Mansfield Harriers consolidate at Corby
Glebe Park, Corby was the location for the second round of this seasons North Midlands Cross Country League and after a promising first fixture Mansfield Harriers travelled to the venue looking to consolidate the work already put in.
The Corby fixture is traditionally where the league can be won or lost as it’s a good distance to travel for most of the competing clubs and with this in mind Mansfield put in a big team effort across the age groups.
The men opened the series with a win and another strong team performance consolidated the lead at the top of the table and are now in a great position to retain the title they won last year. Superb running from Alex Hampson 2nd, Paul Wright 3rd, Jake Richardson 5th, Jan Bailey 10th and Dan Nugent 17th to win on the day by over 50 points with Notts AC in second place. The masters had Dave Cass home first in 34th followed by Paul Whittingham 84th, Ben McClemens 91st and Andy Wetherill 127th with the team placing 5th both on the day and overall. Individually Alex, Paul and Jake are currently the first three in the senior positions, Dan 2nd in the M45 category, Dave 1st M50, Paul 1st M60 and Andy 1st M65.
After a fantastic first race the ladies put in another stellar performance placing 3rd on the day and 2nd overall behind a very strong Nottingham University team. Hayley Gill was first home and although falling during the race she got straight back up to place 3rd with Hannah Wragg 20th, Sophie Toyn 23rd, Alice Mortiboy 31st and Lottie Riddle 42nd. The masters came away with a clear win and have a big lead going into the second half of the season. Kath Malone was first back in 28th followed by Cristina Dinescu 34th, Gillian Newbould 46th, Sam Brown 50th and Sharon Armitage 88th. Individually Hayley is currently leading the W45 age group with Kath 2nd Gillain 3rd, Cristina is 2nd W40, Sam 1st W50 and Sophie 3rd in the Under 20 age group.
The current crop of juniors coming through the club are proving to be one of the most exciting groups that Mansfield have had for many years and at Corby they continued to showcase the talent within the club. In the Under 17 age group Jacob Nugent and Jude Ryan had a thrilling dual throughout the race with Jacob just edging the race in the last 800 metres, with Charlie Taylor 8th the team won on the day, lead after two fixtures and have both Jacob and Jude top two individually. Amelia Arbon had a superb run in the female race to come away with a victory with Katie Leese 7th and Amy Newbould 12th. The team are both 2nd on the day and overall, with Amelia leading the individual placings.
Jack Pares continues his fine run of form as he comfortably won the Under 15 boys race with the fast improving Ollie McClemens 3rd and Xander Arbon 31st as the team placed both 3rd on the day and overall, with Jack leading and Ollie 3rd in the individual standings. A dominant team performance from the Under 15 girls saw them have both a clear win on the day and lead after the two races. Charley Whysall led the team home in 2nd closely followed by Lily Mason 3rd, Isla Millns 5th, Maisy Slack 14th, Emily Pares 17th and Martha Walker 24th. Individually Charley is in 1st, Lily 2nd and Isla joint 3rd.
N the Under 13 age group Olivia Wright put in her now customary thrilling sprint finish to take the win followed by Evie Clifton in 3rd, Maisie Lowe 10th, Lauren Pate 15th and Catherine Rivis 16th as the team took the win on the day and now lead after two races with Olivia 2nd and Evie 3rd individually. Will McClemens ran well for 17th in the Under 13 boys race with Jack Whysall placing 9th in the Under 11 boys and Esme Evans taking 6th in the Under 11 girls.
The Worksop Half Marathon is a popular local event that sees the majority of the event run around the Clumber estate and this year the race doubled as the Nottinghamshire AAA County Championship. First Mansfield athlete home was Jan Bailey in 4th recording 73.00 with Liam Watson 5th and also County Champion M35 74.31, Matt Cummings ducked under 80 for the first time recording 78.53, Richie Talbot 79.33, Jamie Macintyre 82.50 also 2nd M45 County Championships, Rob Kendrick 86.45, Samantha Brown 1.41.59, Vaughn Chamberlain 1.56.44, Holly Colton 1.59.16, Pete Copcutt 2.11.44 and Rebecca Pilmore 2.21.46.
Racing at the Leicester festival of running both Ralph Wood and Sam McCracken recorded big personal bests over 5K recording 17.02 and 17.08 respectively. Racing in the 10K event Kris Watson put in a great performance to come home second in 32.40.