Results

Senior Men’s Cross Country Report – By Steve Marklew

Twenty-one of the clubs senior men faced a waterlogged and muddy course at Arrow Valley Park in Redditch on Saturday (19th Feb) in the wake of storms Dudley and Eunice. Sitting in a strong 2nd place in Division 2, a further strong performance would see promotion to the top tier of the Birmingham and District cross country league.

Superb running by the first six RSCAC athletes home saw the club finish in first place on the day with Ollie Harradence first home in 4th place followed by Dan Floyd (15th), Barry Lloyd (22nd), David Sutton (29^th), Alex Seabright (37th) and Richard Naylor (38th). This was enough to confirm 2nd place at the end of the 4 race series and secure promotion. In addition, Ollie finished in 2nd place overall over the season, winning the individual silver medal for his seasons efforts.

The next six home also showed great consistency with Chris Taylor (47th), Andy Bradley (63rd), Tony Davies (67th), Russell Simpson (70th), Mark Rickards (75th) and John Hayman (86th) completing the B team scoring. This was again sufficient for RSCAC to win the B team competition on the day and completed a clean sweep of victories over the four fixtures.

This strength in depth was further shown by the fact that RSCAC were the only club to have all 12 athletes over both A and B teams to finish in the top 100 in all four races, something no other club in the division could achieve even once.

Other athletes home were Alex Blackham (103), Martin Clutterbuck (119), Ed Stead (123), Simon Corker (129), Paul Terleski (133), Steve Marklew (157), Tom Lloyd (165), Subodh Davé (178), Callum Thomas (184), Josh Hughes (195) and Paul Jenkins (205).

Over the season a total of 33 different athletes represented the club which again shows the growing strength over the two senior squads. Next season will see RSCAC compete against the strongest clubs in the league and it is hoped that a similar turnout will be experienced as we seek to maintain a presence at the top table of what is widely considered the biggest and strongest cross country league in the country.

Senior Women’s Cross Country Report – By Linda O’Connor

The final race of the season saw the women’s team tackle the wet, muddy and windy course at Newbold Comyn, Leamington. The recent storms resulted in a course change to bypass the dreaded ditch! This was met with mixed feelings across the team, with some having been excited at the challenge, whilst others had been dreading it.  Once again there was strong representation with 9 athletes on the start line. Olivia Harris once again lead the team home in 40^th, supported by U20 Caitlin O’Connor 58^th, Ellen Humpherston 75^th & U20 Lucy Carey 90^th. Sky Mileto and Jennie Lloyd showed great teamwork to finish in 98^th & 99^th respectively, with Dale Lyons 116^th, Georgia Delaney 123^rd and an admirable run from Annette Belcher, who having lost a shoe in the mud, finished in 137^th to cheers from the team.

The women’s team finished a fantastic 13^th overall in their first season in Division 1. With 12 athletes competing across the season we had between 7 & 10 athletes on the start line for each race. The season also saw the team welcome U20’s Lucy & Elsa. Six ladies that competed in all 4 races were rewarded with a Top 100 in the individual standings.

It was an honour to be the Team Manager this season to such a committed and enthusiastic team and I know that Roy would have been proud and delighted with the performances across the season and the growing numbers in the women’s team. With some new talent joining next year from the current U17 age group the women’s team continues to go from strength to strength.

There are days when you have a right to feel proud. This was one of them for anyone associated with RSCAC.

Sunday 20^th February 2022 was the date for the 5^th and final fixture in the West Midlands Young Athletes Cross-Country League for 2021/22, held at The Pingles in Nuneaton.

Sunday 20^th February 2022 was when RSCAC experienced success… after success… after success.

Sunday 20^th February 2022 was a day for cheers and tears, for trophies and medals, for a round of applause and a pat on the back.

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On the day, 3 out of the 8 RSCAC teams – the U11 Girls, U17 Women and U17 Men finished 1^st.

There were also some exceptional individual performances: Sian Duval and Bethan Homer finishing 1^st and 4^th respectively in the U17 Women; Will Seager finishing 3^rd in the U11 Boys; George Hope, George O’Connor and Ethan Patel finishing 4^th, 5^th and 6^th in the U17 Men; Isla Daly and Sophia Potocka finishing in the top 10 in the U11 Girls; and Noah Homer finishing 2^nd in the U13 Boys.

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And after 5 matches, what are the headlines?

