Road Running / Cross Country Reports 2006-7
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The Swansea Bay 10K entered it’s 26th year last weekend, and for many of the Cwmbran Harriers middle distance squad athletes it was a very successful day. In almost ideal running conditions the Cwmbran athletes made the most of weather and showed some real early promise to the winter season
Natasha Cockram was the first runner in action. The girls running the 3K course, lined up in ideal conditions. The wet and windy weather that had been promised didn’t materialise which meant at the gun the start was very fast. The race was run as a mixed event with both boys and girls starting together. This didn’t seem to faze many of the girls and in fact many of them found an extra bit of pace from having the boys run alongside them. After the first kilometre the field was well spread out and there was the familiar feel of Natasha running along side her normal rivals in Angharad Davies of Carmarthen Harriers and Cerys Morgan of Swansea Harriers, but they were also joined by Hywellis Thomas-Howells from Neath Harriers and the four of them easily broke away from the other 104 female athletes. With 1k to go Natasha had started to test her rivals and surprisingly it was Hywellis who stayed the pace better, and only in the last 500 metres did Natasha break her to come away and win a famous victory by over 4 seconds. Natasha would have been pleased to beat her main rivals, Angharad and Cerys by 4 and 6 seconds. Although this 3K race is fairly new on the Swansea Bay festival calendar, it did attract many if not the entire top named Welsh runners too it, and it was a credit to Natasha that she actually finished 6th overall only 30 seconds behind the winning boy!
We should also not forget Christopher Spencer running his first Swansea Bay race and just getting used to the running circuit! Christopher managed a creditable 79th place out of a field of 179 finishers. Not a bad effort at all.
The 5K race has been traditionally good for Cwmbran Harriers. Ieuan Thomas is the holder of this title, but this year he decided to move up to the main 10K race. So it was up to the other Cwmbran athletes to try and keep the medal haul going. There was a small field of 38 boys and girls who tried to battle this mainly downhill course, which runs along the sea front. But those who competed did not disappoint. The race started at a furious pace and many runners just looking for their “moment of glory” hit the front early. These runners soon dropped from the front and Gareth Lewis soon took up the early lead. Unfortunately, Gareth was to suffer later in the race as overheating from wearing a T- shirt and a vest, and “stitch” scuppered his chances. Before half way the field had once more split into the serious athletes and the “fun runners”. One athlete challenged the rest to stay with him and Adam Bitchell from Aberystwyth AC proved to be far too strong for everyone else in the field. He went from strength to strength and went away to win the race by 25 seconds. But after 19 year old Luke Mason from Wye Valley came into 2nd place there was real surprise to see 16 year old Jamie Bussell power home to finish a superb 3rd. Jamie has had a real hard time this summer because of early season illness and he has been looking forward to this winters action so that he could show what he could do. His performance was so impressive he finished some 37 seconds clear of Carmarthen Harriers talented athlete Geraint Mansfield. Not far behind Geraint was Dan Lester who early on found the pace difficult, but he recovered well. He can be well pleased with his 6th place and over 35 seconds clear of 7th.
The main 10K race was filled with English Senior athletes and 3 guest Kenyan runners. The Kenyans always manage to find talented athletes to turn out in this event and invariably they also manage to win every year. This year was no different with Patrick Makau winning in 28 minutes 55 seconds nearly 2 minutes clear of his Kenyan team mate Simon Kasmili, and he was nearly 30 seconds clear of Kenyan Lezan Kimtai who took the bronze medal. Overall the top 10 athletes were either English, Kenyan or Welsh senior Internationals. 16th overall place and taking one of the major prizes (there were major prizes for the first 20 finishers) was Ieuan Thomas. Ieuan, the winner of last years 5K race moved up to this event for the first time and he really showed why many consider him to be a future Senior International. Ieuan started relatively slowly for him, trailing his fellow teammate Gavin Hanrahan and Afan Humphries through the first 2K. By half way Ieuan had made his way through the field and was lying in the top 30. On the turn for home at the 5K point there were a group of 3 other athletes Ieuan joined, and between then they shared the pace, easily passing many other tiring athletes along the way. In the final 1K Ieuan found extra strength and came away from the other runners to take the 16th spot. This gave Ieuan his 2nd title in as many teas. The 17 year old won the Under 21 Welsh Road title, and was the 3rd Under 23 home in total. As Ieuan will qualify as Under 21 for the next 3 years lets hope he can go on to take another 3 wins!
