South-West XC Championships – 8 January – Bicton
Dorset
have two South-West XC Champions as WAC claim two team silver medals.
The first cross-country
race of a very busy 2012 was the South-West Championships at Bicton in
Devon. We’ve been looking forward to this one for some time, some of us
with just a little trepidation, as the same fixture last year didn’t go
entirely to plan and it was a chance for all to set the record straight.
Last year we took 10
Wimborne athletes to this event, this time we doubled that number. With
up to 12 athletes permitted to represent Dorset in each age-group every
Wimborne runner forsook their red vest for the day in favour of the
green vests of Dorset. Our WACers were united in combat with team-mates
from Bournemouth AC, Dorchester AC, Dorset Pentathletes, Poole AC, Poole
Runners, (Dorset-born members of) Wells City Harriers, plus Weymouth St
Pauls and even one Dorset-born runner from Chiltern Harriers to form the
county team.
Just a few of
Wimborne’s athletes in their county vests
Chloe Morris
Not all of Dorset’s finest
athletes were available but we could boast all six of this season’s
Dorset champions from the junior age-groups – U13G - Bridget Dence
(Bournemouth AC), U13B – Piers Copeland (Wimborne AC), U15G – Emma
Butterworth (Poole AC), U15B – Andy Smith (Poole Runners), U17W – Hilary
Hansford (Dorchester AC) and U17M – Ben Westhenry (Weymouth St Pauls).
The day was unseasonably
warm, with barely any wind and we set off from Wimborne in good time.
It’s as well that we did as, at around 9am, just before we reached
Bridport, one of our vehicles (with four of our athletes in it) suffered
a breakdown. With the aid of mobile phones we regrouped, redistributed
the athletes and left three parents with the broken down vehicle
awaiting recovery. The broken down vehicle and its occupants got back to
Wimborne around the same time as the first race started. Despite the
drama en route the team managed to arrive at Bicton with enough
time to set up the team tent.
The under-13s
race is underway. Bridget (995) obscures Maddie,
while Grace (994) is in the centre Simon
Bourne
The first race of the day
was the under-13 girls. A classy performance from Dorset Champion
Bridget Dence of Bournemouth AC got the county off to a flying start,
the timing sheets say that Bridget won by just six seconds, but it
looked much more comfortable than that. Bridget competed in the same
race last year and came 14th , this bodes very well for
Wimborne’s Grace Copeland who was a superb fourth this time – Grace has
another two years in this age-group. The next two Dorset runners home
were from Wimborne – Maddie Williams and Bethan Burley, with Hannah
Westhenry completing the Dorset entry. These girls recorded 4th
place for the county.
Race 2 was the under-13
boys, and Wimborne had just enough runners to compete in the club team
competition (we needed four). Once again the current Dorset Champion
took the race by the throat, this time it was Wimborne’s Piers Copeland.
Piers won by seven seconds, but he looked in control from quite early on
– an excellent performance. The fast-improving Tom Bourne’s excellent
run of form continues and he claimed 12th. Next in was Luke
Baker of Wells. Wimborne team-mates Ryan Long’s and Tom Boulton’s
rivalry was in evidence once again. Ryan came out on top as the matter
was over as a contest once Tom had a recurrence of an injury that he
hasn’t quite shaken off. By the time these two had crossed the line they
had been split by a couple of runners including Glen Balfour of
Bournemouth and Dorset. Tom Boulton crossed the line in a pretty
distressed state, however, once he had realised how vital it was to the
Wimborne team score that he finished the race (if Tom had pulled out
because of the injury there would have been no medals) he brightened
considerably. Well done Wimborne, silver medallists in the club
competition, and only two points behind the winners Wells City Harriers
(most of whose runners were competing for Somerset). Completing the
Dorset team was Michael Biss of Wells.
Piers leads the
way in the under-13s race
Simon Bourne
The under-15 girls were
next. This is an age-group where Wimborne has a lot of strength in
depth. The WAC girls lined up alongside Dorset Champion Emma Butterworth
of Poole AC, Dorset Pentathlete Amie Buttle and Annabel Arnold and
Charlotte Baker of Wells. Emma led the team home, claiming 5th
place in the process. First Wimborne was Sharon Hutchings who was
buzzing with confidence after an excellent time trial win mid-week.
