CROSS COUNTRY REPORTS 2004-5
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There are quite a few family partnerships that take part in sport throughout Wales, no more so than the Hanrahan family, all of whom had their own share of success at this weekends Gwent League fixture in Bridgend.
All represent Cwmbran Harriers at differing age groups. Eldest of the family is Ceri who having missed most of the summer through exam and work commitments, went into her first competitive race for many months and did well to finish 43rd in the Under 17 ladies race.
Younger brother Gavin ran in the Under 20 race although aged 15 and did superbly well to chase English International Sam Dalgleish all the way to the line age finishing 12th. Both elder brother and sister were eclipsed by youngest brother James, who, is already demonstrating the family tradition of showing the opposition a clean pair of heels, by winning the novice boys race in a dramatic finish, outsprinting the much older North Devon athlete in the final 100m. James who is already an accomplished swimmer is only in his first year of competitive running and winning his first Gwent League race is an exceptional achievement.
The Hanrahan family were of course not the only ones to gain success. Cwmbran appear to have a good crop of young cross county runners emerging this year. At Under 13 there are 2 girls emerging with great potential. These are Laura James and Natasha Cockram, both are having success at school level and are now converting that success for Cwmbran Harriers. Natasha led the way today finishing an impressive 8th against girls a year older than her, and Laura was not far behind in 13th place. As these girls will be running in this age group again next year there are high hopes for this duo.
The Under 15 boy’s event has had not shortage of success for Cwmbran in the past, and looks like repeating this again this year. Jamie Bussell, who has been performing very well at school level, transferred this to the demanding course and finished a very commendable 23rd. Daniel Lester made fine progress in the early part of the race and was well placed in about 15th place going into the 2nd lap, and did well to hold on in 37th place, and Grant Evans had one of his best runs in finishing 40th. In the final lap Grant made up 8-10 places and with early season training to come looks good to improve further this season.
The crop of boys running in the Under 20s have been leading the way for the club for the last 2 years, and did not seem keen to give up this success this year. Gavin Hanrahan has already been mentioned, but there are the other “usual suspects” performing exceptionally well. Afan Humphries back from a summer season where injury ruined much chance of success was back to near best finishing 4th, with only one Under 17 ahead of him (the other 2 were Under 20). Ieuan Thomas looking to defend his Gwent League title finished less than 10 seconds behind Afan in 5th place, this is a great run when considering Ieuan has only just passed his 15th birthday. Ensuring that Cwmbran had a very impressive lead in the team competition was Anthony Jones who only just finished behind Gavin in 13th place. So after one race Cwmbran Under 17 boys already have a 20-point lead.
Finally, special mention goes to Christine James who running her first competitive race for over 10 years, in the senior ladies race over 6000m. This is a long demanding course for seasoned runners never mind those re-entering the racing arena, Christine set herself a target of top 100 and didn’t miss by much coming in 111th. This should be an inspiration to us all. IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO START.
Mud, Mud and more mud was the order of the day in Leckwith Stadium on Sunday 31st October as the 2nd Gwent Cross Country League rolled into town. The conditions were dry overhead and low wind making it pleasant for the spectators, but this certainly wasn’t for the runners as the last weeks heavy rain made the already testing course very difficult. This seemed to be to the liking of many of the Cwmbran Harrier runners who produced probably the best weekend of team results the club has seen for many years.
The performances of the day came in the Novice boy’s race where James Hanrahan continues to light up this event. Having won in the first round in Bridgend, he again started strongly, moving to the front of the field early on, and was only just beaten at the finish to take 2nd place. On their first run as Cwmbran Harriers, Elliott Hardee and Ross Ward showed that they have all the attributes required to compete at this level finishing 3rd and 5th. For only their 2nd competitive race this is a remarkable achievement by these boys and have moved Cwmbran well into contention in the team competition. If these results can be repeated over the next few races we may be reporting further success for this group of lads in the near future.
The Under 13 girls are consistently turning in good performances. Natasha Cockram who is turning in good performances week after week came with a storming finish and was pleased with her 10th place, just beating Bonita Doman who was 11th. Laura James found the going extremely difficult at the beginning, and it took her time to pick her way through the slower runners, but as the race progressed she came through to finish in 20th place.