Gavin’s race started with a real “bang” after the Welsh Selectors decided against picking him for the Welsh Development squad team. Gavin was holding a top 15 place through the first 3K but he did fall back as the race progressed. He did himself proud finishing a very creditable 60th out of 2870 finishing athletes. Gavin can have the added pleasure of seeing some of the athletes picked ahead of him in the Welsh team finishing much further down the field than him. Afan Humphries once again showed that he is an athlete coming into form at just the right time. Afan is another who just didn’t do himself justice on the track this summer, and he couldn’t wait for the winter to “get back on track”. Afan looked far more at home out on the roads. He began well and it was a surprise to see him ahead of Ieuan after 2K. Even after Ieuan passed Afan he hung on well and with his normal late burst, moved up through the field to finish an impressive 30th. This was good enough for 2nd place in the Welsh Under 21 Championship behind Ieuan.
Once again Cwmbran Harriers rack up the medals at the Championships. Well done to all!
The start of the Cross Country season got underway last weekend at the Cardiff Athletics stadium. In relatively good conditions for Cross Country running the Cwmbran Harriers team made a most encouraging start to the season.
For the first time in many years Cwmbran were low in numbers. Many runners took the opportunity to rest following a hard mid- week run at school championships and other athletes preparing for the forthcoming Cross Challenge races that start in Birmingham next weekend.
There were no novice boys or girls to contend the first races and therefore all eyes fell on our hopes in the Under 13 races. One time Cwmbran Harrier Elliott Hardee showed that he has lost none of his undoubted skill by winning the Under 13 boy’s race in a mad scramble to the line. He was followed not far behind by James Hanrahan, who by his own high standards was not happy with his 6th place finish even though he was only 30 seconds behind the winner and 5 seconds faster over the same course than last year. Marcus Price must have been well pleased with his 10th place finish. Last year he finished 49th in 10 minutes 55 sec, this year he took 2 minutes off that time, in 8.56. Robert Morgan finished 18th, in 9 min 26 seconds and must have taken extra pleasure in finishing ahead of his brother, David who stepped out for his first Gwent League adventure and did not look at all out of place, he smoothly covered the course in 9 minutes 32 sec to finish a very creditable 23rd- extremely good when you realise there were 55 finishers. This successful start to the day ensured that after week 1 of the Gwent League series Cwmbran Harriers would once again lead this age group team race.
Ellie Leek carried the flag for the girls Under 13’s, and moving up from Novice girls showed that she is once again going to compete with the best. She took on and beat many girls up to 2 years older than her, and she finished an encouraging 11th place out of a field of 62 runners!
The Under 15 Girls showed that once again Cwmbran Harriers have extreme strength in depth throughout the girl’s age groups. Natasha Cockram continues to improve from season to season and her 3rd place once again cement’s her as one of the best rising middle distance stars in Wales. Her time of 18.33 led all other East Wales athletes and she was only just behind the 2nd girl. Benytta Doman can be well pleased with her 6th place having started the long road to recovery after a long bout of illness. She was only 21 seconds behind Natasha highlighting that she is well on the mend! Steffie Wright can at long last look forward to a full winter of competition following her long lay-off with hip and knee injuries, Steffie’s 14th place in 19 min 18 sec contrasts well with her time from last year when she was in full flow (19 min 38 sec) over the same course. Only Lora James of these talented girls will be disappointed with her run. She managed 24th place in a time of 20 min 39 sec, and she will only be disappointed because she knows she is beginning to run well again now and was showing signs of returning to her early 2005 season form. But, as all athletes will tell you, things don’t always go to plan, and let’s hope that Lora is right up there in the next race. The dominance of these girls once again put Cwmbran Harriers girls in the lead in the team competition, leading the field by 13 points from Penair.
The Under 15 boys for once had a small turn out and the club can be thankful to Lewis Shaw (27th in 18.34) and David Banwell Clode (28th in 18.36) for carrying the club in this age group and performing well for such junior athletes.
