Athletics
Making a mark at Abington Park

THE second fixtures in the Midland Women’s League and Birmingham Cross Country League took place at Abington Park, Northampton, just the length of an Andrew Hall six away from the County Cricket ground.

Due to injury, Sarah Bland spent the day watching, coaching and cheering on her team of tenacious ladies instead of negotiating the course herself.

Sarah will have been very pleased with the individual and team results but a little disappointed that only six women took part which was well down on the 15 who competed in the season’s opener just a month previously.

The terrain on the 6km route was challenging but none of the inclines were too stiff and actually added a element of variety which is sometimes missing from league venues.

First home for the club was Kate Wright (22nd, 27.45), just ahead of Dani Rasgauski (26th, 28.05).

They were followed by Katy Anderson (38th, 28.53), Sarah Wheeler (66th 30.23), battling Emma Bexson (71st, 31.47) and Cat Clifford (74th, 31.59).

The women finished 7th out of 33 teams, just three points behind Warwick University but ahead of high quality clubs Tipton Harriers and BRAT.

The Masters team finished a spectacular 1st of 24 and will not be far away from the top of the league at the end of the season.

The race was won by current Scottish U20 Cross Country champion, Beth Potter of Loughborough University in 24.57.

Paul Hawkins managed to attract 22 men to run at Northampton and with such a large team the camaraderie is fantastic.

The men’s race was four laps of a 2.5km course and Jack McMullen (23rd, 37.17) proved his result in the first race at Leamington was no fluke and his fleet-footed performance led to an improvement of 11 places from where he finished three weeks previously!

He was just 11 seconds behind the runner from Worcester AC in 20th place so the top 20 must be a realistic target for the next race.

Rob Minton (33rd, 38.05) will be happy to have finished seven places higher than in fixture one, while just behind was Chris Bacon (43rd, 38.31).

They were followed by Andy Cockerill (86th, 40.11), Danny Tolhurst (92nd, 40.29) and Haydn Davies (109th, 41.01).

Michael Warner (120th, 41.41) once again flew out of the traps once the hooter had sounded. Michael, or ‘Spike’ as he is known, and Malcolm Bowyer were inseparable for most of the race and only three seconds separated them at the finish. Malcolm was disappointed at Spike’s lack of respect for his elders as he sprinted clear.

One man who rarely fails to deliver in cross country races is Wayne Vickers (125th, 41.57), finishing ahead of Keith Hawkes (131st, 42.18) who missed the first race of the season with illness and once again ran a stylish race and logged a top drawer time.

Patrick Taylor (138th, 42.54) is a quiet but very confident athlete who keeps producing excellent performances with a smile on his face, while the return to fitness of James Deacon (153rd, 43.57) has given the club a big boost.

Next was David Smyth (167th, 44.56), Sam Taylor (177th, 45.44), Paul Hawkins (183rd, 46.07) and Matt Lyness (187th, 46.34).

Just fifteen places covered the next six Stratford AC finishers led by Roger Wilson (220th, 49.39). Andy Turner just failed to stick with him but is racing more intelligently as each event goes by and making the most of some useful coaching tips.

They were followed by David Jones (225th, 50.46), Mike Barrie (231st, 51.54), Luke Watkins (233rd, 52.19) and Phil Marshall (235th, 52.23) who stuck to their task admirably and ran even-paced races.

The Stratford AC men were 9th on the day and are currently 10th overall in Division Two. Just above Stratford are Sphinx AC, who incidentally host the next League race. The B team were 4th and remain 4th overall.

The winner was Chris Rimmer of Telford AC in 34.13, who was second in the first fixture of the season at Leamington.