The U15 boys kicked things off with 7 athletes from Rovers in the mix. George Armstrong-Smith had an excellent start and maintained his place in the chasing pack to finish 7th and first Rover and first Sussex athlete home. Fin Lumber-Fry was close behind him crossing the line in 10th, having worked his way through the top end of the field to finish strongly. Next was Ben Wright (19th), who is having an excellent season after returning from injury. Jonah Messer was fourth Rover home in 49th place and sealed the team’s overall bronze medal position with a total score of 86 points. First year’s in this age-group Adam Meyer (113th), Josh Webster (121st) and Archie Franklin (134th) also ran well and gained valuable experience of the longer 4.5k distance.
Next up was Lexie Mclean (101st) who had a solid run in the U15 girls race and Ilya Korchev in the U17 men’s race, who finished 105th after returning from a recent injury lay-off. Older sister Ellie Mclean put in a strong performance in the U20 women’s race continuing her good form finishing 19th,
The team then enjoyed more podium success in the U17 women’s race. Despite only being first-years in this age group, they are continuing their dominance whilst competing against some of the best clubs in the country. Over the longer distance of 6k, Raya Petrova showed her strength and endurance finishing in 10th place, with Daisy Connor (12th) and Freda Pearce (15th) close behind. Katy Brown who’s been in excellent form this season secured them a team silver finishing in 47th place, giving them an overall score of 84 points .
Fintan Pearce rounded off the day finishing in an impressive 27th place in his first year in the U20 men’s event racing the longer 8k distance.
The team are now focused on the National Cross Country Championships at the iconic Parliament Hill venue in London at the end of February. This race brings the domestic cross country season to a close and features the best athletes in the country. Endurance club coach Christoper Voice is looking forward to seeing what the club can achieve with many athletes performing well individually and with impressive strength and depth across many of the age groups commenting, “the work has been done in training over the last 5 months and now it’s time to race!”.
