WARRINGTON Athletic Club picked up a total of nine gold, six silver and two bronze medals in the Cheshire Cross Country Championships.
The event was held at Birchwood Forest Park and, unlike previous years when parts of the course resembled a swamp, was held in fairly dry conditons with firm going leading to fast racing.
Warrington’s medal haul consisted of four gold, five silver and one bronze individual and five gold, one silver and one bronze team.
The day started with the under 11’s races and Warrington runners were prominent from the gun. Jack Marwood took an early lead followed by team mates Jacob Pryor and Tyreece Swinton. Jack and Jacob pulled clear to take the gold and silver medals while Tyreece completed the A team in 4th place to take the Team Shield for the 18th time in 26 years with 7 points.
The B team of Spencer Astbury (13th),Ben Woods (15th) and Matthew Seddon (17th) finished 4th team and were 1st B team on 45 points
Not to be outdone the girls A team did well with Nia Wharton (4th) Eva Jha (6th) and Nia’s twin Imogen Wharton (7th) for a total of 17 points to win the team shield for the 12th time in 22 years.
The B team with identical twins Cara Gregory (18th) and Sinead Gregory (21st) along with Ellie Barker (24th) finished 6th on 63 points and were 2nd B team. Esme Heavey having been in 3rd place was unfortunately unable to finish when she became unwell.
Next up were the under 13’s where Erik Marshall having been in 3rd place for most of the race produced an excellent finish over the final few hundred metres to take the silver medal and backed up by Rory Gregory (11th) and Ben Pucill (14th) collected the team bronze medals on 27 points. Zak Chamun and Max Ryder both ran well to finish in 25th and 28th places respectively
.In the girls Emily Entwistle (5th),Lucie Davies (6th) and Molly Wormald (9th) ran excellently to take the team gold medals with 20 points. The B team of Alice Nicholson (10th) who just failed to catch Molly plus Harriet Bell (15th) and Amelia Smithers (22nd) finished in 6th place on 47 points and were 2nd B team while the C team of Evie Owen (23rd),Corin Smith(27th) and Rhiannon Wilkes (29th) finish in 8th place on 79 points and were 1st C team.
In the under 15 girls Orla Gregory had an excellent run to win the bronze medal and led the team completed by Jess Connolly (4th) and Eva Ferris (11th) to the team silver medals on 18 points. Maisie Bell and Jasmine Jones did not finish.
In the under 17’s Joe Buckley was an excellent winner of the gold medal in the men’s race and was followed home by Jordan Jones for the silver medal. The team was completed by Ben Webb in 7th place for a total of 10 points. Joe Roberts had an excellent run to finish in 9th place and a below par Isaaq Ataullah finished in 11th place. In the girls Siobhan Gregory and Madeleine Anderson had a race long battle to finish in 5th and 6th places.
In the Under 20 women’s race there was a family battle for the gold and silver medals as Katie Lowery fought off her young sister Emily (running for Vale Royal) to run out the winner. Katie was backed up by Lauren Ferris (4th) and Rachael McQuillan (5th) to take the team gold medal with 10 points. In the men’s race Charlie Turnbull fought hard all the way to finish in 7th place while Jack Wadsworth did not finish.
The day was completed by the senior men’s race where Tom Greaves ran excellently to finish in 24th place to lead the team in to 7th place. The team was completed by Steve Watmough (28th) 1st over 55, Dave Norman (39th) 2nd over 55,Daniel Newman (74th) 8th over 50, Steve Burthem (78th) 4th over 55 and David Gill (86th) 2nd over 60 for a team total of 329 points.
In the Masters team race the team of Steve Watmough, Dave Norman, Daniel Newman and Steve Burthem finished in 5th place on 86 points.
Results
Senior Men
24 Tom Greaves 39.50
28 Steve Watmough 40.31
39 Dave Norman 41.55
74 Daniel Newman 44.33
78 Steve Burthem 44.46
86 David Gill 45.11
Team 7th 329 points
Masters Men
7 Steve Watmough 1st over 55
11 Dave Norman 2nd over 55
32 Daniel Newman 8th over 50
36 Steve Burthem 4th over 55
44 David Gil 2nd over 60
Masters Team 5th 86 points
Under20 Men
7 Charlie Turnbull 32.05
Under 20 Women
1 Katie Lowery 20.15
4 Lauren Ferris 21.49
5 Rachael McQuillan 23.33
Team 1st 10 points
Under 17 Men
1 Joe Buckley 16.49
2 Jordan Jones 17.03
7 Ben Webb 18.08
9 Joe Roberts 18.30
11 Isaaq Ataullah 18.40
Team 1st 10 points
Under 17 Women
5 Siobhan Gregory 24.29
6 Madeleine Anderson 24.38
Under 15 Girls
3 Orla Gregory 16.25
4 Jess Connolly 17.00
11 Eva Ferris 17.41
Team 2nd 18 points
Under 13 Boys
2 Erik Marshall 12.41
11 Rory Gregory 14.06
14 Ben Pucill 14.25
25 Zak Chamun 15.15
28 Max Ryder 15.30
Team 3rd 27 points
Under13 Girls
5 Emily Entwistle 14.22
6 Lucie Davies 14.38
9 Molly Wormald 15,03
10 Alice Nicholson 15.05
15 Harriet Bell 15.58
22 Amelia Smithers 16.48
23 Evie Owen 16.50
27 Corin Smith 16.59
29 Rhiannon Wilkes 17.42
A Team 1st 20 points
B Team 6th 47 points
C Team 8th 79 points
Under 11 Boys
1 Jack Marwood 8.13
2 Jacob Pryor 8.27
4 Tyreece Swinton 8.44
13 Spencer Astbury 9.10
15 Ben Woods 9.15
17 Matthew Seddon 9.24
A Team 1st 7 points
B Team 4th 45 points
Under 11 Girls
4 Nia Wharton 9.12
6 Eva Jha 9.20
7 Imogen Wharton 9.21
18 Cara Gregory 9.57
21 Sinead Gregory 10.11
24 Ellie Barker 10.26
A Team 1st 17 points
B Team 6th 63 points
The Under 17 gold medal winning team
