News

10th November 2024

England Cross Country Relays

Twenty two Burton athletes travelled to Berry Hill Mansfield for the England Cross country relays, a strong club turnout in the school half term week. First to run were the under 20 junior women, with Maisie Trueman on the first 2.5 killometre leg, taking part in her 7th consecutive appearance. Trueman started well and was just outside the top 10, running strongly she came home 12th in 8.58. Megan Smith was on leg 2 and after a recent virus she found it tough finishing in 11.56 with the team 32. Saffron Bowley on the last leg ran well to move the team to 27th out of 47 teams with a 10.01 leg. In the under 17 women, injury and exams meant Connie Lees was the only runner and she finished in 11.30 for 66th.The under 13 boys saw Jacob Harmon on the opening leg of the 2K lap, finishing 51st in 8.33 . Jacob Manlove on leg 2 ran strongly, his 8.27 moving the team to 34th. James Hollingworth was a late injury replacement and the youngest of the team ran 9.30 as the team finished 44th out of 70.A young under 13 girls team had Zola Signori on leg 1 and her 10.00 had the team 67th. Amelie Cawson 11.03 moved the team to 65th and Millie Shin’s 11.05 moved the team to 63rd out of 70.The under 17 men saw Kamil Kolodziej on the 3K opening lap, his 10.45 had the team 71st. Henry Hemmings in his first relay ran strongly, his 10.23 had the team 59th with Sammy McCafferty on the last leg moving the team to 57th out of 92 with 11.25.The under 15 girls team had Sian Gower on the opening leg and her 9.08 had the team 69th. Millie Nettleton continued her fine form with an 8.22 run to move the team 47th. Sister Charlotte after injury is getting back to her best with an 8.44 leg moving the team up to 38th out of 89.The last Burton interest was in the under 15 boys 2K race where Burton had 2 teams taking part. Ewan Withnall was on leg 1 for the A team and he has a fine record here. Two years ago he announced himself as a strong runner winning the 1st leg in the under 13 race with the 4th fastest time of the day. Last year he was 2nd on the 1st leg of the under 15 race with the 5th best time. Withnall started well and was in the leading two for the first 1.5K, he then took the lead. Coming into the last 100 metres he opened a lead and looked clear but a last minute charge saw him closed down but he accelerated to take first by a foot with a 6.37. Lincoln Shaw started in the lead but by less than a second and the youngest of the team, ran well for 7.36 with the team 12th. Lewis Boyce had a worry about his back earlier in the week, he showed he was over this with a fine 7.16 to move the team to 10th. The B team had Morgan Fletcher on the opening leg and his 7.31 had the team 43rd. Aleksander Tutt’s 7.34 had the team 33rd. Oliver James’s 8.06 had the team 41st out of 91 teams. The Burton A team, equaled Burton best ever result, which the under 13s had set in 2022, that team was Withnall, Boyce and Tutt. It’s not been confirmed yet but it looks like Withnall ran the fastest under 15 leg of the day.Next weekend sees the next match in the North Midlands League at Corby. Meanwhile Trueman will be making her Loughborough University debut in the Birmingham League as she looks to impress for selection for the British University Championships. While Withnall will be in Cardiff as he looks for stronger competition in the UK Cross Challenge where he will face the winner of the schools international from Dublin.