| Local Clubs |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
January 2007 Repeat performance by Halligan No major shocks at this years IOM Cross Country championships at Glenlough in Glen Vine, as predicted John Halligan repeated his victory of last year with a comfortable win over fell runner Simon Skillicorn. Halligan started tentively behind a large group of athletes who had to cope with the freezing cold and increasingly muddy conditions they disappeared deep into Glenlough only to re appear with Halligan about 30 metres in front of Skillicorn and Kevin Loundes with Gianni Epifani and Darren Gray a further ten metres behind. As the race progressed Halligan pulled away increasing his lead by about thirty metres a lap, meanwhile veteran athlete Andy Fox was moving up through the field to challenge for third it was without doubt the run of the day some of the athletes in front of him are twenty years his junior but he battled every step of the way to claim third place and the veterans Championship, Loundes just held off Epifani for fourth with Darren Gray sixth. Local Tri-athlete Russell Collister also had a great run to finish ninth and second vet home just four seconds behind another runner having a good run Andy Watson. Manx Harriers took a clean sweep of all the team medals as they took all but one of the top ten places. The ladies race was won by Sarah Nelson her first major championship win, Nelson had a race long battle with team mate Gail Griffiths who struggled on the heavy ground in the final stages due to lay off with injury over the last five weeks, third was Dawn Yates who along with Bridget Kaneen fourth made it a comfortable team victory for the Harriers. Under 17 boys winner Ryan Fairclough the starlet of the Northern Athletic Club was given a shock by local junior tri-athlete Sam Brand running in his first cross country race outside of school he pushed Fairclough to the limits, Fairclough just had that little extra in the closing stages to take the title. Conor Delanbanque had a comfortable win in the under 15 boys race as did Rachael Franklin in the under 15 girls, it was elbows out for the runners up spot behind Franklin as Bronwen Kaneen stumbled into Pollyanna Rogerson in the sprint finish both girls were going flat out for the line Kaneen was given the verdict after a judges enquiry. Then came the minor upsets Jack Garrett has won every round of the cross country this season but newcomer Nathan Pierce from QE2 had other ideas and recorded a six seconds victory over Garrett in the under 13 boys race. With Sarah Astin away competing in the UK cross country Challenge who would take her title? Emily Ashe was the odds on favourite but Ashe could only finish fourth behind Maxine Smalley of Western AC third and Caitriona Cox who put in a remarkable performance to finish runner up to Hannah Scarlett of QE2 High School. Alice Ashe won the under 11 girls race from Laura Cain with Alexandra Ross third. There’s nothing better to warm you up on a freezing cold day if you’re the organising club than your members winning medals and Western Athletic Club were rewarded with a treble, Shaun Moore won the under 11 boys race by five seconds from Mark Turner of Northern AC who just beat Alex Price in a sprint finish, then Will Morris first and team mate Ben Stevenson second had a thrilling race in the under 9 boys only a second between them at the finish, and then to give them their third gold medal in a row came Marissa Stevenson in the girls race winning by just four seconds from Ruth Nathan Manx Harriers and Amy Smith of Western AC third. A disappointing part of the day was the medal ceremonies it was so cold that many parents disappeared with the athletes before they could be presented and then they were scrapped altogether in favour of giving them out at the Annual prize presentation in April. Thanks to our hosts Western Athletic Club for a great course, Bernie Shimell our Chief Time keeper and the most important lady on the day the one giving out the hot soup. The next round of the Manx Gas Challenge is Sunday 11th February on Pulrose Golf Course in Douglas, not the 4th as advertised in a few places. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
ISLE OF MAN CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS 2007 RESULTS SENIOR MEN & VET MEN 8400 METRES
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||