ALEX ADAMS claimed a 23rd successive victory as Stratford AC secured a fourth place finish in the West Midland Young Athletes Cross-Country League.
The Stratford runner led from the start in the under-17 men’s race to win in a time of 17 minutes 12 seconds, 35 seconds clear of second place, to take his fifth championship in a row.
Maisie-Joy Spriggs (second in the under-15 girls), Niamh Hillard (fourth in the under-15 girls) and Charly Marshall (sixth in the under-17 women’s) also produced strong individual performances across the season.
The fifth and final league race of the season took place in Nuneaton as Stratford finished fourth overall out of 21 competing clubs.
And Adams strolled to victory in the three-lap under-17 men’s race with Theo Skirvin (25th in 19 mins 43 secs) and Caleb Spriggs (34th in 20 mins 33 secs) which secured fourth place, only missing out on a medal by a handful of points.
In the under-15 girls race, Joy-Spriggs finished second in 13 mins 29 secs as she fell just short of her first league win but will be delighted to have run her best ever season and was followed home by Hillard (eighth in 14 mins 19 secs) and Maddie Linfoot (12th in 14 mins 47 secs).
Behind them, Lucy Thomas (27th in 15 mins 53 secs), Martha Peters (37th in 16 mins 7 secs), Abbi Cooper (41st in 16 mins 18 secs), Alice Cottam (43rd in 16 mins 20 secs), Emily Cottam (49th in 16 mins 46 secs), Hannah Wilkinson (54th in 17 mins 5 secs), Charlotte Skinner (56th in 17 mins 7 secs) and Tilly Campbell (60th in 17 mins 42 secs) made up Stratford’s biggest team on the day and earned a third place medal.
Marshall produced her best performance of the season to finish second in 15 mins 54 seconds in the under-17 women’s race, coming home well clear of second place, with Ellie Deaner (31st in 19 mins 43 secs) and Abigail Skinner (34th in 20 mins 23 secs).
Elsewhere, the under-15 boys bunched together to secure second place overall with Milo Cullimore first home in 17th in 12 mins 56 secs.
He was followed by Henry Wheeler (21st in 13 mins 10 secs), Will Mayes (24th in 13 mins 16 secs), James Day (27th in 13 mins 26 secs) and Gabriel Gaiser (33rd in 13 mins 35 secs) for the top five scoring positions.
In the same race, Hugh Markham (39th in 13 mins 55 secs), Seb Hillard (47th in 14 mins 23 secs), Alex Macmillan (60th in 15 mins 24 secs) and Joe Lewis (64th in 16 mins 10 secs) all produced strong finishes.
And Stella Sant led home Stratford’s under-11 girls, finishing 20th in a time of eight mins 36 secs with Amelia Marshall (35th in 9 mins 2 secs), Rachel Sparrow (46th in 9 mins 20 secs), Jasmine Mothershaw (51st in 9 mins 29 secs) and Georgia Sharpe (53rd in 9 mins 31 secs) working hard in the middle of the pack.
Toby Spriggs was first to finish for Stratford in the under-11 boys race, coming home 37th in a time of eight mins 39 secs with Toby Wilkinson (62nd in 9 mins 12 secs), Callum Linforth (76th in 9 mins 41 secs) and Henry Thomas (88th in 10 mins 21 secs) as the team finished in eighth place overall.
Injuries and illness depleted the under-13 girls team which left Lois Ford (16th in 11 mins 7 secs), Ava Sheppard (40th in 11 mins 58 secs) and Tessa Parkin (43rd in 12 mins 2 secs) to complete the race and finish seventh overall having won the first league race of the season with a full team.
Lastly, in the under-13 boys race, Joel Ledgard (18th in 10 mins 13 secs), Alfie Musk (39th in 11 mins 23 secs), Arthur Mansbridge (50th in 12 mins 13 secs) and Ewan Sparrow (59th in 13 mins 22 secs) all worked well to finish inside the top-60 places.
