Suffolk athletes enjoyed unprecedented success at the annual Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships, held at Loughborough yesterday, winning both the under-13 races and recording excellent results elsewhere.
Remarkably, Suffolk chalked up a double victory in the youngest age group, thanks to terrific wins for the highly talented duo of Ruby Vinton and Ben Peck in the under-13 girls’ and boys’ races respectively.
Vinton, of Woodbridge School, opened up a big lead on her way to a comfortable victory, beating the best runners in the country.
A member of Ipswich Harriers, Vinton surged home in 12mins 28secs to win by 19 seconds from runner-up Scarlet Livingstone, of Devon (12:47).
And fellow Suffolk youngster Peck repeated his victory from the recent English National Cross Country Championships by winning the Inter-Counties under-13 boys’ crown.
Thetford AC’s Peck, who is a pupil at Mildenhall College Academy and trains once a week on the West Suffolk Athletics track in Bury St Edmunds, enjoyed a seven-second margin of victory.
Peck stopped the clock at 11:46, with Dorset’s William Rabjohns (11:53) in second. There was also a fine run from Colchester & Tendring AC’s Henry Dover, in the colours of Essex, in third (11:55).
Elsewhere, Lewis Sullivan, of Saint Edmund Pacers, was a superb fourth in the under-15 boys’ race – he is in the bottom half of his age group – while Jack Millar was an eye-catching eighth in the senior men’s event.
- See the ‘East Anglian Daily Times’ later this week for a full report and interviews from Suffolk’s Inter-Counties success.
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