Jordan Rowe, of Colchester Harriers, celebrated a notable victory at the recent South of England Cross Country Championships, staged on the customary mud-bath of a course at Parliament Hill Fields on Hampstead Heath, West London.
The highly-rated Rowe surged up the hills and through the cloying mud to win the under-17 boys’ race by just three seconds from runner-up Mahammad Mahammad, of Southampton AC.
This has already been a fine season for Rowe, who only turned 17 last month. He was fourth in the same race last year.
The former Colchester & Tendring athlete began the year by winning the Essex Championships in Colchester, and followed this up with an eye-catching victory at a British Cross Challenge event in Cardiff.
Fresh from last weekend’s regional success, he will now be focusing on the national stage – the English Championships are to be held in Nottingham on February 22.
Meanwhile, Colchester & Tendring AC had a small squad of athletes in action, spearheaded by Joe Patterson in the under-15 boys’ race.
Patterson finished 22nd, clocking 16mins 43secs for the 4.5K route. Good packing from Ben Miller (123rd), William Page (136th) and Euan Chess (177th) ensured the CATS finished 20th in the team stakes, and first Essex team.
In the under-17 men’s 6K event, William Deasy gave a good account of himself in 46th, while Mary Ann Deasy was 153rd in the under-15 girls’ race, in what was her first championship race. Club-mate Jess Riches was 285th.
Also for the CATS, the evergreen Margaret Deasy was a fine 47th in the senior women’s 8K event, and Gary Riches was 702nd amongst the men.
Higher up the field, in the senior men’s race, former CATS runner Tom Payn was 11th overall, and there were top 20 positions for the Chelmsford AC pairing of David Fewell (18th) and Grant Twist (20th).
Tom Cammack was the highest-placed finisher for Springfield Striders, in 184th.
Seven members of Great Bentley RC’s senior squad made the trip to Hampstead Heath. Lex Carlisle was their sole representative in the women’s race, in 404th slot.
Chris Warren (426), Ben Ficken (493), Michael Simmons (532), Charlie Keitch (563), Mark Ross (861) and Paul Carlisle (866) all survived the 9.3 miles of the three-lap men’s event.
Tiptree Road Runners had a couple in the men’s race. Edward Skinner (889th) and Tim Ford (904th) battled on gamely despite the torrential rain.
West Suffolk AC were out in force. Charlotte Murphy was ninth in the under-17s, as was Justine Anthony in the under-20 section. Sophie Tooley was in contention for a medal in the under-15 girls’ age group, but a bad fall saw her to slip to 17th.
RESULTS
Suffolk and North-Essex finishers at the South of England Cross Country Championships, at Parliament Hill Fields, Hampstead Heath:
UNDER-13 BOYS: 30 E Cordery (CHEL) 12:38; 38 T Keevil (CHEL) 12:41; 44 M Fewster (CHEL) 12:47; 91 T McCarthy (WS) 13:24; 144 T Martin (WS) 13:51; 156 C Ackroyd (WS) 14:00; 176 G Hay (CHEL) 14:11; 202 H Lawrence (WS) 14:31; 210 A Newton (WS) 14:43. Teams: 12 CHEL, 31 WS
