Here We Go Again!
Yes, it’s finally here. That character building season filled with mud, wet and tears is now upon us! After a long (and successful) track and field season, it’s time to fit those longer spikes and stock up on the washing powder as we welcome in the new cross country season. As usual, the first event for most, also marks the start of the NYSD series of races, traditionally beginning with the Cross Country Relays, and it was great to see our juniors as keenas ever to kick off the new season. Here’s how their day went……
Under 11 Boys For those that don’t know, the Under 11s race is an individual event, with the relays reserved for the U13s and older. Making his NYSD debut today was Matthew Foster.
We’ve seen Matthew at one or two events now but this was his first crack at cross country, and considering he’d already taken part in the Junior Parkrun earlier that day (where he came 3rd) he had an excellent run. He finished in a very creditable 8th place in a time of 7:30. Well done, Matthew, a brilliant start to your cross country running for DHAC. We hope to see you back again next time.
Under 11 Girls It was during last year’s NYSD cross countries that Lottie Graves made her debut for DHAC. She soon became a regular face in the Junior Report so it was great to see her back in action again today. She certainly made herself known, working hard and finishing in an impressive 3rd place; an excellent time too of 7:12. Definitely one to keepan eye on! Well done, Lottie, a fabulous start to your XC season!
Under 13 Boys With the usual strong presence from our Under 13 squad, the boys managed to put two teams together today; the first one made up from Harry Lyons, Josh Scott and Elwood Kelley. Harry got the boys off to a tremendous start with an excellent first leg, building up a comfortable lead of 22 seconds over New Marske as he handed over to Josh. Josh ran an excellent second leg and managed to maintain 1st place at the changeover, although the gap had closed and New Marske were hot on our boys’ heels! Elwood took over as anchorman and actually ran the fastest leg of our three boys. Unfortunately, he was just pipped at the post by the New Marske athlete who ran the fastest leg of all the U13 boys on the day! Still a terrific result though, 2nd place and only 3 secondsin it! A great effort boys,well done!
Our other U13 boys team was made up from two of our regulars, Matthew Vest and Ashton Harrison, along with another new athlete making his NYSD debut, Josh Taylor. Matthew got things off to a solid start with a 7:29 lap before handing over to new member, Josh. He put in a great effort for his first time out, completing his lap in a time of 7:39 as he handed the reins over to team mate, Ashton. Ashton did an fantastic job as anchorman, running one of the fastest legs of the day to bring the boys home in 6th place. Great job lads, well done!
Under 13 Girls Another strong team was put together by our U13 girls; Tori Buckley, Freya Talman and Savannah Tarn. Tori got the girls off to a cracking start, running a strong first leg and completing her lap in 2nd place, just 5 seconds behind Allerton in 1st. Freya took over for the second leg; pushing hard she managed to overtake Allerton and move up into 1st place and build up a lead of 18 seconds as the finished her lap in 7:13. Finally, Savannah took off at a rapid pace for the last lap. She worked hard under the threat of Allerton who were closing the gap, but thankfully she’d done enough to maintain the lead and crossed the finish line 5 seconds ahead of Allerton to take the victory! In fact, she ran the 2nd fastest lap of all the U13 girls; an impressive 6:56! Congratulations girls, an outstanding team performance!
Under 15 Boys DHAC joined forces with Allerton once again to form a composite team in the U15 boys category. James Wilcock and Dylan Wilson teamed up with Allerton’s, Marley Plant, and it was Marley who ran the first leg. Not a bad effort either, coming in at 6:29 as he handed over to James. We haven’t seen James at many cross country events for the club so it was great to see him getting stuck in here today. He certainly stepped up the pace, taking an impressive 6:11 to complete the second lap. So it was over to Dylan for the final lap; he grafted hard and crossed the finish line in 6:17, a total of 18:56 for the team. Officially they weren’t placed as they were a composite team, but they did finish before New Marske who were awarded 3rd place! An excellent run lads, well done!
Under 15 Girls Yet more quality athletes from our junior squad made up the U15 girls team; Macy Kelly, Emily Vest and Mia Wetherill. Macy got things under way for the girls in her first ever NYSD cross country event, and she certainly didn’t hang around. Macy ran a great leg and finished her lap only 4 seconds behind the leaders, Middlesbrough Mandale, in a time of 6:43. Emily took over for the second leg and kept the pressure on Middlesbrough; she managed to maintain 2nd place in a time of 7.33, over a minute ahead of Hartlepool in 3rd. Mia took over for the final leg and put in another strong run; an excellent time too of 6:49 to bring the girls home in 2nd place. A fantastic result girls, well done!
We also had three of our Under 17 girls helping the seniors out. Megan Noble teamed up with Sarah Guy and junior coach, Bernadette Caygill. Megan ran the second leg in an excellent 15:18 to help the ladies take 3rd place…..then Millie Grayson and Amy Atkinson joined senior, Lesley Miller to form another DHAC team. Our two girls put in a great effort with times of 17:13 and 17:22 respectively to help Lesley on her way to finishing in 9th place out of the 19 teams taking part. Well done to all!
So overall, a fantastic start to the cross country season. Some top performances throughout, and we’re sure there’ll be many more to come as the season progresses. Next stop on the NYSD programme is the first of the individual races at Acklam on Sunday 6th October. Hope to see you there.