All eyes were firmly fixed on the Under 17 races as many of the athletes from Wales knew the Welsh Selectors were in attendance to pick a Welsh Under 17 side to go to Birmingham at the end of October for the first UK Cross Challenge race of the season. Cwmbran can look back following these races with pride as 5 athletes from the club were chosen for Wales following these races. Jamie Bussell led the boy’s home. Jamie who for so long has suffered from asthma (which can stop him in full stride during the winter season) is really on top-form. Following his outstanding run in the Swansea Bay 5K series he has carried this form forward to the Gwent League. Only Adam Bitchell of all the welsh athletes was ahead of him in Swansea and this was the same again in Cardiff as Jamie came home in an impressive 6th overall place and 2nd Welshman home. The biggest smile of the day would undoubtedly been reserved for the new Welsh honour recipients, and Gareth Lewis coming in strongly in 13th place was to find out 3 days later that this gutsy performance was good enough to secure his first Welsh Vest. Gareth who shares his sporting time between athletics and rugby can be pencilled in as one to watch, as his meteoric rise to first Welsh vest has been achieved in little over a year since taking up the sport. Gareth’s friend and long time training partner Michael Kershaw was not far behind in 16th place and he too was to receive that call from the Welsh Selectors inviting him to run for Wales in Birmingham. With Dan Lester securing 25th place, this ensured that Cwmbran Harriers secured 3rd in the Team competition.
The Under 17 girls were not to be outdone by their male counterparts and Jenna Roberts demonstrated why she is currently the form athlete of Welsh Middle distance running. Following her demolition of the opposition in the East Wales Schools Championships, she repeated the feat in the Gwent League and easily won this race. Her time of 20 mins 46 sec was 39 seconds ahead of her nearest rival, and she thoroughly earns her Welsh Vest. She will be joined in the Welsh team by Aysha Doman, who since the early part of the track season has gone from strength-to-strength. Aysha can claim to have found that “special spark”, as she has developed at a pace from good to great runner. Aysha came home in 3rd overall place in the Gwent league and set’s her up nicely for the trials in Birmingham next weekend. Bethan Woods helped cement a great day for these girls as she came home in 8th place. Her high finish in 22 mins 23 sec ensured that Cwmbran Harriers would once again have team honours leading the team competition by 4 points from Cardiff
There were no Cwmbran athletes in the Under 20, Under 23 or Senior women’s races. It was down to Dave Connolly in the Senior men’s races to carry the flag for the club, and he did us proud getting around in 245th place.
So looking back on the day when Cwmbran had one of it’s smallest turn outs in Gwent Leagues for many years, they had a team lead in the Under 13 boys, Under 15 girls and Under 17 Girls and 5 Welsh International selections. Congratulations must once again go to Dave Lewis one of the the Cwmbran Harrier middle distance coaches who can look back with pride as all the Harrier athletes that achieved International selection came from his training group! He has helped develop a group of talented athletes into International athletes and set the standards that other clubs are trying to follow.
Individual and Team placings / points for Cwmbran Harriers can be viewed here.
Following a week of severe rain the conditions at Senneleys Park, Birmingham were expected to be very severe for the first of this years Cross Challenge Cross Country races, which UK athletics have organised for the last couple of years to encourage the best athletes from around Britain to compete against each other on a regular basis. But, to everyone’s surprise the conditions under foot were in the main superb and there was only a few boggy areas. Everyone must have been relieved to see these conditions as the Birmingham course is renowned as the most difficult course anywhere in Britain as there isn’t any flat parts to the course, it’s either all uphill or all downhill, not forgetting the famous Senneley’s Stream that runs across the course which the older athletes have to try and jump at least twice on their travels.
Cwmbran Harriers can once again look back on a very productive day. There were five Cwmbran athletes’ chosen for Wales who turned out in the 2 Under 17 races, 3 in the Under 17 boy’s and 2 in the Under 17 Girls.
Jenna Roberts ran a superb race in her first outing for Wales. From the gun she took off with the leaders and following a steep climb at the first hill came around in a group of 10-15 runners in the lead pack. Jenna had her own personal battle all the way round the testing course with Leanne Fitzgerald from Cardiff. The leading English runners Charlotte Purdue and Jessica Coulston took off in pursuit of Sian Edwards the leading UK runner in last years World Cross Country Championships, and in doing so split the field. By the end of the first lap there was a long gap from the first 2 athletes back to a chasing pack of 10, which contained Jenna. When other athletes began to struggle on the second lap Jenna seemed to get stronger and she came home on the long sweeping downhill finish to a very creditable 14th place in 14 min 29 sec and although 1 place behind Jessica Coulston, the first Welsh team athlete home. Also in the race again running her first race for Wales was Aysha Doman. Aysha has burst on to the scene in the last 12 months with a string of fine performances on both track and cross country. Some athletes “freeze” on their first International outing, but for Aysha the opposite effect happened and she ran a well judged and controlled race throughout. At times it was difficult to pick out where the athletes were in the field as they were running with the Under 20 athletes, but, Aysha was not at all phased and she was the athlete who showed that she enjoyed the experience the most coming home in 39th place and 4th Welsh athlete home.
