WESTBURY Harriers’ young athletes certainly took centre stage at the Avon Cross Country Championships on Sunday.
The club’s youngsters won six of the ten titles on offer with a further four silvers and two bronze medals while two of those new county champions led Westbury clean sweeps in their age groups.
In one of the closest races of the day around the misty Bath University course Laura Chance won the under 15 girls’ race outright – she was also racing against Somerset and Wiltshire in the Tri-Counties Championships – beating Swindon’s Ella Spencer by just one second.
Harriers’ clubmate Elen Ruck was third overall and second Avon runner while Corinne Jones completed the county podium and clean sweep.
Westbury were also dominant in the under 11 girls’ age group with Elsa Jones crowned champion from Lola Simpson and Darcy Simpson.
Seamus Robinson ran really strongly in the combined under 20/17 men’s race finishing second overall – but easily top under 17 runner. Indeed, Robinson was the only under 17 athlete to finish in the top six so that represents a quality performance.
Other gold medal winners included Akira Bees (Under 15 boys), Rhiannon Paton (under 20 women) and Estelle Lowe (under 13 girls), who like Chance on the overall race in some style 15 seconds clear of the field.
Other silver medal winners were Greg Hayward (under 20 men) and Abigail Woodworth (under 17 women) in what was a cracking effort by the Harriers’ young athletes’ section.
AVON Championships – senior men (10.3k): 1 Felix McGrath (B&W); 2 Jack Gumm (TB); 3 Dan Jones (TB); 4 Rob Eaton (TB); 5 Themis Bower (TB); 6 Harry Bowles (TB).
Teams: 1 Team Bath AC 23; 2 Westbury Harriers 94; 3 City of Salisbury 104.
Senior women’s (10.3k run with men): 1 Kelly Dicks (GWR); 2 Alice Doggrell (GWR); 3 Nadia Kottegoda (GWR).
Under 20 men: 1 Justin Davies (TB); 2 Greg Hayward (WH); 3 Jamie Dale (TB).
Under 17 men: 1 Seamus Robinson (WH); 2 Ishmael Bradley (B&W); 3 Nicholas Pestell (B&W).
Under 15 boys: 1 Akira Bees (WH); 2 Vijay Bakrania (B&W); 3 Ronnie Wilmott (B&W).
Under 13 boys: 1 Stanley Wyatt (TB); 2 Augustin Downing (WH); 3 Oisin O’Halloran (B&W).
Under 11 boys: 1 Zachary Fleming (Monkton School); 2 Fletcher Rogers (B&W); 3 Callum Skidmore (B&W).
Senior women: 1 Chelsea Creak (B&W); 2 Floren Scrafton (WH); 3 Catherine Treble (WH, W35); 4 Katrina Entwistle (B&W); 5 Katie Hughes (WH, W45); 6 Lucy Richens (WH, W35).
Teams: 1 Westbury Harriers 26; 2 Team Bath AC 30; 3 Avon Valley Runners 86.
Under 20 women: 1 Rhiannon Paton (WH); 2 Alice Bridger-Morales (NSAC); 3 Ella Treby (TB).
Under 17 women: 1 Amy Nicholls (B&W); 2 Abigail Woodworth (WH); 3 Lottie Silverton (TB).
Under 15 girls: 1 Laura Chance (WH); 2 Elen Ruck (WH); 3 Corinne Jones (WH).
Under 13 girls: 1 Estelle Lowe (WH); 2 Gabriela Ritter Sherratt (B&W); 3 Mairi Carver Brown (B&W).
Under 11 girls: 1 Elsa Jones (WH); 2 Lola Simpson (WH); 3 Darcy Simpson (WH).