Grand Prix Ex NWCC League (3)

SHREWSBURY MOVE FURTHER AHEAD

Eryri's Rob Samuel looked in imperious form as he won the third race in the Grand Prix Express North Wales Cross-Country League at Mold but a strong all-round team performance saw Shrewsbury widen their lead at the top of Division 1.

 Samuel, looking back to his old form, made a mockery of the muddy conditions to win by 89 seconds and although Eryri finished second to Oswestry on the day Shrewsbury's third place mean they are still 108 places behind the Gwynedd club.

 Alison Lavender  also showed a good return to form with an even bigger win, though her most likely challenger, Menai teenager Cari Hughes, was missing. With two races left Eryri's ladies look to hold a comfortable lead.

 The new GOGS teams won  both the men's and women's Division 2 competitions on the day but Colwyn Bay have moved into the lead in the men's event.

 Results. Senior men: 1 R Samuel (Eryri) 29.39, 2 C Rowlinson (Bangor Uni) 31.08, 3 O Blake (Os) 31.18, 4 R Roberts (Eryri) 31.38, 5 P Jones (Osw, M45) 31.45, 6 G Williams (Deestriders) 32.01, 7 L Renton (Shrew) 32.01, 8 C Morris (Shrew) 32.47, 9 T Roberts (Meir) 32.57, 10 S Cole (GOGS) 32.58.
Teams. Division 1: Oswestry 104, Eryri 123, Shrewsbury 126, Bangor Uni 131, Buckley 243, Tattenhall 303, Meirionnydd 443, Deeside 452. Division 2: GOGS 384, Colwyn Bay 395, D enb igh 561, Prestatyn 565, Abergele 648, Wrexham 679, Whitchurch 722, Deestriders 768, Wrecsam Tri 783, Telford 791, Cybi 854, NWRR 898, Bro Dysynni 955, Bridgnorth  1,025. 
Masters. M40: 1 J Brown (Buck) 33.54, 2 L Jones (Dee) 33.58, 3 A McNay (Tatt) 34.04. M45: 1 Jones, 2 I Houston (Wrecsam Tri) 33.29, 3 S Roberts (Buck) 34.58. M50: 1 E Campbell (Buck) 35.55, 2 S Ellis (Tatt) 36.20, 3 R Jones (Shrews) 36.24. M55: 1 G Jones (Shrews) 35.20, 2 K Smith (Whit) 37.26, 3 V Belshaw (Den) 37.44. M60: 1 SP Jones (Eryri) 36.15, 2 P Savill (Shrews) 38.12, 3 S Roberts (Buck) 39.14. M65: 1 A White (Osw) 43.53, 2 I Jones (Wrecsam Tri) 45.12, 3 N Williams (Wrex) 45.36.
 Teams: Oswestry 21, Buckley 26, Tattenhall 35, Shrewsbury 44, Colwyn Bay 75, Eryri 75, GOGS 96, Meirionnydd 104, Whitchurch 108, Deeside 112, Prestatyn 123, Denbigh 126, Wrecsam Tri 159, Abergele 181, Cybi  191, Wrexham  209, Deestriders 248.
 M70: 1 D Williams (Eryri) 31.36, 2 A Egan (Wrex) 32.24, 3 R Harrison-Jones (Prest, M75) 35.48, 4 D Hughes (Prest, M75) 36.23, 5 J Thomas (Buck) 40.49, 6 MH Edwards (Wrex) 42.10, 7 R Billington (Wrex, M80) 45.47, 8 B Forster (Wrex, M80) 48.52, 9 J Tipping (Wrex) 52.43. Tea m: Wrexham 15.

 Men under 17: 1 C Smith (Wrex) 21.59, 2 M Pleavin (Wrex) 22.34, 3 R Owen (Eryri) 22.34, 4 R Cain (Menai) 23.50, 5 S Holt (CB) 24.37, 6 S Williams (Eryri) 25.21, 6 C Donaghue (Buckley) 29.53.

 Ladies. 1 A Lavender (Osw) 23.29, 2 R Roxburgh (GOGS, L40) 26.05, 3 E Roberts (Menai, U17) 26.35, 4 R Pierce (Denbigh) 26.40, 5  A Rowlands (Eryri, L40) 26.49, 6 B Taylor (Eryri) 26.56, 7 M Owen (Dee, U17) 27.02, 8 A McQueen (Eryri, U17) 27.16, 9 A Robinson (Tatt) 27.30, 10 A Muller (West Chesh) 27.33.
     Teams. Division 1: Eryri 31, Oswestry 65, Denbigh 75, Buckley 105, Wrexham 169, Colwyn Bay 294, Menai 328. Division 2: GOGS 65, Prestatyn 102, Tattenhall 149, Cybi 151, Whitchurch 164, Bangor Uni 180, Shrewsbury 230, Bro Dysynni 244, Deestriders 247, Deeside 257, West Cheshire 260, Abergele 261, NWRR 263, Telford 271.

