Congratulations to Northern Athletics for all their efforts in putting on the Northern Cross Country Championships at Tatton Park on Saturday January 25th, especially, given the weather conditions that existed in the week leading up to the event and the difficutlies of Friday’s weather. The organisation of events like these are sometimes taken for granted, but involve real people giving up their time to freely volunteer in making sure the event goes ahead. Our thanks go to them. On the day itself, the weather, as predicted, behaved – with sunshine, albeit it a chilly 7 degrees and very little wind which led to firm footing for the most part and good championship racing.
(RESULTS)
All Photos on Blackburn Harriers Facebook Page – HERE
Runs of the day for the Harriers came in the U15 Boys race and Senior Men’s race. In the U15 Boys race there was a very competitive battle at the front, with the eventiual winner – Leeds athlete Yaried Alem (12.47), Trafford’s Adrian White just one second behind (12.48) in 2nd and Macclesfield’s Jake Ireland again just one second further back (12.49) making it an extremely exciting race to watch. Just as exciting was the sight of William Grundy having a very fine race, taking a top 10 place in finsihing 8th with a time of 13.28 after holding off athletes from Macclesfield and Darlington in the last 250m. Team mates Theo Robinson and Tom Falencki finished in 58th 75th places respectively with times of 14.52 and 15.16.
William Grundy (97)
The Men’s Senior race featuring nearly 400 runners saw Matt Ramsden – who had won the U20 Northern Championships at Witton a couole of years ago – set off on the 3 lap course, being in the front five places as they started off on the second lap. At the end of lap two, the front four had opend up a gap of about five metres, leaving Matt in 5th place as he battled to stay in contention. The race was won by York’s Angus McMillan in 35.57, with Hallamshire’s Tommy Power in 2nd (36.03) and Salford’s Harry Wakefield in 3rd (36.07). Matt crossed the finish line in 6th place with a time of 36.32. Next home for the Harriers was Ben Makin in 76th spot running 40.20 for the 11.75k distance, followed by Stephen Hall in 152nd (43.14), Chris Marsden in 218th who told us he “enjoyed that and liked the longer stuff” running 46.18, Anton Krige in 243rd place (47.41), Paul Guinan in 261st spot with a time of 48.25 and Chris Balderson 336th in 53.45. Jack Lamb was our only athlete in the U20 men’s race featuring 63 runners – Jack coming home in 37th spot running 27.54. Freya Neild ran in the U17 W
Matt Ramsden
Freya Neild
Ethan Cutler (88)
Just three Harriers in the Senior Women’s race featuring 211 finishers and won impressively by Hallamshire’s Lauren Heyes in 26.54 – a winning margin of 26 seconds to Sophie Tarver (Wirral) in 2nd and York’s Katy Wood in 3rd. First home for the Harriers was Rebecca Ward in 101st spot (35.22) foillowed by team mates Tanith-Jade Ellis in 118th (36.09) and Carly Edwards in 131st (36.58). The U15 Girls Race had 138 finishers and had Millie Jordan as the first finisher for the Harriers in 41st spot in a time of 15.59. Team mates Lyra Krige finished in 70th in a time of 16.44 with Hetty Green also running in the race but didn’t appear on the results as she had a wrong number on. Esme Krige was the sole runner in the U13 Girls race, placing 122nd in 14.54, whilst Oliver North was the sole runner in the U13 Boys race – placing 58th in a time of 11.12 out of field of 138.
Rebecca Ward (104)
Millie Jordan (93)
