Cross country
West Yorkshire - race 2
Bodington hall, Lawnswood, Leeds: 1 November 2009
Halifax Harriers had three individual fourth places and the winning under 15 boys team in the junior races at round two of the West Yorkshire Cross Country League at Boddington Hall, Leeds.
On a wild, wet and windy day, the first half of the lap was relatively fast with all the hills coming in the second half. The under-11 boys and girls didn't have to contend with the hills and George Ainsley charged round for his best position so far, fourth. Club debutants Josh Whitehouse and Milan Ladd, coped well with the blustery conditions to finish 27th and 29th.
Little Jasmine Walker was again the first scorer in the under-11 girls race, running with great determination to improve by six places to finish 14th. Newcomers Amy Cowten, Hetty Walker and Gabriella Knowles all worked hard.
Edan Whitelaw provided one of the surprises of the day for the Harriers in the under-13 boys race as he just lost out for third place. He has not been at Harriers long and looks a future star.
A more attacking policy paid off for Molly Traviss, who produced a gutsy run for fourth in the under-13 girls race.
There was excellent teamwork in the under-15 boys race, with the Halifax trio crossing the line one after the other. Max Wharton finished sixth in his first cross country for the club, and with some strong finishing from Brad Traviss and Jerome Castelow the boys were easily the first team.
Rebecca Sullivan was the sole Harrier in the under-15 girls race but a solid run saw her finish 15th and Hannah Pilkington showed more confidence to improve by three places for 11th in the under-17 ladies race.
Sam Kerfoot-Roberts had a fight on his hands to keep in touch with the leaders in the boys race. He hung in there for as long as he could but the going was not to his liking and he came sixth.
Not far behind, young Mike Gaughan was having a cracking run, attacking the final hill with gusto to finish ninth. Fell runner Joe Crossfield was at home in the mud for a 20th place which saw the lads finish third team.
Earlier races had left the ground a quagmire for the 12 Halifax Harriers men involved in the West Yorkshire event at Leeds. Facing a strong wind in many places, Ben Crowther worked his way into 30th place with Andy Thorpe not far behind in 50th. Men's captain Mick Fryer battled hard to keep Paul Sutcliffe in his sight, the pair finishing 113th and 106th respectively. There wasn't much between Keith Midgley and Gary Traviss in 155th and 156th positions but the most memorable finish of the day was from Lee Dearden. Ater completing most of the race relatively mud free, he put in a finishing sprint, slipped and slid across the line on his stomach, face down in the mud!
In the women's race, Harriers' Sarah Cumber came to terms with the mud and wind to finish 17th. Linda Crabtree was 57th and third in the V50 section while under 20s performer Louise Roysten, more of a track runner, had her first run out in a senior race and after taking the first lap very conservatively sprinted to the line in 65th place, just behind ex-international fell runner Jo Prowse of Ilkley.
Summary of Halifax Harrier's results
| Position | Time | Athlete | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 06:25 | AINSLEY, George | Under 11 boys |
| 27 | 08:18 | WHITEHOUSE, Joshua | Under 11 boys |
| 29 | 08:25 | LADD, Milan | Under 11 boys |
| 14 | 07:36 | WALKER, Jasmine | Under 11 girls |
| 22 | 08:06 | COWTON, Amy | Under 11 girls |
| 24 | 08:19 | WALKER, Hetty | Under 11 girls |
| 26 | 08:22 | BOW, Libby | Under 11 girls |
| 29 | 08:33 | KING, Olivia | Under 11 girls |
| 34 | 09:04 | ELSWORTH, Zoe | Under 11 girls |
| 36 | 09:15 | CHAPMAN, Louise | Under 11 girls |
| 38 | 09:53 | KNOWLES, Gabriella | Under 11 girls |
| Position | Time | Athlete | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 10:44 | WHITELAW, Edan | Under 13 boys |
| 31 | 12:01 | HARTLEY, Luke | Under 13 boys |
| 4 | 11:03 | TRAVISS, Molly | Under 13 girls |
| 28 | 12:15 | SMITH, Regan | Under 13 girls |
| 39 | 12:36 | JOHNSON, Caroline | Under 13 girls |
The Halifax Harrier's under-15 boys were first team overall in the Bodington fields cross-country.
| Position | Time | Athlete | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 15:17 | WHARTON, Max | Under 15 boys |
| 7 | 15:21 | TRAVISS, Brad | Under 15 boys |
| 8 | 15:30 | CASTELOW, Jerome | Under 15 boys |
| 23 | 17:21 | WILSON-BAIG, Ciaran | Under 15 boys |
| 37 | 19:27 | WARDLE, Lewis | Under 15 boys |
| 15 | 11:40 | SULLIVAN, Rebecca | Under 15 girls |
| Position | Time | Athlete | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 20:11 | KERFOOT-ROBERTS, Sam | Under 17 men |
| 9 | 20:53 | GAUGHAN, Mikie | Under 17 men |
| 20 | 22:34 | CROSSFIELD, Joe | Under 17 men |
| 24 | 23:56 | BURRELL, Gareth | Under 17 men |
| 25 | 24:29 | GLADWYN, Chris | Under 17 men |
| 11 | 18:44 | PILKINGTON, Hannah | Under 17 ladies |
| 21 | 22:08 | GILL, Lorna | Under 17 ladies |
| 22 | 25:04 | WARDLE, Natalie | Under 17 ladies |
| Position | Time | Athlete |
|---|---|---|
| 17 | 23:51 | CUMBER, Sarah |
| 57 | 26:30 | CRABTREE, Linda |
| 65 | 26:55 | ROYSTON, Louise |
| Position | Time | Athlete |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | 30:54 | CROWTHER, Ben |
| 50 | 32:19 | THORPE, Andy |
| 106 | 34:45 | SUTCLIFFE, Paul |
| 113 | 35:15 | FRYER, Michael |
| 155 | 37:15 | MIDGLEY, Keith |
| 156 | 37:19 | TRAVISS, Gary |
| 167 | 38:03 | CUMBER, Geoff |
| 173 | 38:24 | GAUGHAN, Mark |
| 184 | 39:17 | DEARDEN, Lee |
| 188 | 39:46 | TOWNEND, Dene |
| 212 | 43:46 | REILLY, Heath |
| 217 | 45:28 | BURRELL, Chris |
The full results of race 2 at Lawnswood, Leeds are available on the Complete runner web site.
Lawnswood cross country photos are now available on the photo gallery (courtesy of Adam Kerfoot-Roberts).
More photos of race 2 are available on the David S Brett photography web site.