The Under 15 boys have a wealth of talent and this was shown by the weekend turnout where there were 7 boys racing for the club. First home was Jamie Bussell, who again followed his fine performances in school races and the Gwent league first round, to come in in 10th place. Grant Stokes who had a private battle with team mate Jonathan Peters, finished in 12th and Jonathan 13th, all of these boys looked as though they were going to be lower down the field at one point in the race, but managed to pick off less experienced runners who did not pace themselves and moved through well in the second lap. Not far behind was Nathan Hardy who finished in 17th place. Grant Evans who appears to be improving with every race was in 29th, and not far behind was fellow team runners Daniel Lester 33rd and Ryan Cockram 45th.
The ever-impressive Under 17 boys once again delivered on the day. Afan Humphries who is now back to full fitness and form led the race from the beginning and was only ever threatened by fellow teammate Ieuan Thomas. The two of them ran away from the field in the last lap with Afan winning comfortably from Ieuan who was second. Gavin Hanrahan was left with the problem of trying to weave his way through the mud and slower runners, did extremely well to finish in 13th place. Anthony Jones produced his normal fast finish, going into the last lap he was in 21st place and moved through the field to finish 15th. Anthony was chased down by ever improving Nicky Cornock, who had an even stronger finish than Anthony and he came in 16th. All of these boys are aged between 15 and 17 and as this was run with Under 20 runners highlighted what an impressive display this was.
The Under 17 girls only had one competitor from Cwmbran this week, Jessica Dickson, just starting her winter workouts had an impressive first run in finishing 24th. WhileCeri Hanrahan running in the Under 20’s ladies race gave her all in finishing 41st.
There was much to smile about last weekend if you are a supporter of Cwmbran Harrier athletics. Natasha Cockram, Afan Humphries and Ieuan Thomas all excelled on the cross country courses across England to enhance the growing reputation of Cwmbran Harriers being one of the premiere winter performers in Britain.
On Saturday Natasha Cockram produced a splendid performance in the Nike sponsored British Milers Club junior cross country events in Bristol. On a dry flat course Natasha led from the off and was not headed, holding off a host of potential England International athletes of the future to win by 3 seconds in the Minor girls race. Not only was this a fine win but also a course record time of 3.40. The previous record was held by Jessica Hicks of Gloucester who would later go on to win the Junior girls event. Jessica is now an England International so much is hoped for Natasha in the next few years. At the same meeting Jonathan Peters warmed up for the forthcoming Gwent league meeting by finishing well in 13th place in a time of 10.35 and in a field of over 30 runners. Not bad for someone running their first competitive winter season.
On the same day some 200 miles further south Afan Humphries and Ieuan Thomas both came good for Wales in the Margate International. Although these races have now lost its place on the Reebok calendar it did not stop countries from Belgium, England, Holland and of course Wales sending international sides to this popular event. On a dry breezy day Afan’s race plans were disrupted before he started when the Welsh team managers confirmed that under IAAF rules Afan had to run under 20’s and not Under 17’s as he had already reached his 17th birthday. For the preparation time Afan had he produced a great performance finishing in 10th place, passing many Flemish internationals of higher age in the process and also having the honor of being first Welshman home.
Despite outstanding performances from other athletes the weekend belonged to Ieuan Thomas. Running in his 6th race for Wales, Ieuan produced his finest run for his country. In a small high quality field Ieuan led from the start and within the first 600m, Ieuan and 2 other Flemish athletes broke away and it was evident that the race would be decided from this group. As the race went into it’s second lap the leading group fell to two as one of the Belgians found the pace too hard, with a quarter mile to go there was nothing between them, but Ieuan’s consistent hard pace eventually broke his opponent and Ieuan moved away to win his first International title by 13 seconds.
The signs for middle distance running at Cwmbran Harriers is beginning to look better and better by the week as the younger age groups turned in outstanding performances at this weekends Gwent League Cross Country fixture in Bath.
Initially the conditions were very foggy, and with drizzle falling all day it was not long before the conditions underfoot became very muddy. This only seemed to inspire the Cwmbran Harrier runners with probably the best set of team results so far this winter.
