CITY of York’s men took a big step towards securing the West Yorkshire Cross Country League title by winning round three at West Park, Leeds. York’s leading six men all finished inside the top 40 to take the spoils from Wakefield as runners battled the muddiest conditions of the series so far. The club’s second successive victory leaves them five points clear of Wakefield, York Knavesmire Harriers and Valley Striders, who all lie in joint second place. Provided they finish fifth or better in the final round at Cleckheaton on December 8, York will be men’s champions. On Sunday, they were led home by Alex Doyle in sixth place, having completed the 7.8km course in 29mins 15secs. Teammate George Phillips was two seconds and one place behind, while Alex Dickinson (30.24) came 16th. Jasper Baker (30.59), Steven Asquith (31.17) and Mark Cage (32.20) completed the scoring team in 23rd, 26th and 38th place respectively. The race was won by Great Britain international and University of York PhD student Graham Rush (Leeds City) in 27.52. Senior men’s standings (top 6): 1 City of York 8pts; 2= Wakefield, Knavesmire, Valley 13; 5= Wharfedale, Ilkley 14.
Charlotte Mason was York’s top performer in the women’s race, finishing fifth in 21.49 over a 5.2km course. This race was won in 19.54 by Pudsey & Bramley’s Alex Bell, a GB athlete who competed in this year’s IAAF World Championships.
City of York’s under 13 girls also topped the team standings on the day and with clubs’ best three races counting for the season at junior level, they secured the title in the process. They were led home by Lottie Langan in second place, clocking 8.41 for the approximate 2km course. Amy Kennedy (8.48) and Laura Brooks (9.18) completed the scoring team in fifth and eighth respectively. William Chalk was York’s leading under 13 boy runner over their approximate 3km course, finishing seventh in 11.40 as the club came fourth.
In the under 15 races, Isobel Nicholls and Luca Mastrolonardo both came fifth to help York’s teams to second place. Nicholls clocked 15.02 and Mastrolonardo 15.58 for their respective distances of around 3.5 and 4km. Innez Khaddi (15.23) came seventh in the girls’ race.
York’s Joe O’Brien (17.47) finished fifth in the under 17 boys’ race over approximately 4.5km.
The final race in the 2019 York 5k series took place on the York University cycle circuit last Thursday. Charlotte Mason again won the female race in a time of 17.29. In the men’s race Alex Dickinson came 4th in 16.21 with Steve Asquith 7th in 16.37 and Jack Eggington 8th in 16.40 also achieving top ten finishes. Danny Figg (17.35), Ed Mezzetti (18.47), Benjamin Asquith (20.13) and Peter Hanson (21.06) also ran.
Russell Hampshire was the leading runner from the club in the Tadcaster 10 miles race as he ran 67.02. Tony George (81.13) and Donn Gold (89.00) also ran.
14 of our members did parkrun over the weekend with some very good run by our junior athletes. Daniel Campbell , who is still an under 11, came first at Easingwold in the senior 5k parkrun in a time of 20.13 just 3 seconds ahead of his only slightly older club mate William Keens who was 2nd. Kaitlin Keens was 3rd female in 23.16. Another under 11, Lucy Gilbertson, came 3rd in the senior 5k parkrun on the Knavesmire in a time of 20.29. Louis Formjals also made the top 3 at Castle Howard in 20.08. The club was dominant in Sunday’s York junior parkrun as Nina Hopkins (8.21), Emily Rycroft (8.29) and Kate Setchell (8.38) filled the first 3 place. Joshua Cochrane was fastest for the boys from the club with 8.53 for 8th place.