The Under 17 Boys event was a high quality affair, with runners of the quality of Craig Murphy, Chris Harvey, Andrew Rooke and Ross Millington in the field as well as 3 current Cwmbran Harrier athletes competing for Wales. Jamie Bussell continued his excellent start to the winter. Jamie already has a string of excellent winter performances to his name following success in Schools races, Gwent League and Swansea Bay races. He continued this trend in Birmingham. Following a very fast first lap where leading Welsh runner Adam Bitchell hung on to the leaders and eventually finished 8th, Jamie was holding in the top end of the pack and looked in good form. The hills seemed to suite Jamie and he closed down quickly on those ahead of him. Then in the sweeping down hill finish, Jamie found an incredible finish to sweep past Scottish runner John Cook and West Suffolk athlete Andrew Ridley to come home impressively in 17th place and 2nd Welsh athlete home. Gareth Lewis lined up with the rest of the runners hoping for a quality run, and he was not disappointed. Following a mass charge start where all 70+ runners fly up the first hill, getting position early is vital because if you get swallowed in the pack then it’s difficult to come through to get a high finish. Gareth along with team mate Michael Kershaw suffered from this “packing” and struggled to get a high early position. Gareth and Michael decided for the strong but steady tactic which paid off later in the race as both were able to pick-off athletes who had gone much too fast early on. Gareth looked extremely strong all the way around and looked better the longer the race went, and can be well pleased with his 32nd place in a time of 19 min 09 sec. Michael looked very tired at the end, but can take strength from knowing he’s not going to run a harder course and should set him up for another Welsh Vest later in the year when the Welsh Schools sides are selected. His finishing position of 43rd did not reflect that he was only 30 seconds behind Gareth. Overall they can all be proud of their efforts. The boys were well rewarded for their efforts when it came as a massive surprise to find they had won the overall team title.
Cwmbran also sent a team to run in the Under 20 race. This race is famous for combining all of the Birmingham Leagues, the Under 20 athletes; the senior athletes and the entire cross challenge athletes. In total as the gun sounded there was in excess of 800 people set off. As could be imagined here the start is vital because if you’re a slow starter there is little or no chance of getting through the pack. The Under 20 boys were asked to run 10,000m, which is 4,000 more than they run in any other race. Gavin Hanrahan was unfortunate to get caught in the main pack early and couldn’t get any sort of position. Despite his early problems Gavin came strong in the second lap, but could not maintain this in the final lap and came home in 35 minutes 39 sec and 23rd place. Gavin can shrug this race off as the week before he showed real class and great form in finishing with a 2nd place in the Tour of Torfaen race from Blaenavon to Cwmbran. Gavin looked very strong in this race and looked to be getting better and better as the race progressed. Afan Humphries will look back on this race and wonder if there were another lap would he have finished in the top 6-7. Afan had a slow start, was badly blocked and found that he couldn’t “get going” until well through the second lap. By the start of the 3rd lap Afan appeared to be the fastest runner on the course and caught many runners on the 3rd lap. He came home in 15th place in a creditable 34 mins 34 sec and only 17 seconds off the top 10. Hopefully this is the race Afan needed to kick start his season. Once again, the runner with Cwmbran can rely on to produce the performance when needed was Ieuan Thomas. 17 year old Ieuan is running close to his peak at the moment and showed outstanding speed and endurance. He set off with the main senior runners and despite the presence of Lee Carey in the field (last years highest finishing junior man runner at the World Cross Country Championships) Ieuan was not overawed. At the end of the first lap Ieuan was 2nd overall behind Kevin Deighton a 19 year old from Loughborough University, and despite getting caught by Lee Carey at the end of the 2nd lap, Ieuan was not to be overtaken again. He held on comfortably for 3rd place and can class this as one of his finest cross country performances.
The second Gwent League fixture of the winter took place at Bath University, at what is to be the home of this years Senior World Cross Country trials in February 2007.
