Schools County Championships
The Schools County Championships took place in the beautiful setting of Westonbirt Arboretum this year. The fine weather made it a pleasure to spectate, although it was a tougher job for the competitors to plough through the soft muddy conditions of the course.
Beth Wynn finished an excellent 7th place in the Inter-Girls, qualifying her for the prestigious Cardiff Inter-Counties in January for the first time.
In the Senior Girls race all the Bourton girls ran superbly with a clear win by Steph Lane, 3rd Brittany Teague, and a neck and neck race to the finish by 13th Claire Reynolds and 14th Martha Carrick.
Glos X/C League - Plock Court
The phone was red hot on Saturday morning with questions of whether the 3rd fixture of the Gloucestershire X/C league would take place after hours of rain and the venue being the notorious for flooding Plock Court at Oxstalls in Gloucester. However, this was not just any fixture.
It was organized by Terry Haines of Severn AC who could make a course out of anything! It was flooded. The course was diverted, but it was still a great cross country full of mud and puddles.
The Bourton ranks were seriously depleted by colds and flu and some running were suffering from the effects, but there was still a good turn-out for those desperate to gain as many points as possible.
Eva Shoemark had a superb run in the U/11 girls finishing in 14th place, leading the large contingent of fellow Bourton runners in. Charlotte Hartley came next in 25th, with the group of Hannah Cairns 43rd, Emily Dryburgh 46th, Isobel Hartley 47th and Sophie Stone 48th in her first race. The team finishing 9th overall.
The sole U/11 boy was Alex Darwent in 26th place.
The boys U/11 team were strong finishing 3rd team, led home by Kieren Shoemark 12th, Finn Shoemark 21st and Ben Darwent 28th.
Lee Knowles was the only under 17 present, but finished a good 5th.
In the Senior Ladies Steph Lane was first Bourton member home in 3rd overall and first Junior Lady, Ali Lane 15th, Jan Short 46th, Lynn Hudson 53rd and Lynn Spedding 62nd. The Senior Team and Vets Team were 5th.
Dennis Walmsley, not feeling too great, did well for 18th, as did Chris Hartley and Andy Chapple 46th and 47th, Tony Goodwill 72nd, Richard Bufton 92nd, Norm Lane 116th and Bert Jess 125th. The Senior Team finished 7th and the Vets Team 4th.
Report Highlights
Steph Lane, Brittany Teague, Beth Wynn, Claire Reynolds & Martha Carrick excel in Schools County cross country championships.
Terry Haines works wonders to deliver the Plock Court league event under difficult conditions.
Bourton juniors field strong teams, with brilliant results.
Bourton seniors also field full teams, with Steph Lane finishing 3rd lady overall.
Other reports may be found on our recent race reports page.