STRATFORD-upon-Avon Athletic Club’s junior athletes competed in the fourth race of the West Midland Young Athlete Cross Country League season.
The fourth meeting of the season took place at Aldersley Stadium in Wolverhampton as the cold snap lifted with warmer conditions and grey skies greeting the runners.
In the under-17 women’s race over 4,000m, a fine team effort saw Brooke Rossney finish 32nd in 19 minutes 34 seconds with Martha Peters 34th (19 mins 54 secs) and Hannah Wilkinson 45th in 23 mins 9 secs.
Next up, the under-11 boys’ race saw 106 competitors take on the 1,600m course as Rafe White finished strongly to cross the line in 38th (6 mins 4 secs) just ahead of Dexter Sharpe in 43rd (6 mins 8 secs).
They were closely followed by Oliver Hollis in 58th (6 mins 17 secs), Lewis Cowley 61st (6 mins 23 secs), Simon Zawada 66th (6 mins 28 secs) and Reuben Wheeler 76th (6 mins 39 secs).
In the under-17 men’s race, Sam and Zak Lambert impressed once again to finish sixth in ninth respectively in times of 15 mins 20 secs and 15 mins 56 secs over the 4,800m distance.
And Tom Fisher enjoyed a brilliant run to finish 13th (16 mins 6 secs) followed by Will Mayes 17th (16 mins 18 secs), James Day 32nd (17 mins 17 secs) and James Mayes 34th (17 mins 41 secs).
Stratford’s under-11 girls’ fielded a strong squad with Elsie Pipitone first home for the club in 19th (6 mins 3 secs) while Saskia Atkins 35th (6 mins 24 secs) and Laura Ryan-Gill 42nd (6 mins 28 secs) finished inside the top-50.
Further back, Sara Clewer 52nd (6 mins 42 secs), Marnie Short 66th (6 mins 56 secs), Matilda Hutchings 72nd (7 mins 3 secs), Indigo Storm Ogilivie-Putt 77th (7 mins 12 secs), Imogen Jolly 83rd (7 mins 28 secs) and Ella-May Williams 89th (7 mins 42 secs) all finished the race.
Stratford’s under-15 boys’ produced an impressive team performance over the 3,200m course as Will Hovell finished fourth (10 mins 18 secs).
Teammates Joel Ledgard and Arthur Williamson showed resilience to finish 12th and 13th respectively in times of 10 mins 48 secs and 10 mins 58 secs while Max Rossney placed 59th (14 mins 56 secs).
In the under-13 girls’ race, Lucia Nicole Ogilvie-Putt’s excellent run saw her finish seventh (9 mins 58 secs) with Amelie Marshall eighth (10 mins 2 secs) over the 2,500m course.
And Maggie Silvers 18th (10 mins 17 secs) also finished in the top-20 with Jasmine Mothershaw 52nd (11 mins 0 secs) and Emily Lambert 57th (11 mins 7 secs).
In the under-13 boys’ race, Tom Yates 32nd (9 mins 40 secs), Toby Wilkinson 47th (10 mins 16 secs) and also Toby Ledgard 48th (10 mins 18 secs) all finished inside the top-50 over the 2,500m course.
And in the under-15 girls’ race, over a 3,200m distance, Marijke Tear-Verweij finished an excellent sixth (11 mins 56 secs) with Lois Ford 29th (13 mins 24 secs) and Elle Weir 39th (13 mins 47 secs).
A thrilling finish saw debutant Rosa Pipitone cross the line in 59th (15 mins 12 secs) just ahead of Georgia Sharpe in 60th (15 mins 13 secs).
Pipitone said: “The feeling afterwards was absolutely amazing, when’s the next race?”
Stratford sit fifth out of 21 teams in the overall standings while a number of the club’s athletes are in the top-10 individual standings in their respective age categories.
In the under-17 men’s standings, Sam and Zak Lambert sit second and fifth respectively.
And Stratford trio Hovell in third, Joel Ledgard in fifth and Williamson in ninth are all in the top-10 in the under-15 boys’ standings.
Under-15 girls’ athlete Tear-Verweij is fifth in the standings with Marshall ninth in the under-13 girls’ standings and Elsie Pipitone 10th in the under-11 girls’ standings.
