Wirral A C Newsletter

No 163 Oct/Nov 2008 Editor: L J Carroll

U13 Boys shine at Mansfield

ick of some impressive running by Wirral athletes at the English Cross Country relays at Berry Park, Mansfield was 5th place by the U13 Boys. Lead-off runner , Matthew Westby produced the fastest Wirral time of 7m15.95s to finish 9th on a smoky first lap. Daniel Jarvis made up a place with 7m36.25s and Ben McGee (7m30.25s) moved up to 5th, just losing a battle for 4th with Kingston-upon-Hull with the three leaders well clear. The B team, helped by a first lap of 7m 25s from Richard Evans also had a fine run to finish 26th just 0.2sec behind the first B Team (Windsor Slough and Eton). It will be interesting to how this combination of depth and quality fares in the championships later in the season. Also in the first ten were the U15 Boys led off by Max Jeffers (17th in 6m43s) with Liam Fryer (11th in 6m53s ) and Nick Jones (6m 39s) bringing them home 8th. Jamie Parker ran 6m 52s on the first stage for the B team so they too have a capable fourth counter. Best of the rest, was 13th by the U17 Girls team ( Jess Schofield, Clare Dickers and Nicole Haviland ) and Hannah Tarvers opening lap for the U15 Girls which saw her finish 8th. Full results on the ECCA web site (englishcrosscountry.co.uk) under Relays/ Results

At the Northern YA Road Relays in Croxteth Park in early October, pride of place went to the U15 Boys who picked up the silver medals behind a strong Warrington trio. Nick Jones gave the team a solid start in 4th with what proved to be the fastest time by a Wirral athlete. Max Jeffers moved them into the lead on lap two, but Sam Robinson, despite a good run, was unable to hold off Warringtons star athlete, Luke Johnson, who ran the fastest lap of the race. The U13 Boys, U17 Men and U17 Women all finished 5th to ensure a successful day for the club. On the same weekend the Over 50 Men picked up the silver medals behind Oxford City at the British Masters Cross Country Relays. Well placed after Kevin Buxtons opening lap, Graham Ratcliffe, Paul Frodsham and Chris Henry came home comfortably ahead of third place Barnet&District.

Merit Awards for 2008

The George Warburton Cup for the most outstanding track and field performance. Chris Smith (800m, GB Team World Junior Champs) Age group awards Outstanding Athlete Shield for U11 Girls Sophie Tarver Bill Taylor Shield for Under 11 Boys Tony Carscadden The Hunt Shield for Under 13 Boys Joe Jones (200m) The Hunt Shield for Under 13 Girls Katie Everson (Shot) The Bill Weston Trophy for Under 15 Boys Micah Harty-Wint (LJ) The Norman Waterson Plate for Under 15 Girls Sophie Money (100m) The Walter Hinds Cup for U17 Men Sid Srinivas (400mH) The Walter Hinds Bowl for U17 Women Eleanor Lewis (100m) The Leo Carroll Shield for Junior/Senior Men Andy Boyd (100m) The W F Bushell Cup for Jun/Sen Women Rebecca McLinden (400m) The Wellock Shield Eleanor Meehan : The Gilbert Award Samantha Leahy The Endeavour Vase Rachel Patterson : The Pat Carr Shield Shaun Egan The Hercules Shield John Hunt : The Sportshall Cup Kristian Brown The Frank Lathom Plate Margaret Milne Special Awards Kate Brick for representing England Julie Money for representing GB Masters

Wirral (Ben McGee) and Kingston-uponHull battle for 4th place at Mansfield with 600m to go in the U13 Boys.

The awards will be presented in the club room at the Gatehouse, Oval Sports Centre, on Monday, Nov 24th ( 8pm ). All members are encouraged to attend and support the winners .