Masters. L35: 1 C Jones (Os) 27.36, 2 H Evans (Buck)  28.22, 3 L Beetleston (Eryri) 30.15. L40: 1 Roxburgh, 2 Rowlands, 3 L Morley (Wrex) 28.25. L45: 1 C Cooke (Bucley) 28.09, 2 T Lewis-Jones (Eryri) 28.14, 3 H Blair (Eryri) 28.41. L50: 1 E Collins (Den) 29.14, 2 L Jones (Wrex) 30.29, 3 M Ludden (Buck) 31.28. L55: 1 A Williams (Eryri) 30.08, 2 G Waring (Prest) 31.37, 3 S Hancock (Osw) 31.41. L60: 1 B Ward (Osw) 34.09, 2 A Byrne (Shrew) 47.54, 3 S Richards (Shrew) 48.13. L65: 1 C Birch (A bergele) 31.25, 2 M Docking (Wrex) 33.53, 3 M Oliver (Eryri) 36.53. L70: 1 B Jones (Bro Dys) 39.50, 2 M Griffiths (Bro Dys)  46.15.
 Teams: Eryri 26, Oswestry 28, GOGS 32, Denbigh 40, Wrexham 53, Prestatyn 108, Bro Dysynni 155.

AGGREGATE AFTER 3 RACES.
 Men, Division 1: Shrewsbury 406, Eryri 514, Oswestry 577, Bangor Uni 579, Buckley 778, Meirionnydd 1,245, Deeside 1,282, Tattenhall 1,727. Division 2: Colwyn Bay 1,217, GOGS 1,303, Prestatyn 1,377, Denbigh 1,595, Telford 1,624, Wrexham 1,653, Cybi 1,824, Whitchurch 1,838, Abergele 2,027, North Wales RR 2,028, Wrecsam Tri 2,312, Bro Dysynni 2,903, Bridgnorth 2,920.

 Masters: Buckley 72, Oswestry 119, Shrewsbury 126, Colwyn Bay 246, Eryri 263, GOGS 310, Meirionnydd 314, Denbigh 322, Whitchurch 400, Prestatyn 411, Cybi 479, Wrexham 539.

Ladies. Division 1: Eryri 124, Denbigh 204, Oswestry 230, Buckley 390, Wrexham 510, Menai 645, Colwyn Bay 721. Division 2: GOGS 173, Prestatyn 326, Cybi 416, Bangor Uni 559, Tattenhall 584, Abergele 589, hitchurch 610, West Cheshire 664, Deeside 671, Bro Dysynni 674, North Wales RR 680, Shrewsbury 781, Telford 871.

 Masters. Eryri 54, Oswestry 89, GOGS 93, Denbigh 98, Buckley 120, Wrexham 166, Prestatyn 285.

 

L'pool Cross Challenge

WILLIS STAR OF THE SHOW

Wrexham's Mathew Willis was the top North Wales performer at the  second Cross-Challenge meeting of the winter at Liverpool's Sefton Park at which several young athletes from the region consolidated their growing reputations.

 The under-13's race was won in 17.28 by Tom Mortimer (Stroud) but Willis was just 10 seconds behind in third place . Joseph Crutchley (Maldwyn) was 14th in 18.13, Oliver Barbaresi (Menai) 20th in 18.26 and Cai Linton (Menai) 66th in 19.28

 Cari Hughes (Menai) followed up her second place in the first U-17 women's race at Milton Keynes with sixth place this time, while in the junior men's race her brother Iolo came 15th in 21.34, with Eryri's John Spill 78th in 23.03.

 Spill's younger brother Mike, who won the under-13s' event at Milton Keynes, had to settle for 11th  place this time, with his Menai clubmate Osian Perrin four places and seven seconds ahead of him in 10.38. In the same race Liam Rawlings (Oswestry) was 18th, Eden Potter (Menai) 26th and Cai Le Trobe Roberts (Menai) 41st.

 Among other North Wales juniors  competing were:- Girls under 13: 24 Samia Jones (Menai); Boys under 15: 56 Tomos Land (Menai); Junior Women: 14 Georgina Outten (Birchfield).

 In the senior men's race , which was won by Ross Millington (Stockport) Welsh champion Dewi Griffiths (Swansea) finished just 13 seconds behind second place, with former  Bangor student Nick Swinburn (Morpeth) 7th and Andrew Davies (Stockport) from Welshpool 9th.

