Wessex League Cross Country – Ham Hill – 1 March 2009

This course is one of Ian’s favourites, being described as ‘lumpy’ and ‘bonkers’. Sadly Ian had found an excuse to miss out on a plod around a very scenic course on a beautiful day – was this a deliberate ploy? In fact WAC numbers were rather depleted, what with the Mad March Hare road league race occupying a number of our athletes and also some niggly injuries counting some out, so it was great to see all those that did turn up at Ham Hill.

WAC fielded four athletes in the under 11 race, which was won convincingly by Piers Copeland. His sister, Grace was 2^nd girl home and Kelly Snook and Leanne Symington also had good runs.

In the under 13 girls, Sharon Hutchings had a great run, coming in 3^rd, and Alex V-J looked very strong after coming back from injury. She finished 11^th. In the boys, Jordan Symington enjoyed a steady race and also finished in 11th place.

Callum held the Kennedy clan’s name up in the under 15 boys and enjoyed a good strong run on what is a tough course. The same course was also used by the under 17 women which saw Maddy V-J and Laura Harvey secure 1^st team spot.

The senior women were next and had an eventful race, being misdirected by a marshal and having their course altered slightly – but not in total distance fortunately. Kirsty Harvey, Lyn Hutchings, and Annmarie Pearson came away with 1^st team spot mirroring the under 17s’ achievement.

Finally the senior men also managed to field a complete team. Graham Whiffen was lead WACer, backed up by Dave Pearson and Steve Snook.

With one race to go Sharon is third in the averages in her age group, and Maddy and Laura are 2^nd and 4^th in theirs. Kirsty is top of the averages in the under-20s and the Senior Women, with Lyn and Annmarie in 2^nd and 3^rd place. Lyn is also top of the Lady Vets category. The Wimborne Ladies are top team in both the under-17s and the Senior Women categories.

The men’s aggregates currently stand with Jordan 10^th under-13, Callum 5^th under-15. In the Seniors Graham Whiffen is 5^th and Steve Snook 11^th (he is also top of the V45 category). On the team front, the Senior Men and the Veteran Men lie in 2^nd place in their categories.

Well done to everyone who took part at Ham Hill, and we look forward to seeing as many as can make it for the final fixture in the Wessex Cross Country League which is scheduled to take place at Avon Heath Country Park on Sunday 22 March. 

WACers times and results were:

Under-11s (2^nd team)

1 – Piers Copeland – 5:07

6 – Grace Copeland – 5:57

11 – Kelly Snook – 6:26

12 – Leanne Symington – 6:36

Under-13 Girls

3 – Sharon Hutchings – 1:58

9 – Alexandra Vaughan-Johncey – 13:16

Under-13 Boys

11 – Jordan Symington – 12:08

Under-15 Boys

5 – Callum Kennedy – 15:29

Under-17 Women (1^st  team)

5 – Maddy Vaughan-Johncey – 16:32

8 – Laura Harvey – 19:27

Senior Women (1^st  team)

2 – Kirsty Harvey – 28:25 (also 1^st U20)

3 – Lyn Hutchings –28:40

6 – Annmarie Pearson – 32:36

Senior Men (5^th team)

10 – Graham Whiffen – 42:06

19 – Dave Pearson – 47:30

21 – Steve Snook – 49:39

 

Full results for the Wessex League will be found at  www.wessexleague.com