To succeed, our athletes had to

• Attend, endure in at times challenging conditions, and perform a winter season of training.
• Attend, endure in at times challenging conditions, and perform on race days.
• Show commitment, determination and provide inspiration to others around them.

Did they succeed? Oh yes!

 In the overall team competition, with 21 clubs competing in 8 age-group teams, RSCAC came 2^nd, more than 1000 points ahead of the 3^rd placed team.

4, yes 4 out of the 8 teams came 1^st overall in their age group: U17 Women, U17 Men, U11 Girls, and U11 Boys!

In the U17 Women, Sian Duval and Bethan Homer were 3^rd and 4^th overall.

In the U11 Boys, Will Seager was 1^st overall, with Yuvan Sidhu and Jayden Bailey in the top 10, 7^th and 9^th respectively.

In the U17 Men, George O’Connor was 2^nd, with Ethan Patel and George Hope in the top 10, 4^th and 7^th respectively.

In the U11 Girls, we had top 10 places for Sophia Potocka and Isla Daly,  7^th and 8^th respectively.

And in the U13 Boys, Noah Homer was 2^nd.

This chest of team and individual treasure owes a big debt of gratitude to the following:

• All the coaches, team managers and parent helpers who guided and supported our young athletes through training and competition.
• All the parents/guardians who allowed their children to flourish and succeed.

• And above all:  the athletes themselves.

Proud? You bet!

RSCAC were well represented in the Cannock and District Team at the recent Staffordshire Schools Championships. The races were held in windy conditions over the challenging Bentley Court Farm course near Crewe. The senior and inter girls started together before the senior girls peeled off to do an extra loop of the small field. Grace Bessant was first home for the club in the Inter Girls, finishing in 12^th, closely followed by Amber Hoey in 15^th with the team achieving 2^nd place. In the senior women’s race Sian Duval ran strongly throughout, winning comfortably and finishing 44 seconds ahead of the 2^nd placed athlete. Jess Hales also worked hard round the undulating course, finishing in 5^th.

It was great to see the Staffs Schools Championships back on and the RSCAC athletes representing their districts again!

It is the final cross country league race of the season on the 20th February at Pingles stadium Nuneaton. It will be great to see as many RSCAC athletes out as we can for the last of the 5 races. As it stand RSCAC are competing for a number of individual and team medals. The course map and time are outlined below as well as directions to the venue. Please remember your club vest, spikes and race number if you have competed in this event before.

Directions to venue:

From M6 Exit M6 at junction 3, signposted Nuneaton and follow A444. After approximately 2.5 miles you will pass the George Elliott Hospital on your left (also footbridge over road). Continuing along the A444, after the large island get in the right hand lane as you go down the hill. Taking the 2nd exit onto the A4254 (signposted Hinckley). After approximately 300m you will approach a set of traffic lights, with a public house called the Cedar Tree to your left, also signposted the Pingles Leisure Complex, turn left. The car park is at the top of the drive, in front of the Stadium. From the M1 Exit M1 at junction 21, turn onto the M69 (signposted Coventry). At Junction 1 exit motorway to the join the A5 (signposted Nuneaton) / Hinckley), taking the exit off the island towards Nuneaton. After approximately 2 miles you come to a T junction with a set of traffic lights, taking the filter to the left joining the A47 (the Crest Motel will be on your left), continue on to the next island, taking the 1st exit joining the A4254, signposted to Coventry. Continue for approximately 2 miles along this road, you will approach a set of traffic lights with a public house named the Cedar Tree diagonally in front on you and also signposted the Pingles Leisure Complex, turn right. The car park is at the top of the drive, in front of the Stadium. From A5 from the West After travelling along the Atherstone bypass continue along the A5 approximately 3 miles you will come to a T junction with a set of traffic lights, turn right joining the A47 (the Crest Motel will be in front of you left). Then follow the directions as above.

It was great to see our athletes competing in the Midland XC Championships at Berry Hill Park – Mansfield –  29^th January 2022.  We had athletes competing across the age groups from under 13 to Seniors.

The event was set over a strenuous course with elements of hills, down hills, mud, and grassed areas.  The conditions added to the demand with a strong cross wind.

