Another Week Another Win

Midlands Cross Country Championships

Berry Hill Park, Mansfield

29th January 2022

Adams wins Midlands Cross Country Championships

Report – Paul Hawkins

The Midlands Cross Country Championships are the first of the major championships of the season and represent a step up in quality from the County Champs before the National Championships in February and March.

The course at Berry Hill Park is a regular venue but not for the Stratford team, most of whom were racing here for the first time.

The parkland course was mostly firm underfoot with technical running through the woods on each lap. Unfortunately, the Stratford team was smaller than usual due to injuries and many Covid absences. Nevertheless, there was plenty of quality on show. To add interest Storm Malik provided some very strong winds which blew many of the club tents away.

The highlight for Stratford was Alex Adams who continued his good form in the Under 17 men’s race of 6k over two laps. The slow early pace didn’t suit Adams so after 2k he pushed the pace on and left the rest of the leading group in his wake, as no one was prepared to go with his pace. From then on it was a solo run where Alex focussed on maintaining his lead which he eventually extended to about 150m. He won in 19.45 by one of the biggest margins of the day with second place Solomon Okrafo-Smart in 19.56 closing at the end in the race for the minor places

After a silver medal in the 2020 under 15 championships this was an excellent step up from Adams and a return to winning ways after winning the under 13 title previously.

Taylor Stubbins was disappointed to finish in 31^st in a below par performance but still improved from 76^th in 2020. Theo Skirvin completed the team in a fine run for 37^th place.

After winning the Under 17 level women’s race in 2020, Georgie Campbell stepped up to the Under 20 women’s race where she was surprisingly the only leading under 17 from last time that raced. Georgie featured in the leading group early on in the race before the field stretched out and Georgie just missed out on the medals finishing 4^th but will move on with confidence to next week’s British Universities championships.

In the first race of the day, Marijke Tear-Verweij ran well in the under 13 girls to finish 25^th to confirm her place in the Warwickshire team for March, although she would have been happier with a longer race than the 3k distance.

A big group of under 13 boys had entered from Stratford but they were badly hit by Covid so eventually only two ran the 3k course. First home was the ever improving Aran Cooper, 24^th in 11.27 while Alfie Musk was 52^nd in 12 .51 in a very fast finish gaining several places.

The under 15 girls was another category badly hit by withdrawals but the ever reliable Niamh Hillard improved by six places from 2020 to 23^rd. Abbi Cooper looks to be getting back to her best and finished just inside the top 50 while Tilly Campbell had a strong race in 71^stwhich was 27 places further up the field from 2020.

The under 15 boys were another team badly hit by Covid and injuries but the remaining team members all had strong runs over 4k, led by James Day in 33^rd (75 in 2020) followed by a fast finishing Seb Hillard (59 from 89 in 2020) in probably his best race for a very long time. Zak Lambert was running his first race at this level and found the latter half of the race tough going but was still a creditable 67^thand will have learnt a lot for the experience. Joe Lewis completed the Stratford team in 73^rd.

In the senior women’s race Emma Bexson was the sole Stratford runner and had a very well judged run in the conditions to finish 59^thdespite worrying her supporters when stumbling on a steep downhill near the finish. Emma’s run was rewarded with a well placed in a big and good quality field, and was another athlete who progressed well from last time when she was 83^rd.

The final race of the day was the senior men’s 12k, run over four laps. Stratford had three athletes racing which disappointingly meant they were unable to complete a team. The first back for Stratford was Adam Linforth in his debut for the team finishing 147th in a time of 46:13, followed by Max Ross (181) and John Raby (207^th) who battled for the places for most of the race.

All in all, a good day for the Stratford team who will now focus on their final league races of the season in mid-February, followed by the National Championships in February and March.

An all-Saints centre partnership will see Ethan Grayson and Tom Litchfield line-up side by side in the midfield as England open their campaign; lock Tom Lockett also starts the match in the engine room, while George Hendy is set to enter the action at The Dam Heath Stadium, Edinburgh from the bench.

Fresh from making his European debut for Saints, 19-year-old Litchfield will add a third cap at U20 level to his tally on Friday evening after featuring for the Red Rose last summer. But for Lockett, Grayson and Hendy, the clash with Scotland will mark their first international involvement at that level – with the trio all in line to earn their first England U20 caps in Edinburgh.