Saturday 8 January
Kiveton Park
SEG athletes began the new year with historic performances at the Yorkshire Cross Country Championships. The senior men and women achieved the double by winning both Yorkshire titles for the first time ever. The medal success was backed up by impressive strength in depth with 23 men and 10 women wearing the iconic white H.
Kiveton Park provided a real test of cross country running with steep hills, thick mud and uneven ground. Andy Heyes, despite having not trained since having Covid, pushed the pace on with the leading group and was rewarded with the silver medal with a time of 29.55. Cameron Bell looked to be returning to his best with a 6th place finish in 30.57. Jamie Hall paced his run well to take valuable points in 9th in 31.21. Chris Law came through well to take 11th in 31.33 with Johnie Crickmore also packing well in 12th in 31.36. Connor Milnes helped clinch the team gold with a determined run in 18th in 32.03, despite being unwell in the lead up to the race.
There were more impressive performances throughout the team with the B team only just missing out on a medal and the C team beating many club A teams.
John Birch had a fine run in 21st (32.36) with Aidan Smith just behind in 23 in 32.33. Matt Fuller ran well to take 28th in 33.22, just ahead of Euan Brown in 31st (33.46) and Harvey Martin in 32nd (33.47).
Leo Cossham was 38th in 34.20, Christian Battersby 44th min 34.52 Ann Tom Buckley 46th in 35.12.
Pete Hodges enjoyed the muddy conditions, finishing 48th in 35.22. Andy Thake was an impressive 49th in 35.26 and Matt Craig, making a welcome return from injury, 51st in 35.40.
Craig Fishwick, one of the architects of the SEG, was 62nd in 36.28 and it was good to see Wyatt Hill running again, finishing 65th in 36.52. Richard Barker enjoyed his first major championships with a 75th place finish in 37.32. Dave Addenbrooke ran well to finish 88th in 39.49.
The were also fine Vet performances by Jon Slate, 102nd in 39.49 and Gareth Phoenix 125th in 41.25.
The senior women had set the performance standard earlier in the day with an outstanding team performance to take the Yorkshire title. Katie Palfreeman produced an excellent performance in the mud to finish 4th in 26.46. Laura Jane Smith ran very well for 12th in 27.57. Charlotte Slack continued her fine form taking crucial points on the run in to finish 13th in 28.21. Evie Brailsford held off rival runners to take 21st in 29.38 and clinch the gold medal.
Nicky Squires provided excellent back up with another fine performance to finish 24th in 29.55. Laura Robertson (33rd in 31.00) looked strong through the mud. Laura Trask continued her return for fitness with 50th in 32.41. Ellie Crownshaw ran well after illness to take 52nd in 33.46. Georgie Offer and Nicola Birch worked hard throughout to finish 58th (33.59) and 62nd (34.28) respectively.
Hannah Metherall had a fine run in the U20W race and was unlucky to miss out on a medal. In 3rd place throughout much of the race, she fell heavily in the mud. Hannah chased hard over the last part of the course and finished 5th in 20.52.
Dylan Stevens also ran very well in the U20M race, finishing 9th in 22.48. Hugh Mackie finished just behind in 10th in 22.49. Seb Musgrove was 13th in 24.22 and helped the team take the silver medal.
In the U17M race, Olmo Colmbey worked hard to finish 19th in 19.38 and Ben Carter was 29th in 22.13.