Wirral AC Schools C C Races

Our Annual Cross Country Races for Schools in Arrowe Park produced several remarkable close battles in the team races featuring local rivals St Anselms College and Calday Grange Grammar School. In the Under 15 Boys race, the team scores were equal, with St Anselms winning the William Weston Cup based on the position of the last counter. They also provided the individual winner in Liam Fryer who comfortably held off the Calday pair of Jamie Parker and Nick Jones. Calday turned the tables in the Under 18 Boys race with four in the first six to win the A G Nicholson Memorial Trophy by 2 points. Jon Philip Seymour (St Anselms) took a decisive lead early in the race and never looked under pressure, with Ben Costello (Calday) a distant second and Jamie Carragher (St Anselms) third. The U13 Girls race saw another race settled by the position of the last counter, Upton Hall School winning the HSBC Shield in front of Canon Slade School from Bolton. Anna Gordon (West Kirby High School) won by 8 seconds, with sister Miriam just holding off the leading Upton Hall counter, Anna Fraine to take 2nd place. In the U15 Girls race, Katie Duckers of Upton Hall was first across the line, but Canon Slade easily won the F C Barnes Cup with their four counters following her home. The U12 Boys race for the Dave Shallcross Trophy saw St Anselms beating Calday by just 1 point with Calday having the consolation of the individual winner in Niall Flanagan. Rebecca Hannah and Nicole Haviland led Upton Hall to a win in the U18 Girls race with Jess Schofield in third place. The U11 Boys race for the Dave Jeffs Cup was dominated by St Marys Prep, with Jack Glashan (St Anselms Redcourt) just holding off Morgan Feeney (St Marys) to win the individual race. St Marys also took the U11 Girls team race with Sophie Tarver of Thingwall Primary having a runaway win.

Coming soon
Nov 8 L&D CC League Nov 9 Borders Road League Nov 29 Euro CC Trial includes L&D League at Dec 13 L&D CC League Dec 14 Dec 26 Jan 4 Jan 10 Beacon Pk 3.00 Hoylake Sefton Park 2pm Stadt Moores 2.30pm Buckley

Jan 18 Jan 24

Borders Road League Chester Walls Borders Road League Colwyn Bay Merseyside CC Champs Arrowe Pk including Wirral AC Champs for all age groups except Senior Men Four Villages Half Helsby Northern CC Champs Sherdley Pk

UK Cross Challenge, Sefton Park

Those eligible to run in the Liverpool&District League can take part in the Senior Mens race without entering, though as usual they must collect a number from Ces Barnes before the start (at 2pm, please note) Members wishing to run in the other races must enter and pay the entry fee. Details and forms can be found on the uka website under Competition => uk Cross Challenge.

Borders League at Christleton

The men had a comfortable win in the first round of the Borders Road Running League over a 9.5km loop at Christleton, placing their seven counters in the first 26 to put the team on the top of Division 2. In fact with ten to count we would easily have won Division 1, even without the valuable assistance of some of the U17s Xavier Desse led the team home in 3rd place, finishing within 30 seconds of the Eryri Harriers pair of Rob Samuel and Brendan Rothery. Veterans Peter Scarrett and Graham Ratcliffe followed in 9th and 13th with Jon-Philip Seymour and Shaun Egan in 16th and 22nd showing the clubs strength in the U17 age group. Mark Hulmston (25th) and Kelvin Dickinson (26th) completed the count The Ladies took third place in Division 1 behind last seasons champions, Tattenhall, and Buckley Runners. Rebecca Hannah was first home in 10th, with Jess Schofield making a useful debut in 28th. Jane Fraser (32nd ) and Pippa Stott (36th) completed the count.

Chris and Doug in the Frame

Athletic Shorts.
Kevin Buxton has been showing some form recently
winning the Hoylake 10k and taking the O50 award in the Snowdonia Marathon. His time of 3hr0min59sec for the 26+ miles round Snowdon was remarkable in weather conditions described as horrendous.

Chris Smith received an Excellent Achievement Award at the OCWK presentation in October. As his coach, Doug Hanna received a Coaching Achievement Award. OCWK, in case you didnt know, is an acronym for On Camp with Kelly and here they are at the presentation with the lady herself, Kelly Holmes, the double Olympic Champion from Athens.

Club Vests The official stockists of club vests are: Runners Sport & Leisurewear 66, Bebington Road, New Ferry. Vests : 13 ; Green shorts : 10. They will deal by mail 0151 644 8384