Cheshire XC Championship
The New Year got off to a flying start at the XC Cheshire Championship on Saturday 6th January, where 30 club members, across all age ranges, battled round a deceptively tough course at Reaseheath and achieved some great individual and team results.Given the recent rain, it was a largely dry and sunny day for those who travelled to Nantwich, yet hardly a surprise that some of the course was nothing short of a quagmire!
First up, were the 3 U11s who raced really well. Congratulations go to Henry Talbot who earned
himself a silver medal, finishing as the 2nd boy. Isabella and Olivia also ran very well finishing in 24th and 28th place for the girls.
This strong start was quickly followed up in U13s race, where Reuben Lawrance, competing for the
first time as a Macclesfield Harrier, finished 3rd overall, receiving a bronze medal for his superb effort in the process. Alex and Sadie both ran well too, with Sadie also getting an inter-counties selection letter.
The U15s were next to face the mud, and seemed to relish the challenge, with fantastic racing all
round. The formidable boys continued to show their strength, with all 5 finishing in the top 15. Jake
earned an individual bronze medal for finishing 3rd overall, with George hot on his heels in 7th place, Jared 9th, Bobby 11th, and Thomas 13th. These brilliant positions meant that they finished as the top team overall and collected gold medals. Congratulations! Eva and Daisy also raced well for the girls, finishing in 4th and 12th position. Hopefully, everyone can go on to have even more success in the inter-counties.
The U17s were represented by Mike, Cian and Matthew who also seemed to make the course look
easy and bounded round to finish in the top 10. Mike took home a bronze medal for finishing 3rd overall, with Matt 9th and Cian 10th. Overall, this was enough to cinch the team bronze medal and receive inter-county selection letters for all 3. Well done!
To honour the much loved Pauline Lynch, who herself greatly enjoyed XC competitions, a minute’s
silence was held prior to the start of the senior ladies race, which was followed up by a moving round of applause. A fantastic race from all meant that Faye and Barbara finished 3rd in their age groups and following up on solid team performances all season, the team today raced very well to secure the bronze medal overall. Well done ladies!
Last but in no means least, were the senior men, who by this stage in the day were facing a mud
bath! Undeterred, all ran well. First back was Mark, followed up by Billy, Matt, Chris, Jimmy, Gareth
and Dave. Matt secured a gold medal in his age group and the team were 5th overall.
Thanks to all for making it a great event to start the New Year with particular shout outs to Alison
Hartopp for her continued support at events and to Emma for her super organization.
Entries are open until January 14th for the Northern XC Championships which will be held in
Sedgefield and it would be great to see as many as possible making the journey up to the North East to build on this recent success.
