Photos courtesy of Stuart Whitman and DHAC parents. Big thanks to all!
With all the Covid-19 restrictions currently in place, this year’s cross country season has been a bit of a none starter. So it was great to see our younger athletes in action once again, contending with the wet and muddy conditions that go hand in hand with cross country running.
Thornley Hall Farm, Peterlee was the venue for the inaugural North Eastern Counties Cross-Country Relay Championships on Saturday 12th December. Numbers were depleted somewhat due to illness, injury and frustrating isolations, but there were still several of our juniors taking part. Here’s how things went…..
Under 13 Girls
Unfortunately not quite enough to make up a full team of 3, but two talented young ladies nonetheless. Zara Jones and Lottie Graves both produced cracking performances, with Zara running the fastest of all the U13 girls; she finished the first leg in a rather impressive time of 13:30. Lottie, who’s still in her first year at U13, took over for DHAC, and had a brilliant run, bringing the girls home in 2nd place after the two legs. She finished in an excellent 15:07 which was 16th overall, easily in the top half out of the 42 competing. Fabulous results girls, well done!
Under 13 Boys
The U13 Boys managed to put two teams together, and all of them still in their first year. Hugo Douglas-Reeves, Daniel I’Anson and Freddie Radmore joined forces as DHAC’s A-team. Hugo got the boys off to a good start, and completed the first leg in 6th place, before handing over to Daniel who managed to claw back a place, finishing leg 2 in 5th. Finally, Freddie finished off well and brought the boys home in 7th place, in an excellent overall time of 44:19. A great result lads, well done! Thomas Grayson, Jack Glenton and Harry Glenton formed our B-Team today, and in spite of their inexperience the boys ran with real guts today. After top individual efforts from each of them they finished 16th overall, with Harry bringing the boys home in a cumulative time of 50:28. Great effort boys, well done!
Under 15 Boys
Unfortunately we couldn’t put together a girls U15 team today, but the boys had 3 cracking young athletes to make up for it; Harry Lyons, Alex Boyer and Elwood Kelley. With a string of successful runs already under their belts, this was definitely a strong team. Harry got things off to a great start with a confident run, completing the first leg in 3rd place. Alex took over maintaining the excellent pace, and holding onto 3rd, before handing over to Elwood. Thankfully, Elwood completed the race with another impressive run to bring the boys home in 3rd place to take the bronze medal! Tremendous performance lads, well done!
Under 17 Women
Three more top athletes made up our U17 girl’s team; Mia Wetherill, Marissa Boon and Emily Vest, and they had their work cut out today, up against some U20 athletes! But Mia got things off to a very healthy start, completing the first leg in 7th place. Marissa took over and ran an outstanding leg, managing to overtake 3 competitors on the way, leaving Emily in a strong 4th place as she set off on the final leg. It was another solid run from Emily who managed to maintained her position as she crossed the line in 4th place. A great team effort girls, well done!
Under 17 Men
No full team in this category unfortunately, but one young man who certainly got the blue & white vest noticed! Adam Russell ran as an individual in the first leg and won by a country mile. In fact it ended up being the fastest leg of the day with a tremendous time of 10:50. Fabulous stuff, well done Adam!
Overall an excellent team performance from all age groups. To quote their coach, Bernadette Caygill after today’s event: “These young athletes (including the ones that were unable to compete), are incredible. They have remained dedicated throughout this year despite all the uncertainty and they do the club proud. It’s an absolute pleasure to know them all!!”
High praise indeed! #UTH!