We achieved 3 runners in the top 10 with a notable performance by Bethan Homer picking up the silver medal in the Under 17 Women’s race just 12 second behind the winner Isabelle Price of Wolverhampton and Bilston.  The race saw a pack of 7 move away from the others over the short lap slowly reducing as the race went on.  Bethan took up the lead part way through the 2^nd lap where 4 eventually moved free of the rest of the field.   Bethan managed to hold off the 3^rd placed athlete Iris Downes of Shrewsbury AC to finish 2^nd in a time of 19:29 for the 5km course. Martha Wood also ran well achieving 34^th place.

The under 13 boys was a competitive race with only 20 seconds separating the top 4.  Noah Homer had a great race just missing out on the medals in 4^th place with a time of 10:30 for the 3km course.  Christian Neal had a very impressive run finishing in 37^th.

George Hope had a fantastic race achieving a top 10 place finishing 9^th in the Under 17 boys.  Ethan Patel also had a good run in 19^th.

Other performances include, Under 13 Girls Tiffany Latham 50^th & Imogen Neal 58^th. Under 15 Girls with Amber Hoey 39^th & Eva Cartwight 61^st. Under 15 Boys with Isaac Cartwright 48^th & Joel Cartwright 69^th.Under 20 Women  – Lucy Carey 20^th  and Under 20 Men Tom Lloyd in 37^th.

There was a great turn out by our Senior Men again in a very competitive race which included 279 athletes.  The top-quality field saw the winner, Douglas Musson (a 2:20 marathon runner) edge away from Jack Gray also a 2:20 marathon man.  Well done to the first RSCAC runner Ollie Harradence who continued his great recent form , finishing in 33^rd place. Great running also from Daniel Floyd 53th, Alex Seabright 74^th, Barry Lloyd 77^th and Sam Crawford 140^th.

Well done to all involved.

Charlotte (Charlie) Prince has set a new club pole vault record yesterday at an indoor meeting at Manchester. Charlotte (under 17) achieved a height of 2.81m beating her previous personal best of 2.70m set by her last year. This is a fantastic foundation for the coming track season.

Warley Woods 22^nd January 2022

Another great day for RSCAC at the West Midlands Schools XC Championships at Warley Woods. 26 athletes from the club competed for their school boroughs which was a fantastic turn out.  Several of our athletes achieved medal places and automatic selection to represent the West Midlands in the English schools XC Championships in Kent 19^th March.  The first 6 athletes in each race from year 8 upwards are automatically selected with 2 discretionary places to be selected on league race and Midland Championship performances.

A notable performance was Bethan Homer in the Inter girls.  The race was run combined with the senior girls.  Bethan had a terrific run achieving silver place in the Inter girls and was 3^rd overall in the combined race.  Francesca Allen was the next place RSCAC athlete positioning 5^th in the inter girls.  Both Bethan and Francesca are automatically selected for the English Schools Cross Country Championships.  The combined race saw Zara Buchanan finish in 11^th place which was 3^rd place in for the Senior girls.  Lucy Carey also achieved automatic selection for the 19^th March.

George O’Connor continued his fantastic season by achieving 3^rd position and picking up the bronze medal in the Senior boys again achieving selection to Kent in March.

Noah Homer also had a fantastic race in the year 7 boys achieving a silver medal.  A great result.  Gabrielle Daly also had a great race in the year 7 girls achieving 3^rd place and picking up a bronze medal.   Year 7 pupils are not able to compete in the English Schools but can run in the National Primary School Championships.

More of our athletes may well be selected due to excellent performances over the cross-country season.

Well done to everyone who competed and good luck for those running in the English Schools XC Championships.

Race report by Jo Homer

There was some great racing at a new venue for the 4^th WMYACCL race at Walsall Arboretum on the 16^th January.  The race was jointly organised by RSCAC and Birchfield bringing lots of volunteers from both clubs to help support the race. The weather was kind to the organisers, volunteers and athletes and enabled many of our athletes to have fantastic runs with some great top 10 finishes.

The under 17 girls kicked off the event with Sian Duval finishing with a great 2^nd place, closely followed by Bethan Homer in 3^rd.  Supported by another good run from Beatrix Whistance in 14^th, the team were 2^nd on the day and currently in 1st place over the 4 races.

Under 11 boys saw a close-run battle with Will Seager taking the win again.  This makes 4 wins out of four and has secured Will first overall across the league races.  Yuvan Sidhu ran a very gutsy race to finish in 10^th place.  The under 11 boys are over 100 points clear of the next best placed team across all the races so far.

