NYSD Cross Country - Stockton - 10th February 2008

The penultimate NYSD Cross Country fixture took place on Sunday 10th February at Blakeston School, Stockton. It was a fine and sunny day, however, the ground was wet and boggy in places, making parts of the course fairly muddy. A total of 26 athletes made the journey, despite other races and training squads taking place elsewhere. The Under 13 Boys were first away as usual and kept their fantastic record with yet another victory. James King took the honours, finishing first and well clear of his closest competitor, while Daniel Overin also claimed a well-deserved 3rd place with a strong performance. Paul Harmsworth was in good form, finishing in 11th to bring the team home in first place and keep their 100% unbeaten record in tact.

The Under 13 Girls had 3 competitors in the starting line up and Amy Coulson put in a great run to finish in 4th place overall, showing consistent form, while Abi Fletcher was also unfailing in her results, by claiming 12th overall. Rosie Stirr completed the trio by crossing the line in 16th, giving the team a great boost by finishing 2nd on the day. Maddy Winzer was the sole Harrier in the Under 15 Girls event, however, she has won every race she has entered in the league and this time was to be no exception, as she finished 15 seconds ahead of the rest of the field to take another excellent victory. With some athletes away with training squads, the Under 15 Boys team was depleted on this occasion, but the two remaining athletes ran fantastically well. George Robinson continued his excellent race form to take 3rd place, despite loosing one of his spikes within 100 meters of the start line and Marc Scott, was close behind in 4th place, putting in a great performance, thankfully with both spikes in tact.

The ladies squad was looking healthy on this occasion, with no less than 8 athletes in the starting line up, so a good team position looked possible. Tamsin Clark had a fantastic outing, taking 2nd place and Kelley Haniver produced another strong performance, finishing just behind in 3rd place, while Jo Adams continued to improve her strength and stamina and was next home in 8th position, as well as being first U20 athlete. Sarah Gregory kept up with the pace and finished in 11th, which meant the ladies team were victorious on the day, taking top spot. Rosie Adams had another good run and looked strong to claim 15th position, while Fiona Hughes continued to run well and progress to cross the line in 21st place. Laura Wrightley paced herself well and was resolute, taking an excellent 30th place overall, while Jenny Fenwick completed the team with a good performance in 31st. In the Under 17 Men’s race, Liam Fletcher was the only Richmond and Zetland representative, but ran exceptionally well none the less, crossing the line in 4th place overall, looking solid all the way around the course.

The men’s team were also had 8 athletes this time around and were able to take a fantastic 2nd place at this venue. Rich Hunt was first on the score board for the Harriers on this occasion in 6th place, amongst a competitive field, while Ken Harker was hot on his heels and promptly claimed 8th and now holds 3rd place overall in the Senior Men’s rankings. Jon Orange continued to find his form and moved up the results table, finishing 10th overall and 2nd Vet 1. Tad Zaranko continued to run strongly, taking 18th position, while Shaun Purkiss remained close behind, pushing him all the way and finishing in 19th. Tony Ryder and Taff Rogers also kept within striking distance of each other as they made their way around the course, with Tony finishing the stronger on the day, crossing the line in 33rd, while Taff took 39th position. Tony Ditchburn started well, but felt uncharacteristically tired and out of sorts after the first lap of the course and decided to withdraw. Jim Robinson looked comfortable over 4 laps of the course and held his pace well to claim 32.48 as his finishing time and 2nd place in the Vet 3 age group, meaning that he still leads this category over all, going into the last race at Richmond on Sunday 16th March.

RZH Results: Under 13 Boys – 1st James King, 3rd Daniel Overin & 7th Paul Harmsworth, Team 1st. Under 13 Girls – 4th Amy Coulson, 12th Abi Fletcher & 16th Rosie Stirr, Team 2nd. Under 15 Boys – 3rd George Robinson & 4th Marc Scott. Under 15 Girls – 1st Maddy Winzer. Under 17 Men – 4th Liam Fletcher. Senior/Vet/U20/U17 Ladies – 2nd Tamsin Clark, 3rd Kelley Haniver, 8th (& 1st U20) Jo Adams, 11th Sarah Gregory, 15th Rosie Adams, 21st Fiona Hughes, 30th Laura Wrightley & 31st Jenny Fenwick, Team 1st. Senior/Vet/U20 Men – 6th Rich Hunt, 8th Ken Harker, 10th Jon Orange, 18th Tad Zaranko, 19th Shaun Purkiss, 33rd Tony Ryder, 39th Taff Rogers & 58th (& 1st Vet 3) Jim Robinson, Team 2nd.