UNDER-13 GIRLS: 16 R Daniel (WS) 13:26; 35 J Whiley (CHEL) 13:54; 39 O Allum (WS) 14:02; 50 K Kemp (WS) 14:13; 78 C Gordon (BR) 14:33; 138 K Hornsby (BR) 15:14; 149 L Walshe (WS) 15:22; 192 C Spencer-Hall (WS) 16:05; 225 L Goodall (WS) 16:28. Teams: 9 WS
UNDER-15 BOYS: 22 J Patterson (CATS) 16:43; 60 N Ackroyd (WS) 18:06; 115 A Crawford (WS) 18:28; 123 B Miller (CATS) 18:37; 136 W Page (CATS) 18:48; 177 E Chess (CATS) 19:27; 188 J Freeborough (WS) 19:39; 223 J Walker (WS) 20:48. Teams: 20 CATS, 27 WS
UNDER-15 GIRLS: 12 K Mhlanga (CHEL) 15:41; 17 S Tooley (WS) 15:51; 26 J Judd (CHEL) 16:29; 41 R Broom (CHEL) 16:42; 47 L Murphy (WS) 16:50; 53 M Newton (WS) 16:56; 113 H Davies (WS) 18:05; 145 K Etherbridge (CHEL) 18:30
153 M Deasy (CATS) 18:39; 156 G Grose (SEP) 18:43; 185 M Sealby (WS) 19:18; 202 P Jeffery (CHEL) 19:40; 283 E Jobbins (WS) 23:48. Teams: 6 CHELl 10 WS
UNDER-17 MEN: 1 J Rowe (CH) 20:29; 28 C Charleston (CHEL) 22:16; 33 T Oldman (Bungay) 22:29; 47 W Deasy (CATS) 22:49; 96 M Le Poidevin (WS) 24:15
UNDER-17 WOMEN: 7 G Tuckfield (CHEL) 20:58; 9 C Murphy (WS) 21:11; 26 K Solis (CHEL) 22:24; 50 M Henderson (CHEL) 23:13; 74 K Knott (SEP) 24:07; 81 E Moyes (WS) 24:19; 99 C O’Donnell (SEP) 25:15; 104 B Jacobs (WS) 25:40; 127 M O’Donnell (SEP) 27:48
UNDER-20 men: 18 S Woodford (CHEL) 29:10; 21 M Delo (WS) 29:19
UNDER-20 WOMEN: 9 J Anthony (WS) 25:13; 40 C Beckett (BR) 28:19; 60 M Huggins (CH) 31:10; 63 J Huggins (CH) 31:42
SSENIOR MEN: 11 T Payn (Run Fast, former CATS) 52:13; 16 K Kyereme (Shaftsbury Barnet, former Lowestoft) 52:59; 18 D Fewell (CHEL) 53:34; 20 G Twist (CHEL) 53:40; 55 M Spencer (IJ) 55:58; 134 R Ostler (IJ) 59:21; 153 J Ling (IJ) 59:54; 184 T Cammack (SS) 60:56; 187 K Haye (CHEL) 61:04; 262 G Allen (SS) 63:31
295 G Davies (IJ) 64:25; 312 S Raven (SS) 64:51; 359 T Taylor 68:06; 379 A Wade (IJ) 66:33; 392 L Cole (Witham) 66:51; 400 A Colgrave (CHEL) 66:56; 404 P Jeggo (SS) 66:59; 412 P Anderson (SS) 67:14; 426 C Warren (GB) 67:26; 438 T White (SEP) 67:37
446 M Bridgeland (CHEL) 67:46; 493 B Ficken (GB) 69:12; 532 M Simmons (GB) 70:08; 536 A Thomas (SS) 70:14; 563 C Keitch (GB) 71:03; 672 A March (SS) 74:09; 700 P Watts (SS) 74:58; 702 G Riches (CATS) 75:05; 730 T Brockington (SS) 76:10
764 B Rogers (IJ) 79:38; 771 G Joslin (SS) 77:55; 812 J Weston (IJ) 79:28; 848 J Catmull (SS) 81:18; 861 M Ross (GB) 82:16; 866 E Skinner (TRR) 84:29; 904 T Ford (TRR) 85:42
SENIOR WOMEN: 47 M Deasy (CATS) 35:18; 78 R Nicholson (WV) 36:11; 118 M McCarthy (WS) 37:42; 139 R Cooke (CH) 38:11; 202 C Anthony (WS) 40:32; 233 P Bridgeman (SS) 41:26
253 C Duncan (WS) 42:26; 339 E Daykin-Colombel (IJ) 46:20; 340 A Millett (Norwich RR) 46:20; 346 K Williams (SS) 46:43; 377 K Marsh (SS) 48:59; 404 L Carlisle (GB) 51:24; 456 S Goodwin (SS) 60:17
KEY: WS – West Suffolk AC; CATS - Colchester & Tendring AC; IJ – Ipswich JAFFA; CH – Colchester Harriers; SS – Springfield Striders: GB - Great Bentley RC; CHEL – Chelmsford AC; SEP – Saint Edmund Pacers; BR – Braintree & District AC; WV – Waveney Valley AC; TRR – Tiptree Road Runners
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