Sharon got a terrific start but dropped back a little as the race
progressed. Not far behind Sharon was Wells’ Charlotte Baker. The next
Dorset pairing in were Abbie Hine of Wimborne and Amie. Abbie had a
horrible time at Bicton 12 months ago when she had to pull out – this
run laid the ghost from that day. Annabel was next Dorset over the line,
and then two seconds split the two Wimborne athletes Chloe Morris and
Ella Hearne. Charlotte Bourne and Becca Skeats completed the Wimborne
and Dorset racers. With four to count Sharon, Abbie, Chloe and Ella were
awarded silver medals in the club category.
Wimborne’s
under-15 girls’ team show off their silver medals.
Left to right: Sharon, Chloe, Abbie and Ella.
In last year’s under-15s
race, Dorset Champion Andy Smith of Poole Runners had scored an
excellent third place – he was looking to improve on that this time.
Well, Andy did improve, to second, but the hoped-for victory evaded him.
Andy looked to be bossing the race from the front, but the whole of the
lead group were undone by a late burst from James Blackford of City of
Plymouth who earlier had looked out of contention. Despite this setback,
it was a good race for Dorset with both Ryan Walbridge (WAC) and Corrie
Norton (Bournemouth) finishing in the top 10. Next Dorset runner home
was WAC’s Jordan Symington who continues his great progress this season.
He finished comfortably in the top half of the field. Eighteen seconds
behind Jordan was Bournemouth’s Lewis Golden and completing the
complement of Dorset runners was Jonathan Greenwood (Wells). The Dorset
team came third in this age-group.
In the senior races It’s
disappointing that we can’t attract more interest – too many of the
county’s best runners are distracted by the road race calendar. We only
had three senior women Sam Baker (Wells), Lynn Hutchings (WAC) and Sian
Thomas (Chiltern Harriers). Sian led the team home, both Lynn and Sian
ran the previous year and improved on their positions. I think it was a
first time for Sam in the South-Wests, hopefully she has enjoyed the
experience and we will see her again next year.
W A C. Say it
loud, we’re WAC and we’re proud.
Eight runners in the men’s
race doesn’t sound too bad. But like the women, the men suffer from the
fact that many of the county’s best endurance runners do not compete
often enough in cross-country races (this is not in any way a criticism
of those who represented the county team here). The standard at
the head of the field would give the best in our region a decent
challenge. Of our eight
Dorset vests, only
Tim Hawkins (Wells), a creditable 26th, finished in the top
two-thirds of the field. Next Dorset home was Tim’s Wells team-mate Neil
Biss, then Mark Copeland (WAC) before a cluster of Dorchester runners –
Adam Gough, Clint Cormack and Nick Ireland – completing Dorset’s entry
were the Wimborne pairing of Ian Kennedy and Simon Bourne.
Dorchester AC is the Dorset
club with strength in depth in the under-17 women’s age group. Two of
their runners were competing – Dorset Champion Hilary Hansford and
team-mate Megan Edwards. Unfortunately none of the other Dorset clubs
were able to offer any support for them. Hilary finished just outside
the top 10 with Megan claiming 19th position.
If it’s Dorchester who are
currently strong in the under-17 women’s category, then the same could
be said of Bournemouth in the corresponding men’s age-group. The Dorset
team was made up of four BAC runners – Harry Horton-Hill, Josh King,
Brendan Kirkton and Declan Toth with Dorset Champion Ben Westhenry
(Weymouth), Peter Horne (Dorchester) and Callum Kennedy (WAC). By Ben’s
very high standards this was a disappointing performance, he expected to
be challenging for the win. No doubt normal service will be resumed
shortly! Callum and Josh renewed their recent dogfights, they finished
just outside the top 10, with Callum coming out on top, reversing the
positions which they recorded in the County Championships in December.