Once again Cwmbran Harriers took a strong group of Junior athletes along to test themselves against the best athletes in Wales and the West of England. But, quite surprisingly, for the first time in many races Cwmbran did not put out a single athlete in either the Novice Boys or Girls races.
In the Under 13 boys races there appears to be a real battle developing between Elliott Hardee and James Hanrahan. At the moment Elliott still manages to hold off James, but the gap is closing considerably. Last year Elliott covered this course in 10m 40 sec, this year it was 9m 20 sec. James last year went around in 10m 49sec, this year it was 9m 31sec, both lads are obviously making big strides forward-but James is closing the gap! Not far behind these two was Marcus Price in 10th place. He is also making big progress. This time last year Marcus was 24th. Newly on the scene hoping to make the kind of progress the other 2 boys has made will be Robert Morgan. Robert running one of his first races for the club can be well pleased with his 18th place out of 45 finishers. It will be interesting to see at the end of the cross country season and in this race this time next year whether he can match the improvement shown by the other 2 boys in this talented group.
The Under 13 girls could only produce one runner. Young Ellie Leek coming in to her second real winter of competition will probably find this season a real handful. She finished 29th against girls that are considerably older than her. But, there is real promise in this young athlete and big things are expected from her in the next couple of years.
The Under 15 boys also only had one runner. First time runner, Freddy Naseriyan, surprised nearly everyone by finishing a very encouraging 26th in his first race. Freddy did not look at all out of place and beat quite a few well-established runners in what is considered to be a very demanding course for both young and “not so young” athletes.
The Under 15 girls continue to be one of Cwmbran’s strength areas. Natasha Cockram continues to show why she will have a long career in athletics if she continues with her current progress. Natasha is like James Hanrahan establishing quite a rivalry with Jade Williams. There is never much between them, but on this occasion Jade had the better of the day coming away to win, but Natasha was not far behind in 3rd pace. Benytta Doman can look back on the race with relief. Not for finishing a comfortable 6th place, but for coming through the race with no ill effects of her recent injury and illness that has kept her out of action over the last month. The same can be said for Steffie Wright. She finished in 19th place but she will be more pleased with coming through another race on her road to full recovery. Only Lora James will be unhappy with her run. Lora finished in 33rd place. This is almost unheard of for Lora to finish this low in the field as she is one of Cwmbran’s most reliable runners and finishers regularly finishing in the top 10. So, fingers crossed that she is not coming down with the dreaded illnesses that seem to get runners at this time of year, or it could just be she doesn’t like this course!
The Under 17 boys continue to show growing strength over the last couple of years. Following on from the successes of Ieuan Thomas, Gavin Hanrahan and Afan Humphries, there is now a new strong group coming through who will stretch these seniors in the near future. Dan Lester returned to the cross country circuit following a catalogue of injuries, which included being spiked by a team mate. He can be happy enough with his 21st placed finish in a strong boys field. Jonathan Peters continues to improve year on year and in this race once again showed that he is one to watch. Jonathan’s time of 19m 25 seconds was impressive in that this time last year it would have secured 4th place, but this year in an extremely strong and much older field he had to settle for 19th place. Just ahead was Michael Kershaw in 13th place. Michael is now starting to really flourish since his first Welsh International selection, and the early season tiredness was missing here and we should expect some high finishes from Michael in the near future. But, the real success in this age group still lies with Jamie Bussell. It is surprising that Jamie finished as low as 8th place as he is looking very strong at the moment and there is real hope that Jamie will secure further Welsh International selections before the end of the Cross country season.
The under 17 boys might have great potential, but it is the Under 17 girls that are really producing it at the moment. Although Cwmbran only had 2 runners in this race today they both produced excellent performances. Aysha Doman the find of the winter season produced another outstanding run against strong local opposition, with runners from Carmarthen, Cardiff and Swansea Harriers all looking to attack this demanding course. Aysha stuck with them all to “tough it out” and can be delighted with her 4th placed finish, but with one lap to go Gwenno Brown of Cardiff and Jenna Roberts of Cwmbran started to break the other runners and it then became a battle of wills between these 2 girls to see who would win. On the long uphill drag of the second lap Jenna showed her real strength and came away to win comfortably in 17m 42 sec some 6 seconds clear of Gwenno.