Conwy Half

THE NAME'S BOND - NOT 007 BUT 67.00

A biting cold wind and  surface water did not deter Sale Harriers' Matthew Bond from turning in a superb winning performance in the Conwy Half-Marathon.

 His time of 67.00 was remarkable in the circumstances, especially considering that the course included a circuit of the Great Orme, and he finished almost three minutes clear of second-placed Stuart Robinson (Salford).

 Eryri's Russell Bentley followed up his excellent run in the Leeds Abbey Dash to take third place in 70.06, with his clubmate and former race winner Alun Vaughan fifth. Two other North Wales athletes, Stefan Sayer (Menai) and Ryan Roberts (Cybi)  also had fine  runs.

 Results (chip times): 1 M Bond (Sale) 66.59, 2 S Robinson (Salford, M35) 69.51, 3 R Bentley (Eryri) 70.06, 4 R Stalsmark (GTI Friidrett) 70.46, 5 A Vaughan (Eryri, M35) 71.08, 6 S Robinson (RAF) 72.47, 7 S Sayer (Menai) 73.16, 8 R White (Halesowen) 73.24, 9 S Page (Kenilworth) 74.44, 10 P Jones (Oswestry, M45) 74.49. U20:  D Horrell 86 .14. M35: 3 J Lloyd (Salford) 78.10. M40: 1 M Green (NWRR) 80.33, 2 T Harkin 81.22, 3 G Milligan 81.32. M45: 2 C Hollinshead (Cannock and Staffs) 76.04, 3 D Roberts 79.04. M50: 1 R Downs (Wilmslow) 76.44, 2 M Warwick (Derby) 84.28, 3 G Owens (Osw) 84.35. M55: 1 S Taylor (Menai) 89.02, 2 N Phillips 88.23, 3 I Twiss (South Chesh) 93.37. M60: 1 K Slattery (NWRR) 89.41, 2 P Adkins (Stockport Tri) 92.51, 3 T <Marshall 94.53. M65: 1 L Smith 1-47.13, 2 P Edkins 1-47.46, 3 C Davies (Alt) 1-49.30. M70: 1 J Norman (Alt) 99.16, 2 D Phillips (Royton) 1-50.40, 3 I Gray 1-56.14. M75: 1 D Gardner (NWRR) 1-43.44, 2 P Estick (Massey Ferguson) 2-38.15. M80: E Naisby (Prestatyn) 2-40.24.

 Ladies: 1 T Robinson (Salford, L35)  82.34, 2 S Willhoit (Mercia) 86.42, 3 S Gray (Cannock, L40) 87.40, 4 A Rowlands (Eryri, L40) 88.10, 5 T Llewellyn (Cybi, L35) 89.14, 6 V Williams (L35) 90.29, 7 L Venables (Biddulph) 90.51, 8 J Ellis (Wilmslow, L45) 91.28, 9 C McCarthy (Sh Shufflers) 91.38, 10 L Grantham (Pensby, L40) 91.56. U20: S Bird ( Biddulph) 93.07.L45: 2 J Gall (Derby) 1-40.09, 3 C Hall (Wirral) 1-42.08.  L50: 1 B Ganose 94.28, 2 C Bird (Biddulph) 95.28, 3 E Collins (Denbigh) 95.54. L55: 1 S O'Brien (Knowsley) 1-49.30, C Northcote (Styal) 1-50.59, 3 A Webster (Les Cr) 1-50.56. L60: 1 L Collinson (Sh Shufflers) 96.33, 2 V Edwards 1-54.17, 3 P New ton (Market Drayton) 1-59.40. L65: 1 J Williams 2-07.33, 2 S Gittins (Lytham St Anne's) 2-13.24, 3 S Uttig 2-13.24. L70: P Bolton (Biddulph) 3-00.11.

 Full results are on the TDL Events website

Pen fell race

SCHOOLTEACHER ROBERTS IN A CLASS OF HIS OWN

Welsh international Matthew Roberts totally  dominated  proceedings in the Penmaenmawr fell-race, defying the muddy conditions to set a new course record of 68.38 for the 11-mile course.

 The Calder Valley athlete took the lead from the gun and was never challenged, and he finished over six minutes clear of fellow international Gareth Hughes.

 In third place was veteran Lloyd Taggart, who had held the record of 69.49 since 2005.

 The aptly named Hunters Bog Trotters took the honours in the ladies' race, taking the first two places through Briony Curtis and Megan Mowbray, with local Sarah Ridgway just seconds behind in third.

