Welsh champion Bronwen sets sights on world run
Teenager Clapton finishes 14th in English Cross Country Championships
Thornton- le- Dale athlete Bronwen Owen has set her sights on international glory after racing to victory on her Welsh Cross Country Championships debut.
At the Welsh championships, held in the North Wales town of Corwen, 18- yearold Bronwen Owen was a clear winner of the under- 20 championship.
This was a second national title for Lady Lumley’s School sixth- former Bronwen, who won the English under- 15 championship at Alton Towers in 2011.
I t was also a third championship win this year, after a fifth successive Yorkshire and second North of England victories.
The teenager, whose father Derek is Welsh, said: “It was great to win in my first Welsh championships.
“I am half- Welsh, and I only recently made the decision to compete for them. I have run for English Schools in the past as I live in England
“It was a very hilly course with a few streams, and at one point there was some heavy hail around the 5km course.”
The Scarborough Athletic Club runner added: “I have a very important cross country race coming up, the UK inter- counties championship at Cofton Park a week on Saturday.
“The top three athletes will go on to represent the UK in the world cross- country championships in China next month, it would be great to compete at that level.
“In the long term I would like to take part in the Olympics, the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games.
“This will obviously depend upon how my career progresses over the next few years so I would not mark out any particular order of these international events.
“Cross country is not an Olympic discipline at present, so I would have to focus on long- distance running if that does not change.
“At the moment I compete in triathlons and on the track during the summer season as well, at some point I will have to make the final decision about which one I will specialise in.”
Fellow Lady Lumley’s Sc h o o l pupi l Em m a Clapton competed in the under- 17s race at the English Championships at Hampstead Heath.
The 16- year- old, who is also from Thornton- le- Dale, finished 14th of 235 top class athletes, and was the third North of England athlete, which replicated her bronze medal display at the Northern Championships.