The under 17 boys saw 2 athletes achieve top 10 places.  George O’Connor worked his way up the field to finish in 3^rd with George Hope the next best finisher in 6^th place.  Again, RSCAC are overall in first team position for this age group across the 4 races.

The Under 11 girls Isla Daly was in 10th place just edging out Sophia Potocka who was 11^th with the same time for the course of 06.47.  Another impressive win for the girls who were best team on the day and overall.

The under 15 saw Will Stead returning his best performance of the season so far in 15^th. The under 13 girls were closely packed with Willow McCarthy-Brown first back closely followed by her teammates.  Christian Neal was in first position for the club for the under 13 boys.  Both under 13 boys and girls teams are currently in 4^th club position over the races so far.

In the under 15 girls the first finisher for RSCAC was Francesca Allen in 16^th place.

Overall RSCAC were the 2^nd best team on the day and currently are 2^nd best team with all to place for at the last race at Nuneaton on the 20^th February.

Again thanks for all the volunteers who helped set up the course and marshal on the day.

By Steve Marklew & Linda O’Connor

Race 3 of the league saw both ladies and men’s teams travel to Burton Dassett. Arriving to a course shrouded in heavy fog, it was a while until the undulating course revealed itself. With slippery cambers and rolling hills it was more akin to a fell race!

A fantastic team of 10 ladies lined up for the gruelling 6km course. U20 Caitlin O’Connor, made a strong start for the team, in her first league XC of the season, following injury. Having negotiated the treacherous descent to the first of the big laps, Olivia Harris made her way through the field over the two big laps to finish strongly. Making their debut in the Senior League, U20’s Lucy Carey and Elsa Buchanan showed great maturity transitioning to the senior league with both having great performances.

The ladies all showed fantastic grit and determination over the unforgiving course, with the sting in the tail being the final long drag uphill to the finish.

Olivia was first home in 47^th, followed by Caitlin 72^nd (U20 – 16^th), Gemma Sidaway 93^rd and with Lucy 94^th (U20 – 20^th) completing the team.

Providing great support to the team and ensuring a sea of Royal Blue on the course were Sky Mileto 107^th, Annette Belcher 116^th, Jennie Lloyd 118^th, Elsa Buchanan 126^th (U20 – 24^th), Georgia Delaney 134^th and the always smiling Dale Lyons 153^rd.

The ladies are currently 13^th overall and with one race left in the league we are looking forward to a great turnout to secure a second season in Division 1.

Following swiftly on from the Ladies race, the men’s squad faced the same course but over a 10k distance in their 2^nd division fixture. Sitting just outside the promotion places in the league following the first two races the pressure was on to make a challenge on the top three positions.

A frantic start saw many of the clubs runners towards the front end of the field, with just under 300 men facing the challenging course. First home was Ollie Harradence in 4^th place which sees him remain in overall first position in the overall individual competition, swiftly followed by Dan Floyd (11^th) Barry Lloyd (23^rd) Alex Seabright (32^nd) Andy Bradley (50^th) and Richard Naylor (52^nd) completing the A team. This meant that they finished in first place out of the 14 clubs making up the division and raised them to second place overall with one fixture remaining.

In a strong show of club strength, the next six runners home for the club, thus making up the B team were Russell Simpson ((62^nd) Tony Davies (68th) John Hayman (70^th) Chris Taylor (73th), Fred Tremblay (79th) and Alex Blackham (84th). This placed the club as first in the B team competition for the third race of the season and were the only club to score with all 12 scorers inside the top 100 finishers. Also in the top 100 were David Sutton (86^th) Dylan O’Rourk (96^th) with Paul Terleski (101^st) Nick Blunt (128^th) Shaun Hemmings (139^th) Iain McKie (179^th) Dean Lucas (182^nd) Josh Hughes (213rd) and Paul Jenkins (223^rd) completing the roster for another strong turnout for the club with 21 athletes competing.

With one race left in the season, the club need one final strong performance to gain promotion to the top division and to win the B team competition as well.

Huge thanks must also go to Phil Pollock who did a double-shift in his officiating duties, in very cold conditions, to officiate for both races on Saturday, recording times at the finish.

A great assortment of cakes was presented after the race by Katie and Jenny which were gratefully devoured by both squads. The only disappointment is that the men and ladies race at different venues for their final fixtures, so careful consideration will need to be given to ensuring sufficient rewards are available at BOTH venues.