HARROGATE HARRIERS YOUNG ATHLETES TRAINING GROUP

The young athletes from Harrogate Harriers’ junior training group turned out in force for the first West Yorkshire Cross Country League meeting of the season at Otley last weekend (12 Oct 08). Weather conditions were unusually mild for the time of the year and underfoot only the long grass at start and finish areas caused the runners problems. In all a total of twenty nine Harriers competed on the day and surprisingly Harrogate was the only club in the under 13, under 15 and under 17 age groups  to register a team in each of the races, a better average than clubs from Leeds, York, Wakefield, Bradford, Halifax and Huddersfield.

Having introduced a policy earlier this year of insisting that athletes who attend training must compete for the club, the signs are that participation levels are increasing and over the track and field season there was a 95% success rate.

For the first time the Harriers entered an under 11’s girls team in the League and it was second placed Lucy Ireland who was the first counter for the club, and very nearly the race winner being given the same finishing time as the winner from Halifax. Also competing over the country for the first time were Clarissa Baldrick and Madeleine Jackson and the pair ran exceedingly well considering.

In the under 13’s girls race Harriet Smail placed 10th in the biggest age group race of the day having 73 finishers. She was followed by Caira Martin, Hannah Turner, Ellen Brown and Ellie Higgins. For the under 13’s boys Dan Moulson lead the team home in sixth place with James Hancocks, Will Havercroft and Luke Harrison making up the three required counters. 

A fine run by Caroline Lambert in fourth place in the under 15’s girls race was encouraging for the rest of the season and would have inspired the team for future events. Ellie Smith was the next counter followed by Kate Hunt, Heather Jackson, and new member Lucy Gloag. The under 15’s boys team finished in third place and it was Matt Hipkin, last years most prominent junior cross country runner, who was Harrogate’s highest placed athlete in fourth place. George Hinchcliffe and Max Fairhurst were the next counters in 14th and 15th place with Jonathan Bell and Jack Bowen finishing almost together not far behind.

It was extremely encouraging that the under 17’s girls won the team event by two points from Pudsey and Bramley with Bingley, Halifax and Skyrac also having complete teams. Kath Coupland was clear in fourth place and Carolina Blane finished close by in sixth place then it was an outstanding performance from Rebecca Turner who placed 20th on the day that made the difference between first and second team.  All the under 17’s boys were making their cross country debuts in the age group having all been under 15’s last season. Top marks to Alex Rhodes who gave an impressive performance finishing fifth overall, he was well supported by Dan Cheeseman, Adam Auckland and Adam Cauldwell. This weekend sees the second West Yorkshire League hosted by Skyrac at Nunroyd Park, Guiseley, and with Duncan Birtwistle being available the team will benefit greatly.