ATHLETICS: Young athletes runners-up again

THE RUN CONTINUES FOR RUGBY & NORTHAMPTON

Athletics Club secure runners-up position in cross country league meeting

It was much of the same for Rugby & Northampton in Round 2 of the West Midlands Young Athletes Cross Country League at Tipton Harriers’ Warley Woods last Sunday (November 20).

The Athletics Club opened their new campaign in second, behind Wolverhampton & Bilston, and they were runners-up once again this time.

The four male sides clinched top-three finishes, which included top spots for both the under-11 and U13 Boys’ teams.

Arthur Tilt secured second place in the U11 Boys’ race, completing the course in seven minutes and three seconds. He was followed by Jenson Buttrick (7:24) in eighth and Luke Turner (7:28) two places further behind.

The U11B team was completed by Lewis Robson (7:36) and Finlay Grant (7:47) in 15th and 21st.

Crossing the line within eight seconds of each other were Louis Buttrick (10:24), Noah Bennett (10:28) and Aidan O’Brien (10:32) in the U13B event. The trio’s sixth, seventh and ninth spots were added to by Michael Corbett (11:01) in 19th and 30th-placed Jasper Cooper (11:19).

Adam Caulfield won the U15B race in an impressive 11:51 to help the R&N team finish third overall. Supporting Caulfield was 12th-placed Ben Hope (12:57) and Cian James Cook Hutton (13:26) in 21st.

Jake Louis (14:33) and Dominic Dewes (14:45) in 55th and 58th respectively completed the U15B’s scoring five.

Bolstering the Club’s involvement in the Boys’ categories was the U17 team, who took second place. First and second spots in the race went to R&N’s Adam Searle (17:39) and Matthew Chronicle (18:01), who registered an impressive personal best, while Finn Hutton (18:45) rounded off the scoring three, crossing the line in 11th.

There was further success in the U15G race as R&N won the division. The team was led home by Molly Williams (14:01) in second and 12th-place Holly Walker (14:46), before Abigail Pearce (15:09) came home in 19th, Amelia McMurtrie (15:20) in 25th and Amelia Dickens (15:36) in 31st.

Claudia Searle’s (11:09) ninth place helped the U13G clinch the runners-up spot in the age division. In 20th was Elspeth Unitt (11:34) and, 12 seconds behind was Olivia Williams (11:46) in 28th, while Zoe Helen Gardner (12:04) and Sophia Hill (12:11) finished 40th and 45th respectively.

The club’s U11G sealed third spot thanks to ninth and 10th-place finishes from Alice Bennett (8:07) and Olivia Willison (8:10), with the latter continuing her great cross country progress. Also within a single place of each other, in 23rd and 24th, were Jemima Lily Lambert (8:32) and Caitlin Reeves (8:34), while Amelia Cebak (8:38) finished 27th.

Hollie Moore (19:38) was the highest-placed R&N athlete across the line in the U17W race, in 26th. She was joined by Olivia Sheehan (20:09) in 34th and 43rd-placed Lauren Nash (22:53) as the U17W team finished ninth in the division overall.