Shropshire Young Athletes Cross Country League Race 1 – Lilleshall

Race Reports

Croft Ambrey Juniors kicked off the cross country season with the first races in the
SYACCL at the National Sports Centre at Lilleshall. The courses were over quite
rough grass, recently cut but still long and with large clumps of cut grass scattered
over the ground. A couple of wicked climbs on each circuit made it a challenging
course and the over-night and morning rain resulted in it being pretty soft under foot.
Fortunately the rain eased off, if not completely stopping for the races.
The Under 11 Girls had the honour of being the first Croft Ambrey Junior team to
race in a league event. Their race was over 2 laps covering a distance of 1500
metres. Jasmin and Holly got off to a flying start, with Jasmin being the first Croft
runner over the line. Holly ran a really brave race, battling for the lead with the
eventual winner for three quarters of the race before tiring on the final climb and
finishing with Maisie who also had an excellent run in her first race. Team results
are based on 4 finishers, so with three runners it meant that Croft were 7 th team on
the day.
Next race up was the Under 11 Boys, running over the same 2-lap course. In a really
competitive race there were great runs from Caleb, Jake and Jamie. Again with
three runners Croft came in as 9 th team.
The Under 13 Boys had a tough 3000 metre course over longer loops and with
additional climbs. So keen were they to get started that I don’t think I have ever
seen so many false-starts! Once they got away solid runs were put in by Jack and
Aiden and together they placed as 10 th team.
So all in all a great start by the juniors to cross-country team racing. Next up are the
races at Meole Brace School, Shrewsbury on October 6 th where we will hopefully be
heading with a larger team. With the first race under their belt, the confidence
generated by their performances and the enjoyment of taking part, the general
opinion is ‘bring it on’. There are U11, U13, U15 and U17 races for boys and girls
and it is great fun, so if you haven’t tried it come and give it a go.

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