Hampshire League Race 4  – 14 January – Kings Park 

As the belief grows, so the results improve, while Lynn and Graeme medal in County Championships.

Kings Park was added to the Hampshire League fixture list this season and, for the first time, the Dorset County Championships for the senior age-groups were run in parallel with a Hampshire League match. This meant there were some vests from Dorset clubs that are not usually seen in the Hampshire League. However, the meeting, as usual, started with the under-13 age-group.

Leading the reds home in the first race of the day was Grace Copeland, who claimed 3^rd place. Yet another excellent result which leaves Grace in equal second place overall in the season averages. She still has some work to do to claim the silver medal at the end of the season – whatever the final outcome, Grace has had an extraordinary debut season in this league. Neither of the second-placed runners in this category can catch the age-group leader Bridget Dence of Bournemouth AC. Maddie Williams was the next red shirt home in 30^th with another fine run. It was great to welcome back Bethan Burley (45) and Pippa Hine (58) as we had failed to field enough runners in the previous Hampshire meeting to record a team score. Wimborne were 8^th team on the day.

Realising a dream – Piers will be a HXC 2011/2012 gold medallist
… and he’s done it with a race to spare.

We were able to claim a race winner in the under-13 boys race, on the back of the u13 boys’ team silver medal that they had won in the South-West Championships just six days earlier. Piers Copeland got his third win of the season in convincing fashion. This means that Piers will be the under-13 boys gold medallist after the final race of the season. The return of Tom Bourne gave us another excellent top ten finish, he claimed 8^th, and that did wonders for our team score. In recent races there has been very little between our next finishers – Tom Boulton (28^th) and Ryan Long (29^th). Despite a troublesome Achilles, Tom edged it on this occasion, a great effort as Ryan is such a fine all-round athlete who has seen his endurance improve dramatically as the season has progressed. The lads scored 4^th place in the team category.

In the under-15 age group we saw some outstanding performances. Sharon Hutchings, who usually leads the line for the team, ran a perfectly judged race to claim third position – this may well be her finest cross-country performance in a red shirt yet. As Sharon is one of our more experienced racers, that is some achievement. Abbie Hine was next in and she also recorded her performance of the season (10^th). We are fortunate to have a group of girls in this age-group who are so close together results-wise that they add a real competitiveness within the team. This time around the finishing order was Ella (27), Charlotte (28) and Chloe (35). Becca Skeats had easily her best race yet, finishing 42^nd – it’s great to see Scooter’s hard work and commitment rewarded with improving results.

We didn’t have quantity in the under-15 boys race, but we did have quality. Ryan Walbridge was our only runner, his third place was his best Hampshire League performance so far and was a pleasure to watch.

 

Ryan Walbridge in full flight, during his best Hampshire League race to date.

Also having his best ever Hampshire League performance was Callum Kennedy. His 9^th place could have been even better, having hunted down and passed a couple of runners, they regained their lost places in the final few yards in a sprint for the line. It is perhaps the time gains Callum has made on those ahead of him that is of even greater significance however.

It was great to see a full ladies team at Kings Park. A special mention must be made of Paula Hine who filled that crucial third spot, enabling the team to score – we came 10^th overall and 7^th in the veterans’ table. As has become the norm the team was led home by Lynn Hutchings. Lynn had also entered the event as a Dorset County Championship runner – very well done Lynn on being awarded the silver medal. Becka Hughes’ 60^th place was easily her best cross-country performance so far.

The last event of the day was the senior men’s race. With three of our regulars – Graham Whiffen, Gerry Hutchings and Paul Hine – injured, the team was a little depleted. Needless to say it was ‘Bionic’ Graeme Furley who wore the first red vest to cross the line (44^th), he had also entered the Dorset County Cross-Country Championships and his performance was enough to earn him the bronze medal. Next in was Mark Copeland (91), he has been so consistent this season we have to remind ourselves that this is only his second season of cross-country running. Then it was the rapidly improving John Hutchings (109) hotly pursued by Rich House (118). Ian Kennedy and Simon Bourne completed our men’s team.

 

Unsung heroes of our men’s team, Rich House and John Hutchings,
putting in yet another good shift.

A few of our runners could consider their performances at Kings Park as their season’s best so far (many on the back of confidence-giving runs in the South-West of England Cross-Country Championships the previous weekend), while we had others who weren’t quite so happy with their races – although the latter is more an indication of the higher standards are athletes are setting themselves than a reflection on performance.

WACers times and results were:

Under-13 Girls (68 finishers) – 8th team on the day

3 – Grace Copeland – 8:45
30 – Maddie Williams – 9:52
45 – Bethan Burley – 10:25
58 – Pippa Hine – 10:50

Under-13 Boys (59 finishers) – 4th team on the day

1 – Piers Copeland – 8:02
8 – Tom Bourne – 8:33
28 – Tom Boulton – 9:19
29 – Ryan Long – 9:24

Under-15 Girls (52 finishers) – 5^th team on the day

3 – Sharon Hutchings – 14:59
10 – Abbie Hine – 15:54
27 – Ella Hearne – 16:41
28 – Charlotte Bourne – 16:48
35 – Chloe Morris – 17:15
42 – Rebecca Skeats – 18:19

Under-15 Boys (55 finishers)

3 – Ryan Walbridge – 13:15

Under-17 Boys (30 finishers)

9 – Callum Kennedy – 19:52

Senior Women (87 finishers) – 10^th team on the day, 7^th Veterans team

33 – Lynn Hutchings – 24:40
60 – Becka Hughes – 27:51
79 – Paula Hine – 33:13

Senior Men (173 finishers) (Wimborne 6th in Div. 2, Wimborne Vets 3rd in Div 2)

44 – Graeme Furley – 33:33
91 – Mark Copeland – 36:41
109 – John Hutchings – 38:09
118 – Rich House – 38:49
145 – Ian Kennedy – 41:07
155 – Simon Bourne – 42:33

Full results for the Hampshire League will be found at

www.athletics.hampshire.org.uk/events/hxcl.html