Wessex League Race 5 – Avon Heath – 28 March 2010
Five WACers are
crowned Wessex League Champions as three WAC teams win their categories.
Seven days on from the
Ferndown Rotary 10k we were back at Avon Heath, this time in Wessex
League action. This was the final race of the season and many WACers had
plenty to race for as the 2009/2010 trophies were going to be awarded at
the end of the day.
Unusually the seniors and
under-17s races were run first. At 1pm the gun fired and the women’s
race was off. Lynn Hutchings got off to a flying start, her fine run got
her a season’s best third position. For much of the season we have been
bemoaning the lack of support for Lynn and Paula Hine in this race so it
was very encouraging to see some more red vests. Trudi Carter and Kirsty
Harvey were competing in their first XC races for some time and there
was a race debut for Lisa Copeland. It was wonderful to welcome back
Laura Harvey in the under-17s, Laura hasn’t raced since the very first
XC meeting of the season at Kings Park.
Ten minutes later the men
were off. First man home was the bloody but unbowed WAC WXC debutant Roy
Long. Roy had been involved in a lively duel with fellow WACer Stewart
Little, at the end of it they were split by 7 seconds. Roy’s
adrenalin-fuelled race saw him come crashing down after tripping over
tree roots. He crossed the line with severely grazed shins and a
bleeding and bruised shoulder. Rich House was next WACer in – and this
time he showed his true form (having played a supporting role the
previous week). Rounding off the WAC men’s team was Paul Hine who
recorded a very respectable time for this tricky and technical 9.8k
race.
With senior races
completed we then worked our way through the junior programme. Grace
Copeland followed last week’s win in the Rotary 2.5k with a second
place. She and Liam Murphy-Parry crossed the line so close together they
were unable to be split on the timekeeper’s watch. Pippa Hine recorded
the vital third score for team, which saw Wimborne into 3rd
place on the day. Pippa has competed in all the Wessex League races this
season.
We have seen some strong
performances from the under-13 girls team all season. They finished
second team on the day with our first three (Sharon Hutchings, Abbie
Hine and Chloe Morris) coming in 4th, 5th and 6th.
It was great to see Leanne Symington competing too, hopefully Leanne
will become one of our regular racers next season.
It was fantastic to
record a Wimborne 1-2 in the under-13 boys race. Piers Copeland can only
have learned and received a big confidence boost from his 2.5k race win
at the same venue the previous week. He was kept honest all the way
around by Ryan Walbridge who was in close attendance. Jordan Symington
gave excellent support to secure the third team spot and our boys
finished top team on the day. It was good to see Chris Coomes competing
for us, and he is another that we hope to see more of next season.
The under-15 boys team is
looking stronger too, with Callum Kennedy and David Long pushing each
other hard in training and replicating this in the race. Jack Snook ran
superbly, as he has concentrated his training in recent times on his
pole vault (to great effect) he was a little short of endurance mileage.
Jack had also played in a rugby match in the morning, so under these
circumstances his run was a very fine one. The three boys finished 2nd
team on the day.
With all the races run,
our WACers faced an anxious wait to hear how they had done over the
season. Once the data had been fed into a laptop it was time for the
awards ceremony. Our anxious wait had proved worthwhile as there was a
long list of Wimborne winners.
WAC Wessex League
Champions in their age groups were:
Sharon Hutchings, Lynn Hutchings, Paula Hine, Ryan Walbridge and Paul
Hine.
Silver medals went to:
Grace Copeland and Callum Kennedy.
Bronze went to:
Abbie Hine and Piers Copeland.
Other creditable
performances were achieved by:
Pippa Hine (4th), Liam Murphy-Parry (5th), Chloe
Morris (5th).
Very well done to all of
you.
The outstanding Wimborne
team performance of the year undoubtedly came from the under-13 girls,
and they are Wessex League Champions for 2009/2010. The core of the team
was Abbie Hine, Sharon Hutchings and Chloe Morris and these three
received excellent support from Alivia Gillard, Abi Logan, Kelly
O’Mahony and Leanne Symington.
The WAC senior men’s team
and WAC men’s veterans’ teams also finished the season as Wessex League
Champions. The spine of the Wessex League men’s teams was built around
Paul Hine, Rich House, Ian Kennedy, Stewart Little and Graham Whiffen
with valuable contributions from Phil Burgess, Steve Headley, Gerry
Hutchings, John Hutchings, Roy Long, Andrew Olden and Paul Teck.
The young WACers spirited
performances in the under-11s age group saw us placed third. Well done
to Grace Copeland, Pippa Hine and Liam Murphy-Parry with support from
Harry Hughes, James Hughes and Phoebe O’Mahony.
Results for WACers at
Avon Heath were:
Under-11s (3rd
team)
5 – Grace Copeland – 5:16
(2nd girl)
6 – Liam Murphy-Parry –
5:16
15 – Pippa Hine – 6:30
Under-13 girls (2nd
team)
4 – Sharon Hutchings –
12:01
5 – Abbie Hine – 12:11
6 – Chloe Morris – 12:21
11 – Leanne Symington –
14:06
Under-13 boys (1st
team)
1 – Piers Copeland –
10:10
2 – Ryan Walbridge –
10:17
5 – Jordan Symington –
11:01
9 – Chris Coomes – 13:07
Under-15 boys (2nd
team)
5 – Callum Kennedy –
15:40
6 – David Long – 15:55
8 – Jack Snook – 16:34
Under-17 women
2 – Laura Harvey – 26:07
Senior women (3rd
team)
3 – Lynn Hutchings –
20:33
9 – Trudi Carter – 22:31
12 – Lisa Copeland –
24:29
13 – Kirsty Harvey –
25:24
14 – Paula Hine – 25:40
Senior men (3rd
team, vet men 1st)
8 – Roy Long – 36:55
9 – Stewart Little –
37:02
14 – Rich House – 39:39
20 – Paul Hine – 43:17
