We went home satisfied after the fifth and final fixture of the ATW Met Cross Country League on Saturday. The senior men’s and women’s teams both defended their Division One status, the U17/U15 girls’ team finished third overall, and there were some excellent individual performances.
For the U13 girls, Lucy O’Brien’s fourth place matched her best result in the League this season. In the combined U17/U15 race, following her outstanding win at the previous fixture, Nicola Ravenhill had to settle for third. With the return of the Weir twins of TVH, she knew she had a battle on her hands, but it was a fine run, confirming her improvement this season. The U17/U15 team has turned out consistently and performed well throughout the season, and fully deserve their third place in the league.
The senior women’s team was boosted by the return of Kat Mertens, who ran a strong race to finish 24th, the second highest position for the team this season. Second-scorer Sarah Richardson achieved one of her best ever Met League placings in 33rd. The veterans continue to be the backbone of the women’s team, and they finished fourth in the veteran ranking.
In the combined U17/U15 boys’ race, U15 George Kerry put in another competitive run to finish 11th overall and fourth within his age group, while U17 Conor McCarthy showed continuing return to form to be second-scorer for the team. Luke Adar crossed the line just ahead of team-mate Rainak Mainali for the first time in the League, and the team finished fourth overall.
The senior men had struggled all season to stay out of the relegation zone, and they did just enough to retain their place in Division One. They were led home by Mo Hashi, producing his best League finish this season, followed by Sam Ashcroft, achieving an impressive top 50 finish after a long injury lay-off. Pete Flewitt was next home, also taking third veteran place in the race. Another notable performance was that of new recruit Mark Kencroft, taking the 9th scoring spot for the club in his first cross country race since schooldays.
These are just the key highlights. A total of 50 athletes competed for the club at this last ATW meeting, and it was great to see so many of the green and gold vests in action. Along with Sam and Mark, Graham French was another of the men to make a late season first appearance in the league. So too were U13 Nicole Goolab, and Shona Cowper in the senior women. A big thank you to all who competed, to all their coaches, and to the many ESM club officials who were out on the course delivering the event for us. It’s a great feeling to look forward to another season as a Division One club.
Results summary
U11: 22 Kyriese Willis 7:35; 23 Najiib Hersi 7:37; 39 James McNamara 9:22;
U13B: 37 Mikey Kouwiloyan 15:57; 40 Kirk Lebdiri 16:58;
U13G: 4 Lucy O’Brien 14:00; 14 Anisa Ibrahim 14:47; 30 Sarah Freegard 16:49; 33 Nicole Goolab 17:20; 39 Niamh Lynch 19:16;
U17/U15M: 11 George Kerry 13:43; 29 Conor McCarthy 14:47; 31 Luke Adar 14:50; 32 Raunak Mainali 14:55; 41 Matthew Lynch 15:20; 43 Naoki Kanai 15:28;
U17/U15W: 3 Nicola Ravenhill 15:17; 12 Laura Stewart 16:13; 22 Cameron Thomas 17:30; 24 Martha Hayward 18:00; 31 Leah Kelly 19:11; 33 Roisin Lynch 19:47; 34 Jennifer Connelly 19:54; 38 Elsa Stocking 21:44;
SW: 24 Kat Mertens 27:55; 33 Sarah Richardson 28:44; 34 Fiona Kennedy 28:46; 60 Nicola Shelley 29:54; 78 Shona Cowper 30:52; 96 Carol Jones 32:23; 101 Jane Ruhland 32:46; 132 Patricia Thomas 35:05;
SM: 39 Mohamed Hashi 27:24; 49 Sam Ashcroft 27:55; 54 Peter Flewitt 28:04; 88 Steve Elson 29:06; 94 Christopher Hepworth 29:18; 111 James Hughes 29:40; 119 Florjan Bakalli 29:57; 122 Angelo John 29:58; 162 Mark Kencroft 30:56; 181 Robert Brown 31:29; 189 Andrew Dodd 31:45; 218 Tom Yates 32:28; 231 James Steel 32:51; 261 Ian Leslie 33:38; 302 Keith Freegard 35:18; 324 Darren Halford 36:27; 353 Phil York 40:42; 365 Graham French 42:07
Full results here