M&M’s athletes travelled to Beckenham Place Park on the outskirts of London for the annual South of England Cross Country Championships on Saturday. Only 4 senior men particated but saw strong runs from Ben Tyler (58th), Jamie Walsh (127th), Alex Donnelly (236th) and Masters’ athlete, Bob Fursey (524th).
With a depleted U17 team, Franklin Shepherd switching from indoors, had a strong run to finish 55th and Riley Maisey finishing in102nd.
The U15 boys were first to race over 4500M but due to a number of withdrawals were reduced to just a single athlete – Maxime Foissy who finished in 177th place (17:31).
There was a better result for the U13 Boys team who raced over 3000m; Connor Cousins – continuing his strong performances this season – was first home in 35th place (10:50), followed closely by Louie Gear in 49th (11:01), Daniel Kershaw 146th (12:22) and Henry Powell who closed the scoring in 154th (12:33), his brother Dominic was close behind in 161st (12:51), the team finished in 16th place overall.
Four Senior women contested the 8000m course. Emily Hale running well to finish in 112th, followed by a strong run from Taryne McPherson (152nd), Karen Cudmore (215th) and Vanessa Vander (309th).
Returning to form, Ella Webb raced strong, finishing in 22nd. Annabel Young (42nd) Ciara Harrop (61st) and Sharne Elphick (62nd).
The U17 women had an exceptional day finishing 3rd team and collecting bronze medals. Leading the team in, Abigail Royden (25th), Lily Crossley (38th), Natalia Austin (42nd) and Lola Sutton (56th). Followed close behind was Beth Palmer (57th), Mercedes McGivern (86th) and Ingrid Linn (103rd).
Iris Crossley was first U15 M&M finisher in 26th. Backed up by Rose Crossley (44th), Sophia Cudmore-Smith (82nd) and Heidi Hughes (112th) with a team finish of 12th.
