Cross Country Whitby 16th February 2003

Scarborough AC and Loftus AC combined on Sunday 16th to host the fourth NYSD X-C fixture at Caedmon Community College, Whitby. Although the weather was cold and misty through most of Teesside, there was sunshine over the North Yorkshire Moors and at the coast. There were minor changes to the traditional course around the school playing fields and along the old railway track besides the River Esk, but nothing deters the determined cross-country runners of Richmond and Zetland Harriers.

U13 Girls Team

The under 13 girls continued their pursuit of team gold with a third win out of four over their closest rivals. Alex Wheatman and Abbie Johnson of Scarborough continued to swap first and second places but are isolated when compared to the team packing of the Harriers - Jessica Gray 3rd, Jo Adams 4th, Rosie Adams 7th and Sophie Broadway 8th. Behind the “A” team, Katie Roberts and Francesca Fowden provided great support, finishing in 13th and 18th places respectively.

Football, geography and the weather conspired in uneven proportions to decimate the younger boys races with only four teams finishing in the under 13 boys race, two in the under 15s and none in the under 17s. Chris Andrade was the lone Harrier in the under 15s race and lonely too as a mere 14 runners stretched-out over the 2 mile course. Chris has been ever present this season and his 9th place finish was his best to date; his consistency in training and racing showing as he closes the gap on his rivals.

For Jessie Roberts, this was her sixth race in consecutive weekends and, taking it all in her stride (literally) with another impressive piece of front running, she made it four wins out of six. With Georgina Zissler and Ashleigh Robinson missing, Jade Cawthray and Leah Jackson were superb - finishing 13th and 16th respectively and earning second place for the under 15 girls team.

The Senior Ladies team started the fixture in third place, four points behind M&C and one behind Nestle Rowntree; they finished third on the day behind joint hosts Scarborough and Loftus and are now second by just two points. LMU student Louise Jackson led the way with her second win in four outings and now has a four point cushion over Maxine Czarnecka of Scarborough, at the top of the individual standings. Rachel Robinson had her best finish of the season in 4th place and is now just one point behind third place Carolyn Summersgill of M&C. Amy Baines was third counter in 23rd position and 5th under 17 and the points gained in her individual category move her up into sixth place. Club Coach, Fiona Hughes anchored the team in 26th place with back-up from Sadie Potter and Judith Fowden in 34th and 40th places.

Jon Orange was another Harrier who had a best-yet performance in an NYSD fixture, finishing 3rd in the Senior Men's race. This was Jon's first pay-back for his new sponsorship from Peacocks of Richmond, which is designed to allow him to make a serious challenge in the Veterans/Masters race at the London Marathon. John Aspell still had the residue of racing for his Regiment in the Army X-C Championships at Aldershot the previous Wednesday but was strong enough to finish second counter in 7th place; ahead of Ken Harker 16th, Shaun Purkiss 24th, Taff Rogers 36th and Jim Robinson 56th (and 3rd MV50) making-up the six-to-score team. Dan Brooks is now working and living in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, finding it hard to fit athletics into a busy social life but journeyed south and finished 60th. Although this didn't match his achievements from previous years, it was enough to see-off his Dad - Mike Brooks finished 62nd and 4th MV50. Neil Piper continued his good start to 2003 with another landmark performance; a good run in the Yorkshires was followed by sixth counter in the Northerns and now he wasn't the last Harrier! Neil finished 92nd and Sean Fowden was 114th. Sean was enjoying his first X-C race since schooldays; he was happy to finish the five mile course and was happier to find another three runners behind him. The team finished third on the day and are now second to Nestle Rowntree by three points with two fixtures remaining.