Declan was the next Dorset vest in followed by Peter. Brendan and Harry
completed the Dorset entry.
The under-17s
race. Callum (1042) drives hard up the hill.
Josh (1043) can be seen in the centre while Dorset Champion
Ben (1047) is to the right Simon
Bourne
We came very close to
having race winners in three of the first four races, but I guess when
you are competing against five other counties two out of four is still a
great performance. In the club championships claiming those two silver
medals for the Wimborne under-13 boys and under-15 girls are
achievements to be proud of, and in the case of the boys we came so
close to taking the gold medal. There was a tremendous team spirit on
the day, thank you to all of you, there were many who contributed – both
runners and supporters. Last year 32 runners represented the county in
this event, this year we saw an increase of 50 per cent to 48 athletes,
so we are moving in the right direction – thank you for your support.
The county’s strengths are
undoubtedly in its junior age-groups. Hopefully the forthcoming seniors
cross-country county championships at Kings Park will offer more options
for the senior teams in time for the Inter-Counties races at Birmingham
in March.
Ian Kennedy
The Dorset County team’s times and
results were:
Under-13 Girls (46 finishers) –
Dorset 4th team
1 – Bridget Dence (Bournemouth) – 11:42
4 – Grace Copeland – 12:01
27 – Maddie Williams – 13:44
40 – Bethan Burley – 14:32
43 – Hannah Westhenry (Weymouth) – 15:20
Under-13 Boys (50 finishers) –
Dorset
5th team, Wimborne AC club silver medallists
1 – Piers Copeland – 10:52
12 – Tom Bourne – 11.35
36 – Luke Baker (Wells) – 12:31
43 – Ryan Long – 13:06
46 – Glen Balfour (Bournemouth) – 13:26
47 – Tom Boulton – 13:50
49 – Michael Biss (Wells) – 14:12
Under-15 Girls (46 finishers) –
Dorset
4th team, Wimborne AC club silver medallists
5 – Emma Butterworth (Poole AC) – 14:46
18 – Sharon Hutchings – 15:30
19 – Charlotte Baker (Wells) – 15:37
23 – Abbie Hine – 15:56
25 – Amie Buttle (Dorset Pentathletes) – 16:05
29 – Annabel Arnold (Wells) – 16:24
32 – Chloe Morris – 16:42
33 – Ella Hearne – 16:44
37 – Charlotte Bourne – 17:12
40 – Rebecca Skeats – 18:01
Under-15 Boys (54 finishers) –
Dorset 3rd team
2 – Andy Smith (Poole Runners) – 12:30
9 – Ryan Walbridge – 13:06
10 – Corrie Norton (Bournemouth) – 13:15
24 – Jordan Symington – 14:02
29 – Lewis Golden (Bournemouth) – 14:20
51 – Jonathan Greenwood (Wells) – 16:21
Senior Women (41 finishers)
11 – Sian Thomas (Chiltern Harriers) –
26:19
27 – Lynn Hutchings – 28:38
35 – Sam Baker (Wells) – 31:18
Senior Men (91 finishers) –
Dorset 4th team
26 – Tim Hawkins (Wells) –
28:26
63 – Neil Biss (Wells) – 31:55
70 – Mark Copeland – 33:17
72 – Adam Gough (Dorchester) –
3:36
79 – Clint Cornick (Dorchester) – 35:05
82 – Nick Ireland
(Dorchester) – 35:38
85 – Ian Kennedy – 36:53
90 – Simon Bourne – 39:53
Under-17 Men (45 finishers) –
Dorset 4th team
8 – Ben Westhenry (Weymouth) – 18:48
12 – Callum Kennedy – 19:25
13 – Josh King (Bournemouth) – 19:35
21 – Declan Toth (Bournemouth) – 20:00
28 – Peter Horne (Dorchester) – 20:37
35 – Brendan Kirkton (Bournemouth) – 21:53
38 – Harry Horton-Hill (Bournemouth) – 22:27
Under-17 Women (25 finishers)
11 – Hilary Hansford – 18:05
19 – Megan Edwards – 19:24
For a complete set of results click
here