 Results: 1 M Roberts (Calder) 68.38, 2 G Hughes (Mercia) 74.53, 3 L Taggart (Manx, M40) 75 .19, 4 J Brown (Buckley, M40) 77.44, 5 H O'Donnell (Eryri) 79.32, 6 J Raho (Holcombe) 80.23. M40: 3 M Davies (NWRR) 81.06. M50: 1 R Owe n (Eryri) 83.21, 2 S Price (Liverpool) 85.52, 3 M Ellithorn (Chorley) 87.43. M60: 1 D Weaver (Eryri) 90.36, 2 C Wilcox (Clwydian) 92.1 5, 3 A Duncan (Bowland) 92.43.
 Ladies: 1 B Curtis (Hunters BT) 86.30, 2 M Mowbray (Hunter BT, L40) 87.07, 3 S Ridgway Run Snwdonia, L40) 87.45, 4 S O'Neil (Hunters BT) 89.06, 5 R Law (Eryri) 93.20, 6 K Seddon (Chester Tri) 94.44. L40: 3 C Butterworth (Darwen) 1-40.17. L50: 1 S Gilliver (Wilmslow) 1-43.05, 2 J Rogers (Chester Tri) 1-47.51, 3 H Berrett (Buckley) 1-48.06. L60: M Oliver (Eryri) 2-03.05.

Masters' XC

WEATHER SCUPPERS WELSH TEAM CHANCES

The Welsh team's hopes at the British and Irish Masters' cross-country international in Dublin were blown away when the flight from Cardiff was cancelled because of the weather, which meant that the majority of the members did not arrive.

 As expected, conditions for the event were pretty nasty, with thick mud over the course.

 Among the North Wales contingent who did make it there was an interesting tussle between Denbigh Harriers Tracey Williams and Emma Collins in the L50 class, with the former gaining a rare victory over her clubmate.

 The North Wales results included:- L40 12 Sarah Kearney 23.41, 17 Rhian Roxburgh 24.10. L50: 14  Tracey Williams 25.59, 15  Emma Collins 26.09. L65: 5 Chris Birch 28.49, 10 Margaret Docking 31.11.
  M45: 17 Darren Rowlands 28.46, 26 John Ford 30.47, 29 Gary Blackwell 31.17. M55: 15 Gordon Jones 29.57. M60: 13 Stephen P Jones 32.00. M75: 11 Roger Harrison-Jones 32.56, 12 David Hughes 33.58.

Welsh awards

MOUNTAIN CHAMPS RECOGNITION FOR ARWEL

The work put in by Eryri's Arwel Lewis in helping to organise the successful World Mountain-Running Championships in September earned him recognition at Welsh Athletics' annual awards ceremony.

 Having organised the course for the event, which was praised by  athletes and officials, he was presented with the  trophy for Off-Track Official of the Year.

 It was a very successful evening for North Wales in many ways, with  English cross-country champion Charlie Hulson (Sale) from Rhosesmor and Georgina Outten (Birchfield) from Llandudno picking up the awards for senior endurance athletes of the year.

 Menai Track and Field Club came away with two  awards - for Disability Inclusivity Club of the Year and also, along with Ynys Mon Council, for Partnership of Year.

 Official starter Keith Owens from Denbigh was among the recipients of the Meritorious Awards and the Awards of Honour went to Keith Adams (Wrexham) and Gareth Hughes (Prestatyn).

Rhobell Fawr

INTERNATIONALS TRIUMPH AT RHOBELL

Welsh internationals Gareth Hughes and Katie Beecher took the titles in the Rhobell Fawr fell-race, which was the first in Meirionnydd Winter Series.

 Hughes, who made his Welsh debut in this year's Snowdon race, had a good battle with veteran Mark Palmer while Beecher held off a challenge from the experienced Sarah Ridgeway.

 Results: 1 G Hughes (Mercia) 51.17, 2 M Palmer (Mynydd Du, M50) 52.23, 3 K Steinegger (Ambleside) 57.06, 4 M Fortes (Eryri) 57.39, 5 N Ashcroft (Ambleside, M40) 58.10, 6 A Powell (Maldwyn, M40) 58.53. M40: 3 P Jenkinson (Eryri) 60.12. M50: 2 P Beeson (Maldwyn) 59.23, 3 D Powell (Aberystwyth) 61.47. M60: 1 A Duncan (Bowland) 66.57, 2 N Hindle (WFRA) 71.48, 3 G Gunner (Croft Ambrey) 75.38.
 Ladies: 1 K Beecher (Mynydd Du) 59.08, 2 S Ridgeway (Run Snowdonia, L40) 61.55, 3 B Jenkinson (Eryri, U18) 66.29, 4 H Evans (Buckley) 68.09, 5 K Cole (ua) 68.29,  6 B Law (Eryri) 68.39. L40: 2 R Metcalfe (Eryri) 71.29, 3 A Loveluck (ua) 71.50. L50: K Sullivan (Aberystwyth) 75.10. L60: M Oliver (Eryri) 90.34.