WESSEX CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE - NEWBURY NOVEMBER  2006

 ( full results and times can be found at http://www.wessexleague.com  )

Sixteen members of Mendip Athletics Club enjoyed a classic cross country course at St Gabriels school on the outskirts of Newbury on Sunday as the Wessex League held its second fixture of the winter. With some heavy rain in the days leading up to the event, the underfoot conditions had softened considably and there were stretches of thick mud in places, along with deep puddles on the paths along the edges of Greenham common.

First to run was Christian Young in the fun run, and he was obviously relishing the quick dash down to the woods as he held a top five position as the runners disappeared out of sight. By the end Christian still held 12th place, an excellent finish out of the 40 youngsters taking part. The first of the league races saw Aoife Thorogood rapidly to the fore as she chased Taunton runner Isla Ness around the course to record her second runner-up spot of the season. Having an exceptional run only 15 seconds down was Mendip Junior Schools league leader Rebecca Carver in 8th place. Rebecca has another 2 years in this age-group and should be one to watch for the future. With Ruby Kelly suffering, it was Emily Derrick that came through to 18th to close the team who were disappointed to be relegated to 3rd place on the day. Ruby crossed the line in 25th, with Adele Martin running well for 29th and Simone Young in 32nd. In the league standings Aoife maintains second spot, while the club managed to hang on to the number one spot.

Ottalie Day was the only MAC runner in the under 15 girls race which saw a massive field of 40 runners turn out. Ottalie ran well to complete in 12th position and must look forward to securing a county place at the Somerset championships this Saturday.

Kieran Young had an inspired run after his long trip to the UK Cross Challenge race in Liverpool the day before. Chasing Yeovil Olympiad runner George Harris for most of the 3K course, the pair pulled well clear with Kieran securing second spot. Another of MAC's leading junior school's runners, Ben Miller, ran a strong race over an unfamiliar distance to finish an excellent 6th. Callum Parker was a late addition to the team and ran well despite suffering a muscle strain on the first of the two laps, finishing in 18th place to secure 3rd team spot. Kierans older brother, Nathan, made amends for his disappointing outing to Liverpool where a choatic start saw him knocked to the ground and badly spiked. He bravely got to his feet to give chase and closed to within 2 seconds of the race winner by the finish but was not happy with his 4th placed finish. At Newbury he made certain of a problem-free run by quickly getting to the front and easing round ahead of local rivals Alex Wiltshire and Charlie Maclean.

The under 17 men's race saw the return of Pat Day after a couple of months away with injury. Dan Layton followed up his 2nd spot at the first fixture with another solid run, this time finishing in 3rd place to maintain his runner up spot in the league standings. Pat eased his way back with an accomplished 11th place, while Dominic Henry had a below-par run in 14th. The team did well to to snatch 2nd place from Salisbury by a single point. With students Doug Hall and Charles Albrow unable to attend, the Mendip men's team failed to capitalise on their 2nd place finish from the opening fixture. New signing David Fry had an inspired run to finish in 4th spot, while club endurance coach Ian Humphreys maintained his bid for a medal in his age-group category by completing in 31st place. After a 4th and 3rd place he now heads a small band of runners who have scored in both matches - a lead which is bound not to last!