The junior men’s team was anchored by Gavin Hanrahan in the absence of Ieuan Thomas, and this seemed to be the spur that Gavin needed. He produced his best cross country performance of the season to come home in 6th place, but 3rd Welsh athlete home. Gavin showed real strength on a testing course and this seemed to fit Gavin’s strength’s. Surprisingly, team mate Afan Humphries who normally thrives on the hill’s had one of his poorer runs to come home in 9th place some 30 seconds behind Gavin. Not that far behind Afan was Adam Roberts who also looks as though he is beginning to reap the rewards of a hard winters training. His 14th place was good reward for a hard fought effort, and it is hoped that Adam can make inroads into the athletes ahead of him by the time of the Welsh Championships next year. Having her best run of the winter was Claire Thompson in the Junior women’s race. Claire finished in 12th place, but will be pleased to see that 7 University students finished behind her. While Danielle Page continues to progress at a decent pace. Danielle, is a new recruit this year and although has previously hit the heights (winning cross country events in Hong Kong) this is the first time she has met this level of competition. Her 9th place finish is her best performance to date, but not likely to be the season’s high if she continues to impress as she did here.
The 30th Schools’ Inter Schools Cross Country Championships were held recently in the “adopted” home of Schools athletics at Penlan arena, Brecon. On a day that produced some surprising results through the age groups, overall the Cwmbran Harrier athletes who turned out for their respective schools can be well pleased with their performances.
The only Junior girl representative was Ellie Leek who found the going hard against much older runners and over a shorter course than she would normally run, she can be satisfied with her 10th place representing St. Albans RC school, Pontypool. In the Junior Boys race there was a larger contingent of Cwmbran runners. James Hanrahan had a superb race going stride for stride for long periods with one time Cwmbran Harrier Elliott Hardee. At one time there race seemed to be nip and tuck between them, then in the last 1,000m Hywel Bennett of Caereirion School came up on the rails with a blistering burst to overtake both Elliott and James to take the race by 3 seconds. Elliott Hardee hung on for 2nd place and James came home well in 3rd. These lads produced such a strong run that they were 18 seconds clear of the next athlete. But, not far behind having one of his strongest races of the early winter season was Marcus Price (representing Fairwater High School). He will be well pleased with his 8th place. Robert Morgan (representing King Henry VIII) produced a strong middle part to his race to pick up quite a few places and 14th place represents a good effort following his 18th place in his first Gwent League outing for the club. David Morgan found the going much tougher in this race and could not improve his position during the race. Although he finished 47th this was still well up the field that had close to 100 runners in total.
Cwmbran Harriers have developed a strong group of female junior middle distance athletes over the last 18 months and this was borne out with the Middle girls results where all 3 of the Cwmbran girls finished in the top 15. Natasha Cockram led the way with a 5th place finish (running for Croesyceiliog School), and it was good to see the return of Steffie Wright (Abertillary School), who is still trying to recapture her spring 2006 form before her many injuries struck. Steffie’s 11th place showed she is well on the road to recovery, and there is still time for her to recover fully and claim another Welsh Vest in the near future. Lora James (Llantarnum School) also coming back from injury and illness can be well satisfied with 14th place and again show that she can once again recapture her early 2006 form. The lone Middle Boy was Ryan Parry (Cwmcarn School). Turning out in one of his first competitive races produced a superb 10th place in a field of 64 starters.
At senior level the talk is usually how strong the boys are, but in recent weeks the girls are rightly beginning to steal the limelight. On this occasion the female athlete of the day for the club had to be Aysha Doman (representing Ysgol Gwynlliw). In a race that was for girls up to age 19, under 17 Aysha produced a classic finish to the race to overtake up to 8 runners in the finishing 1,000 metres to beat her teammate Jenna Roberts (Caerleon School) on the run in to take a fine 2nd place. Jenna can also be well pleased with her 3rd place, as she looked so much in control until Aysha’s late burst. As Elinor Kirk was 31 seconds clear at the front of the race eventually taking the title, Jenna was left to “pace” herself around the majority of the course and deservedly came away with a medal to show for her endeavours. Danielle Page (Rougemont School) who had finished 9th in her first Gwent league outing for the club a week before, improved by one place to 8th in this race, but more impressively was 24 seconds clear of the 9th runner. Fellow Rugemont School team mate Jessica Dickson, turned out for one of her few winter Cross Country appearances, and can be well pleased to finish in 10th place with little or no Cross Country practise this winter.
