture of the season at Heanor on Saturday.
The muddy Shipley Park course seemed to suit Nene Valley’s female runners, and they remain in contention for end- of-season honours in all age groups from Under 13 upwards.
The Under 15 girls finished second on the day and sit second in the team standings. Flo Brill ran well to take fifth place, receiving sterling support from Katie Tasker and Elisha Foord.
Lottie Hemmings secured fifth place for the Under 13 girls, two positions ahead of Chelsea Bole. Josie Knight finished 12th.
Spalding-based Harrier Grace Mullins was delighted to finish as sixth senior woman. Peterborough AC’s Sarah Caskey was hot on her heels just seven seconds further back.
Nene Valley grouped well further down the field with Emma Randle 25th, Sophie Wilkinson-Hargate 28th and Lindsay Lister 32rd all performing well. Harriers finished fourth on the day and lie fifth overall. They cemented their third place overall in the veterans standings.
The Under 17 girls are still in with a chance of winning the league. They are currently second behind Derby AC.
Josie Fortune and Amber Park had solid runs, finishing sixth and eighth respectively while Hannah Ray closed the scoring team with 17th place.
Evie Hemmings was the only Nene Valley athlete contesting the Under 11 race and had one of her best runs to date coming home 10th out of 29 youngsters.
Hugo Brill provided one of the day’s highlights finishing as runner up in the boys Under 13 race. Brill has a fine role model in older sister Flo who has been starring for the club for several years.
Harry Hewitt came in sixth with Kyle Warner completing the scorers. The boys secured second place behind Derby AC reflecting the current league standings.
Aaron Hunt led the Nene Valley charge at Under 17 level with a seventh-place finish, helping his team to fourth, one position below their overall league placing.
The Under 15 boys race saw Sam Oakley in 13th and Harvey Hancock in 19th to help Nene Valley finish fifth in a closely fought contest.
Felix Bowling made light work of the thick mud coming home 15th for the Under 11 boys.
Peterborough AC again highlighted their strength in the senior men’s race coming in third and retaining second place in the league.
With times almost meaningless in the Derbyshire mud, Steve Robinson’s ninth place finish in 35:38 and Shaun Walton 35:52 for 12th position over the 10km circuit were particularly impressive.
Kirk Brawn (25th), Simon Fell (27th) and Nick Stone in (34th) completed the scoring team,
Nene Valley were led home by Mike Chapman, who took 57th place.
Elsewhere for PAC, Jacob Fox finished 20th in the Under 17 boys, Joshua Armstrong was 32nd in the Under 15 boys and Joshua Hill 37th in the Under 11 boys.