It was another win for the Senior Men’s Team at Chorley as they consolidated their place at the top of the Team Leaders Board after the first two fixtures in this years Red Rose League. The second fixture featuring two hundred and fifty runners was closely contested with Bolton in 2nd and Leigh 3rd. There were also some very good performances overall in pretty muddy conditions which saw wins for both the U13 and U15 Boys Teams.
Tim Raynes led the sixteen strong Harriers home to the victory taking 5th spot in a time of 37.14 and followed closely in 8th place by Jack Hindle who clocked 37.28. With Bolton taking 1st and 3rd final placings it needed some good packing by the Club to ensure the win and that was provided by Ben Costello who is in fine form taking 13th place in 39.38, Shaun Livesey in 18th with a time of 40.21, Matt Nuttall in 19th (40.23) and Chris Davies 28th in a time of 41.14. Backing them up with good runs came Paul Brindle in 36th (42.13), Paul Guinan (49th) in 43.28, Tom Anderson (75th) coming home in a time of 45.37, Chris Balderson (94th) in 46.48, Mark Almond 124th (48.41), Craig Greenough in 133rd position (49.10), John Cookson 137th in 49.19, Andrew Knowles (182nd) in 52.54, Danny Teare 200th posting a time of 54.52 and Allan Hartley finishing in 207th spot in a time of 55.38.
(From L-R Tom Anderson; Mat Nuttall; Ben Costello; Tim Raynes; Jack Hindle; Chris Davies; Andrew Knowles; Paul Guinan; Allan Hartley; John Cookson; Craig Greenough; Danny Teare)
The U13 and U15 Boys had great runs as well to win their respective age groups. Dexta Thompson put in a fantastic finish, coming from behind to win the U13 Boys race in a sprint finish with Joe Ormrod of Rossendale, both of whom were given the same finishing time of 10.18. Kyle Taylor-Pomfret with another very good run took 5th place in 10.47 and Saul Sharp ensured the lads won the Team Race as he placed 19th in 11.34.
With three in the first ten, the U15 Boys also won their age category which saw Matt Ramsden come home in 3rd (14.48) in a very hotly contested race which saw the first three athletes separated by just three seconds. Sam Hodkinson was one place further back in 4th spot (15.24) with Jamie Teare whose 10th place in 16.02 secured the win for the Club.
One hundred and three young lads contested the U11 Boys race and among them seven Harriers who finished up 3rd Team on the day. Harry Sambrook had a very good run to finish in 8th spot in a time of 6.33 and he was followed in by Daniel Smith in 13th (6.38) and Oliver Gill (14th) clocking 6.39 – just five seconds separating the three lads. Lewis Findlay wasn’t far behind either in 18th place (6.48), with George Ramsden in 42nd position in a time of 7.14, Felix Thompson in 44th (7.18) and George Hodges in 102nd place (9.31).
Isabelle Hartley, Hannah Davies, Kady Thompson and Lulu Sharp represented the Club in the U11 Girls Race which saw them finish 6th Team out of thirteen on the day. As in the U11 Boys race just seconds separated the first three Harriers with Isabelle finishing 22nd in 8.39, Hannah 24th in 8.40 and Kady 25th in 8.41. Lulu ran a time of 10.07 in 76th spot.
In the U13 Girls Race featuring eighty four runners, the Team finished 9th overall on the day. Caroline Woodworth was first home in 20th place posting a time of 11.58, followed closely by Kate Cookson in 22nd spot (12.04) and backed up by Keira Haxton (41st) in 12.48, Eva Knowles in 58th (13.29) and Keira Booth 71st in a time of 13.51. Only one runner out in the U15 Girls Race – Eleesha Charnley and what a race she had placing 2nd overall in the provisional results in a time of 17.37. Again in the U17 Women’s Race, just one runner – Hannah Cookson – who had a solid run to come home 6th overall in twenty one strong field clocking 22.07.
The Senior Women’s Team who won the first Mid Lancs fixture at Cuerden recently, had four runners out and managed to finish 4th Team overall out of 18. Joanne Nelson had another really strong run to place 4th overall and 1st V45 in a time of 19.42 with another good run from Carly Edwards in 13th clocking 21.36. Janine Fallon was next home in 42nd position (22.55) with Lindsay Davies 59th in a time of 24.19.
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Katie Buckingham was also out on the Cross Country again this weekend, competing for the Univerity of Nottingham in the North Midlands League which, according to Katie, is the equivalent of the Red Rose here in Lancashire – she had a great run to finish 12th overall and a massive twenty four places higher than her finish on the same course in 2016.
One thousand two hundred and fifty eight finishers in todays Windmill 10k which saw Joe Gebbie come home in 11th spot and 1st Junior athlete in a provisional Chip Time of 39.08 and Evan Cook take 2nd V65 placing 104th in a time of 44.32.