The Senior boys races were missing Ieuan Thomas, Afan Humphries and Gavin Hanrahan all preparing for the UK Cross races the following weekend. But, the remaining Cwmbran Harrier runners still found a way to impress the watching welsh selectors. Gareth Lewis (Brynmawr School) who had run himself to a virtual standstill in his first Welsh outing 2 weeks before in the UK Cross event in Birmingham, looked a shadow of his normal self running home in 17th place. With a few weeks rest Gareth is bound to be back challenging for more Welsh honours. In contrast, Michael Kershaw (Brynmawr School) who appeared to struggle in Birmingham in his first Welsh outing looked in prime form. He swept past Gareth early in the race and seemed to get stronger the longer the race went. His 9th place behind much older boys finished off what was overall a good weekend for the Cwmbran Harrier Juniors.
Last weekend Sefton Park in Liverpool provided the setting for the second Cross Challenge Cross Country race and also doubled up as the Great Britain qualifying races for this years European Cross country championships. In conditions that proved to be very testing for all runners, the hopes of the Junior boys from Cwmbran Harriers that went dreaming of a Great Britain vest were dashed within the first 3,000m.
The Welsh Under 17 Cross Country Champion, Ieuan Thomas had shown outstanding early season form, having finished 3rd in Birmingham, and was expecting to finish in the top 4 to gain automatic selection for GB in the European Cross Championships in early December. But, Ieuan by his own standards had a “stinker” and despite a smooth first lap where he cruised around with the early leaders easily breaking with the early pack, he began to struggle into the 2nd of 3 laps when the pace increased dramatically. At half way Ieuan still held 9th position, but the heavy conditions started to take their toll and a very disappointed Ieuan trailed home in 17th place in 22 mins 57 sec. Not far behind was the much improving Afan Humphries who after a slow start, and realising he had too short a pin in the bottom of his spikes, weaved his way through the ever slowing field to have Ieuan in his sights at the end and will be quite happy with his 28th place. But, this was Afan’s last chance as a Junior to make the GB squad as he moves to Under 23’s after Christmas, while at least Ieuan has the consolation of knowing he has a further 2 attempts to get that elusive GB vest as he is still only 17.
The unluckiest runner on the day was Gavin Hanrahan. Having come into the race in decent form, his race was ruined right at the gun. First, Gavin was boxed by the closely packed athletes who numbered over 120 at the start, and then half way around the course Gavin was badly spiked, leaving a huge gash to his foot and now requiring a new pair of cross country spikes. It was to his great credit that Gavin finished the race in a respectable 53rd place. Over half way up the field, limping with only one good running spike left.
In the younger age groups Cwmbran once again were able to field 2 other runners in James Hanrahan and Marcus Price in the Under 13 boys field. James started like a train and was in the leading pack of 4-5 coming around the early part of the circuit. But, like the other boys he found the conditions really tough and he slipped back as the race progressed to eventually finish in 15th place. While fellow team mate Marcus Price took a different approach to the race. Although starting fast, he soon slipped into a more measured running stride and this proved to be good tactics as the other runners tired. He moved from the mid 30’s to finish 18th and only 3 places behind James.
Overall, a rather disappointing day that promised much, but for Ieuan and Gavin there is a further chance for the elusive Great Britain vest when they both run the World Cross Country Championships trials in Nottingham in February. Although finishing in 17th place, there were only 7 athletes who finished ahead of Ieuan who can qualify as Juniors for the World Cross country championships. So, with 6 athletes being selected to go to Mombassa he will still be in with an outside chance in February.
The third round of the Gwent League took the Cwmbran Harrier juniors across the border to the picturesque setting of Blaise Castle, Bristol. But, on a day where even the ducks took protection from the elements the weather proved to be the biggest winner.
Having failed to turn out any novice runners in the previous event, it was good to see Eddie Morgan run in the novice boy’s event for the first time. Eddie did exceptionally well for his first try at this tough event. In a strong field of 40 starters but only 36 finishers, he can be well satisfied with his 11th place, less than a minute behind the winner, and 9th Welsh athlete home.
