Prospect Park, Reading
turned out to be another excellent and challenging course. The ground
was frozen solid and there were a couple of stiff climbs on the route.
As the race came so close after the Christmas/New Year break the team
was a little depleted, with some team members still away, and a few
taken out by flu-like symptoms. This had a particularly bad effect on
the mens team. Five of our top 6 men were unavailable. Graham Whiffen,
our only top 6 man there, was struggling with tight calfs, and a few of
us further down the order were not completely recovered from coughs and
colds either. Under the circumstances it was not that surprising that
after the results have been calculated that the senior men dropped out
of the promotion spots with one race to go. We can get promotion at our
first attempt still, but it will take a big effort in the final race of
the season at Salisbury on 14 February.
On race day we got off to a
great start with another spirited performance from Sharon Hutchings, her
best yet in the Hampshires. In the under-13 boys Jordan Symington was
doubtful right up until race day as he has been recovering from illness.
In the circumstances Jordan did superbly. With Ross Kirkpatrick now
turning out for the under-15s it is great to see us recording a team
score. It was Ross best race for us so far. Jack and Callums personal
battle further down the field continued. After a couple of recent
outstanding runs from Maddy, a little race-tiredness caught up with
her. Maddy had made an encouraging road race debut just two days earlier
(where she won her age group).
Nicki Roe led our ladies
in, with Lyn Hutchings recording her best result of the season next
WACer in. Claire Newby brought in the points to secure a team score.
Despite Graham Whiffen
struggling with his calfs he was still the first WACer in. Craig Dixon,
who isnt yet up to full speed since returning from India, was next with
Jeff Hinsley not far behind him. The final team points were scored by
Steve Snook.
WACers times and results were:
Under-13 Girls
22 Sharon Hutchings 10:43
Under-13 Boys
34 Jordan Symington 12:11
Under-15 Boys (6th
team)
18 Ross Kirkpatrick 14:23
29 Jack Snook 17:12
30 Callum Kennedy 17:30
Under-17 Women
15 Maddy Vaughan-Johncey 18:15
Senior Women (15th
team)
60 Nicki Roe 26:50
75 Lyn Hutchings 29:00
86 Claire Newby 33:05
Senior Men (7th team)
129 Graham Whiffen 35:03
172 Craig Dixon 38:16
175 Jeff Hinsley 38:36
184 Steve Snook 40:24
186 Ian Kennedy 40:39
193 Paul Hine 41:55
Full results for the Hampshire League
can be found at
www.athletics.hampshire.org.uk/events/hxcl.html
