NYSD Cross Country - Hartlepool - 26th October 2008

The second NYSD Cross Country event was held on Sunday 26th October at Summerhill Park, Hartlepool on a truly hilly and muddy course. Richmond and Zetland had a good turn-out of 29 athletes, culminating in some excellent results.

The Under 13 Boys got off to a flying start with Paul Harmsworth and Glen Ient taking top honours by finishing in 1st and 2nd place overall, both clear of the rest of the field by over a minute and rightly deserving their victory. The Under 13 Girls also had an excellent outing, with Abbie Fletcher first Harrier home in 6th position with a strong performance, followed by Rachel Stirr, who finished well in 13th place overall.

Rosie Adams

The Under 15 Boys once again proved invincible, with Fergus Roberts first Richmond athlete across the line in 2nd place, this time only 6 seconds behind the winner, while Marc Scott also proved to be in fine form in 3rd. James King then finished strongly in 5th place, making it another team win. The Under 15 Girls were another team with just 2 athletes on this occasion, but did extremely well with Rosie Stirr taking 8th overall and Amy Coulson 9th with some convincing running. The ladies lineup had some different members on this occasion, with 7 athletes put in a sterling effort to finish joint 1st overall in the team rankings. Kelley Haniver finished 5th overall and lead the team in, with Leanne Jones looking strong to take 11th position. Rosie Adams then put in an excellent performance to take 14th place, while Sarah Gregory was next across the line, taking 18th position overall. Fiona Atkinson was the next runner home in 25th place, followed by Caroline Allen running well to finish in a well-deserved 30th position. Jenny Fenwick took a fall, badly cutting her knee, but battled on valiantly to finish 46th overall and complete the team round-up.

Sam Wood and Thomas Allen were the only contenders for Richmond and Zetland in the Under 17 Men’s event, running their way into 4th and 5th places overall, setting the scene nicely for competition between the athletes in this age group.

The men were also in good form, racing well as a team to claim 3rd place once again. Ken Harker produced a fine performance and was first Harrier across the line in 10th place, while Jon Orange put in a convincing run to claim 12th position and first MV40. Tad Zarenko was another athlete in shape, taking 17th overall, while Ian Scott was pleased to cross the line in 19th place, followed closely by Shaun Purkiss in 20th. Tony Ryder and Taff Rogers ran the course in close proximity, with Tony finishing ahead by 10 seconds to take 24th position and Taff 28th. Adam Scott also started as he meant to go on, accomplishing what he set out to do and take 39th, while Jim Robinson had a consistent race taking 66th place and 2nd MV60. Ray Robson also ran well with a top 75 finish in 72nd place and Chris Fletcher looked quite at home on the course, taking 81st position overall.