Press report: County Medals all round at Birchwood

CARYS ROBERTS and Dave Alexander were crowned county cross country champions at Birchwood Forest Park.

The West Cheshire Athletic Club duo grabbed individual gold medals at the annual Cheshire AA Championships.

Roberts posted a winning time of 13 minutes 26 seconds to secure the under 13 girls title, six seconds clear of her nearest rival and was supported by club mates Jessica Lark (11th in 15:16), Martha Willetts (16th in 16:03), Aimee Phillips (18th in 16:14), and Megan White (31st in 18:53), to earn the team third spot.

Alexander bagged a gold medal in his over 50 men’s age group with a time of 39:02, backed up by team mates Mark Davies (sixth over-40 man in 40:59), Richard Hayes (third over-45 man in 42:19), and Andrew Clague (third over-50 man in 42:39), to earn second spot in the veteran men’s team event.

Ruby Phillips (second in 9:05), Cerys Rowlands (third in 9:07), Eleanor Williams (16th in 9:37), Lottie Blake (23rd in 10:26), and Ingrid Tait (31st in 11:16), secured second place in the under 11 girls team event.

Dave Dentith (fourth in 30:45), Rory Willson (eighth in 33:58), and Curtis Rodway (ninth in 34:53) combined to secure under 20 men’s team gold medals.

Issy Clarke posted 21:25 for third spot in the under 20 women’s race, ahead of Beth McMahon (sixth in 24:09).

Sion Roberts was third in the under 17 men’s race in 17:23, ahead of Paul Morrison (13th in 19:18), Harvey Tegg (14th in 19:26), Matthew Douglass (20:09) to earn fourth team spot.

Jamie Richardson (fourth in 14:50), Sammy Hollins (15th in 16:03), Isaac Tait (16th in 16:22), and Joseph Hancock (17th in 16:56) combined to earn fourth team spot in the under 15 boys event, and Lily Moorhouse was seventh in the under 17 ladies race in 25:22.

Sophie Grainger (seventh in 17:02), Lucia Pyne (13th in 18:00), and Abigail Cartwright (18th in 20:4) posted fourth spot in the under 15 girls team event.

Luke Parker (eighth in 13:51), Dan Willetts (12th in 14:07), Reece Munro (26th in 15:15), and Louis Tegg (30th in 15:54) combined to earn fifth team spot in the under 13 boys age group.

Neil Hershaw (fourth over-50 man in 43:13), Phil Woodley (43:28), Andy Carter (10th over-45 man in 44:32), John Parlevliet (15th over-40 man in 45:28), and Barry Thomas (59:12) secured fifth spot in the men’s team event.

Joshua Oates (27th in 10:02), Oliver Mallon (31st in 10:50), and Bryn Thomas (32nd in 10:54) earned eighth team spot in the under 11 boys race.

Ellie Robinson (fifth over-45 lady in 38:32), Claire Harris (38:40), Claire Williams (sixth over-45 lady in 40:12), Clare Mallon (11th over-45 lady in 42:53), Ellen McMahon (43:24), Angela Tegg (14th over-45 lady in 44:13), and Hannah Moorhouse (16th over-45 lady in 48:20) earned fifth spot in the veteran women’s team event and 10th place in the women’s team event.

IMOGEN PUGHE clocked a new under 15 girls 600m personal best of 1:42.88 and added 8.32 seconds in the 60m at the Manchester Indoor Open Meeting.

The West Cheshire AC youngster was joined at the event by Jake Gibson who posted 7.88 in the Under 20 men’s 60m and 25.22 seconds for the 200m, while Uzezi Onomerike clocked 26.39 seconds in the Under 15 boys 200m and 8.05 for 60m.

Stephanie Jones posted 27.62 in the Under 15 girls 200m and long jumped 4.69m, while Jodi Bemand clocked 29.37 in the Under 15 girls 200m and 10.15 in the 60m hurdles, and Joseph Morrison rounded the Under 23 men’s 600m in 1:23.59.

FIXTURES this weekend include the North Wales Cross Country League fourth round at Northop, on Saturday (2pm start), and the Manchester Cross Country League fourth round, at Heaton Park, on Saturday (12 noon start), while the Northern Indoor Under 17s, Under 20s, and Senior Championships take place on Saturday and Sunday at Sheffield.

ENTRIES are now being accepted for the Essar Chester Spring Five Miles Road Race being held on Wednesday, April 10, from Cheshire County Sports Club, Upton, Chester. The Link for online entries is: https://wcac.niftyentries.com/Essar-Chester-Spring-512

ENTRIES are being accepted for the Northern Indoor Athletics Championships being held at Sheffield. Entries close on January 18 for the under 13 and under 15 championships being held on February 3. Further details can be found at: https://www.northernathletics.org.uk/

ENTRIES are also now being accepted for the England Athletics Indoor Championships being held at Sheffield, on this link.