The novice boy runners led the way with the ever- impressive James Hanrahan leading the way. He was never far behind the much older leaders and challenged all the way to the line coming in in 4th place. The runners making the quickest progress this winter appears to be Elliott Hardee and Ross Ward as their 4th and 7th places respectively showed. These lads are running in their first winter of competition and seem to be taking to this type of racing very well. All 3 of the Harriers are in the top 7 overall in the Gwent League and the team will now move into the top 3 after this weekends performances.
The Under 13 girls are giving the Harriers some middle distance strength that they have been lacking over the last few years. Once again Natasha Cockram led her fellow teammates to the line coming in 4th. This follows a fine string of performances over the winter from Natasha, with 2 other Gwent league fixtures to go this winter we are hopeful of a podium finish for her. With Benytta Doman improving with every race and looking impressive in her 7th place. Ensuring the team had an excellent day was Lora James who powered her way to 13th on the day, and a top 10 position overall.
For the first time in many years the Under 15 boys and Under 17 boys are regularly able to send out full strength teams, which means in the overall team positions the Harriers lie in the medal positions after this weekend. The Under 15 boys were led home by the ever-improving Grant Stokes. A runner who seems to be exuding confidence at the moment, moved well in the extremely tough conditions and looked the strongest of the runners at the finish line. Grant should be very pleased with his 8th place. Nathan Hardee is quickly catching up with Grant and this should be a great battle by the end of the season, Nathan finished quite close behind Grant in 9th place. The best improvement of the day came from Daniel Lester. At his last outing in Cardiff Daniel ran well to finish in 33rd place, but in Bath he looked stronger and full of confidence keeping his teammates in sight and his finishing position of 14th is very very impressive. To ensure the team had a good day everyone was relying on Grant Evans to have a steady run. He did better than that improving by 5 places on his last outing in Cardiff and must be pleased to finish 24th.
The Under 17 boys continued in their normal impressive fashion. The performance of the day came from Afan Humphries. Afan has been slowly coming back to form during the winter, but in Bath he exploded back to his best. Running in the combined U17-U20 race he destroyed not only the U17’s but the U20’s as well and won the race by 10-15 seconds. Ieuan Thomas was 4th overall and 3rd U17 home consolidating his 2nd place behind Afan in the Gwent league standings. Gavin Hanrahan following on from a good run in the London Reebok series showed his best form of the season finishing in 8th place, and Anthony Jones was again the reliable dependable runner coming in 16th place to ensure the team take a commanding lead into the next race in the New Year.
On a surprisingly dry warm day, many of Cwmbran Harrier junior middle distance athletes turned out to compete against Britain’s best in the Annual Reebok Challenge event based in Cardiff Castles grounds.
Some of the athletes entered as individuals for the event, some were lucky enough to be chosen for East Wales Schools and there were a couple of athletes chosen for Wales to run the Celtic Nations International.
In a star studded Under 20’s International race, Afan Humphries who at 17 runs well above his normal age group struggled to cope with the older, stronger boys and would be the first to admit he didn’t have his best run coming in 22 place overall and 12th in the Celtic Nations placings. Afan leads the Under 17 Gwent league rankings and has only been beaten twice this season by Welsh athletes will undoubtedly take his revenge at the next Gwent league fixture in February.
In the Under 13 girls event Natasha Cockram continues to impress each time she runs. In her first season of competition, Natasha finished 18th overall in a field expected to be littered with British internationals of the future. She was the 4th Welsh athlete home and in a field of 117 can be justifiably proud of her performance.
Jamie Busell turned in a good hard working performance in the Under 15 boys event finishing in 25th place just over a minute behind the winner. Ryan Cockram is one of the many who run for the love of the event and gets everyone cheering for them, because no matter what they don’t give up. Ryan battled from start to finish coming in in 109th position.
Benytta Doman improves with virtually every race she enters. Against far more experienced athletes Benytta moved well throughout the muddy conditions to finish a very respectable 37th and only 10 seconds behind an Irish International runner.
