Women are stars of the show for Chichester

Under-17 men and women in the cross-country at Goodwood

Following medal winning performances at the Sussex Relays, all eyes were on Chichester’s under 17 men and women to see if they could keep up their form.

And they went one better, with both teams gaining a second place.

The under-17 women ran with the seniors and three of the top four positions in the senior women’s race were filled by under-17s.

Chichester’s trio of Amy Peters, Isabelle Isitt and Gemma Appletonwell to finish 10th, 13th and 14th in the under-17 race with a strong Crawley squad leading the field.

In the men’s race over the same 5k distance, Harvey McGuiness let the leading group gain a small lead over the opening 100m and this tactic paid off with the Chichester athlete putting clear daylight between himself and the field i second at the finish with just a Brighton Phoenix runner ahead.

Fin Roberson was next home for Chichester in 10th with Hal Edgar providing excellent back-up in 16th for a total of 28 points and second place behind Lewes.

This age group may prove to be the most closely fought of all the juniors .

Senior and veteran women and men

Charlotte Reading led Chichester home in the senior women’s race with a fine 16th place followed by Fay Cripps in 23rd, Nicole Boltwood 46th and Amy Peters 47th.

Under-17s and veterans made up the B team with Isabelle Isitt 54th, Nadia Anderson 57th, Gemma Appleton 62nd and Kim Nelson 79th with reserves Sue Baker 100th and Wendy Whelan 122nd.

In the senior men’s race, Chichester were without their talented under-23s for so it was left to tried and tested runners to try to give the club a good start.

James Baker was again in the thick of the action and, after a steady start, the 44 year old was moving through the field. Over the second of the two 4k laps, Baker shook off his nearest rivals to finish ninth and maintain his record of not having finished outside the top 10 of a Sussex league race for over two decades.

Conrad Meagher was 21st with Chris West 38th, newcomer Ian Gay 52nd, Jim Garland and Jon Edgar 75th and 77th, to put Chichester fifth.

Leading home the B team was Robin Charnock in 80th followed by Richard Miles 85th, Mark Grundy 92nd, Paul Stallard 99th, Tim Brown 103rd, Kevin Williams 121st and Peter Anderson 124th.