CROSS COUNTRY: Silver for stellar performance by Masters

Three of the silver-medal winning Masters team Mike Andrews, Jonathan Sarkies and Stephen Marks. Missing from the picture is Gary Wallace.

On Saturday Rugby and Northampton AC took part in the Midland Cross Country relay championships at Wolverhampton.

The team consisted of four runners, each completing a 6km grassland route. For the Senior team, Dominic Jones made his cross country debut for the club and produced a stunning run to claim third place after the first leg in a time of 21 mins 28 sec.

Daniel Williams produced a solid run with a time of 24 mins 14 and he was followed by Haydn Arnall making his senior debut for the club as he impressed with a fine run of 23 -22. The final leg saw Alistair Mcdonnel continue his recent fine form as he finished with 23-01. Overall the team finished in 11th position.

The B team, comprising many young members, secured 39th position overall in the four-leg event.

First on the track was Oliver Munns (25-32), who crossed the line in 37th; Jack Wallace (29-24) and Harry Peart (25-55) followed, while Alexander Wardle-Solano (27-53) finished the final leg to help the team earn a spot inside the top 40.

The Masters team (over 40) produced another stellar display as they picked up a silver medal with a superb second position. The team was led off by Stephen Marks who flew round to the overall fastest Masters leg of the day as he finished the first leg in first position with 22-01 .

The remaining runners - Jonathan Sarkies, Gary Wallace and Mike Andrews - all produced good runs to ensure that the team completed a comfortable victory over the third team.

For the women Emma Bond impressed as she finished with 25 mins exactly - the seventh fastest time overall on the day. The team was completed by Rebecca Leadbetter and Kirtsy Goddard and they finished an encouraging ninth position.

Sarah Bennett recorded the best time of the B team, completing the final leg of the race in 29-13. Bennett followed runs from Genevieve Roberts (34-00) and Clarissa Blake (31-16) to help the team claim 18th overall.

The Masters team of Angela Copson, Zoe Shepherd and Gemma Knight finished an impressive seventh position with Zoe recording the fastest time of the R&N runners with 29-08.