Cwmbran’s other 2 athletes given International recognition were Ieuan Thomas and Gavin Hanrahan who both ran the Under 17 race. Ieuan who had been recovering from flu which forced him to drop out of the last Reebok event in Belfast was not expected to show too well, but he can be very pleased with his 9th place finish and 7th overall in the Celtic Nations event. While Gavin Hanrahan put in a great 2nd lap and closed quickly on the rest of the leaders to come in 11th and 8th in the Celtic International placings. These results gave Ieuan 2nd and 3rd overall for all Welsh schools runners and ensured that East Wales Schools won the schools team event. Well done also to Anthony Jones who finished 22nd overall and only 1 place behind a Welsh International athlete, and Nick Cornock who finished 25th and did his part to ensure South East Wales School success.
The winter training season is fast approaching its conclusion and for many Cwmbran Harrier athletes this has been a very rewarding time.
Last weekend saw the finale of the Gwent League Cross Country run for the first time in the picturesque setting of Tredegar Park. On a dry but bitterly cold day the hard work of the winter paid off when many of the athletes were rewarded with either team or individual medals.
At Under 13 level, James Hanrahan running in his first competitive season was very pleased with his 8th place because overall it enabled him to finish 2nd overall. Elliott Hardee continued to impress finishing 3rd in this race and 6th overall having missed some of the races in the Gwent League series. Elliott has been impressive in recent weeks finishing 2nd in the Primary Schools Challenge in Bridgend. Ross Ward is also going very well finishing a creditable 5th in this race and 8th overall. Ross seems to be racing against Elliott everywhere as Ross managed to finish just behind Elliott in the primary Schools Challenge in 6th place. These are obviously a talented group of boys who are likely to lead the future of Cwmbran Harrier middle distance as with 1 race missed in the series they still managed to take silver overall in the team competition, just 6 points behind the winners Swansea Harriers.
In the Under 15 boys there was a good turn out from the Cwmbran boys. Nathan Hardee finished 2nd in the race and 10th overall having missed most of the season. Grant Stokes finished 3rd in the race and 9th overall, Jamie Bussell was 4th in the race and just outside the top 10. This age group is strong for Cwmbran in numbers as Dan Lester ran extremely well in finishing 9th and not forgetting Grant Evans who was 21st and Ryan Cockram 23rd, these unsung hero’s lower down the course were ultimately the reason the boys took silver in the team event. Dan, Grant and Ryan picked up 24 points between them, which was sufficient to lift them above Bristol into 2nd place.
The Under 17 boys continues to be extremely strong. Congratulations go to Afan Humphries, Ieuan Thomas and Gavin Hanrahan who finished 1,2 & 3 in the race and 1,2 & 3 overall. These boys have been well supported by Antony Jones who finished 5th in the race and 5th overall. The points racked up by these boys over the 5 race series came to an impressive 278 with Bristol being their nearest rivals on 133. Afan deserves special praise as he has been running for the last 6 weeks in considerable pain from a back problem and this title is just reward for his fine efforts. Ieuan Thomas should also be extremely pleased with his winters work after finishing a very impressive 9th in the UK Inter Counties Championship in Nottingham last weekend, beating many English Internationals who are nearly 18 months older. This comes on the back of an incredibly exciting UK Indoor championships 1500m race where he took the silver medal in a time that was 1.5 seconds inside the old Welsh Indoor record. Shame that Simon Lawson of Cardiff beat him, and so he doesn’t hold the record!
The Under 13 girls are producing a fine set of runners. Natasha Cockram led the way this weekend finishing 5th in the race and 5th overall to gain her first competitive medal. Benytta Doman continued her very strong finish to the season coming in 7th in this race. This follows quite a few impressive races for Benytta who recently took silver in the Welsh Cross Country Championships and had she been running this well and consistently early season would surely have been pushing for further honours in the Gwent League. The most improved and impressive performance of the day came from Lora James who was pulled along by a fast pace and held on well to finish 9th Lora’s consistent performances over the Gwent League season gave her an overall impressive 8th place.
All of these runners now go on to Brecon this weekend representing their schools in the Welsh Schools Cross Country championships. From this there is real expectation that once again Gavin Hanrahan, Afan Humphries, Antony Jones and Ieuan Thomas will gain International honours running for Wales in the British Schools Championships, but there is also hope and expectations for the younger runners of Nick Cornock, Nathan Hardee, Grant Stokes, Dan Lester, Jamie Bussell and Benytta Doman making one of the 8 qualifying spots available in their age groups. Good luck to them all.