The Under 13 age group continues to show considerable depth of athlete and it is good to see so many runners turning out. The Kelleher girls of Katheryn, Rosemary and Eleanor all had their own private battle. Rosemary found the conditions particularly difficult and came home in 57th place. She was not far behind Katheryn who was 56th, but they were eclipsed by Eleanor who managed a very creditable 46th place. Again, as first time runners this was very creditable as the course is renound as one of the most demanding courses on the cross country circuit. To all the girls credit none of them gave in and just to finish was great credit too them. They also gained valuable team points for Cwmbran, which can never be overlooked. The Under 13 boys faired better on this occasion, with all 4 boys in the top 33 out of a starting field of 77. James Hanrahan continues to impress with another assured run in 4th place, to consolidate his 3rd place overall. Ever improving Robert Morgan can be please not only to beat his brother, but, in finishing in 15th place moved himself into the top 10 overall, currently lying in 7th. David Morgan continues to show good improvement, over the 2 Gwent league races he has run he has gone from 23rd to 21st. These boys will continue to move up the leader boards each race as they are showing considerable promise. The one surprising result was to see Marcus Price finishing down the field in 33rd place. But, when you realise that Marcus lost one of his shoes before the log-jump, it was credit to him that he even finished the race. Now nicknamed “Zola” everyone now awaits the next Gwent league fixture to see whether he will run barefoot!! Marcus can take credit for finishing ,as his 33rd place keeps him in the top 10 overall (currently 10th) and helped the team to maintain 2nd place in the team title. Neither would have happened if he had dropped out.
The Under 15 girls continue to dominate. The team competition is not all over, but following this race it will be mighty difficult for the chasing teams to catch them. Once again, Natasha Cockram proves to be one of the dominating Cross Country runners on the circuit. Her 3rd place consolidated her 2nd place overall well clear of the overall 3rd placed athlete, Hannah Anderson of Westbury Harriers. Steffie Wright sprang back to life with a much improved run. Her 11th place was the best run of the season by far, and she is well on the way to recapturing her form of 2005 when she first won International honours. Benytta Doman had her most disappointing race to date this season, finishing in 14th place, but, Benytta continues to suffer with illness, and a fully fit athlete will soon put her back in the top 10. It also keeps Benytta in 6th place overall in the individual placings. And on a day where athletes showed signs of battling through the difficult conditions, it was good to see Lora James secure her best race finish of the year. Her, 21st place shows good progress. The Under 15 boys had one solitary runner, but Lewis Shaw one again showed real guts and determination to finish the race in some atrocious running conditions. Overall he came home in 30th place. Well done!
The Under 17 boy’s category has one real star that at the moment is way out ahead of everyone else in Britain. Everyone concerned with Welsh Athletics can be proud that he is Welsh. Dewi Griffiths, of Carmarthen Harriers won this event by a mere 49 seconds and did so at a canter, but the nearest challengers in Wales are all from Cwmbran Harriers, as Jamie Bussell, Mike Kershaw, Gareth Lewis and Dan Lester chased Dewi as hard as they could. Jamie’s 8th place behind Dewi and 6 other English athletes shows he is well on course to make the Welsh Schools side to go to the British Schools Championships in 2007. Jamie’s final finishing position also pushed him up to 2nd overall behind Richard Peters of Westbury. Jamie should be joined in the Welsh Schools side by Michael who was a mere 1-second behind Jamie in 9th place and Gareth in 17th place. The dark horse might be Dan Lester, who has all the capabilities of making the Welsh Schools team, but readily accepts that he doesn’t really enjoy the “slog” of the Cross Country circuit. But, Dan’s 21st place and 9th Welsh athlete home shows that he has real hope of making the important top 8 places in the Welsh Schools Championships and therefore a Welsh Schools vest. This impressive quartet have helped secure 2nd place overall in the team competition and the best Welsh team by some 76 points from Cardiff.
The Under 17 Girls are quickly pushing the Under 20 men as the best overall Cross Country team for Cwmbran Harriers. In Jenna Roberts, Cwmbran have developed a runner who has sprung to the forefront of Welsh Athletics this winter season, and she has been joined in the limelight by Aysha Doman, who once again produced a performance that was of real quality. Jenna, set out to stamp her class on the field from the beginning. After a fast start the field was quickly reduced to 3 as Laura Parker and Naomi Tashimowtiz (2 guest runners from England) broke away with Jenna. Naomi soon started to trail off the pace and it was soon evident that Laura Parker was also struggling to stay with Jenna. In the final quarter of the race, Jenna’s strength told and she came away to win impressively by 15 seconds. Aysha, continued this incredible winter improvement with another gritty performance. Her 7th place was one of her lowest finishing places this winter. But, once again she was the 4th Welsh athlete home, and barring injury or illness should be good enough to make the Welsh Schools team in 2007. Cwmbran are pleased to welcome new recruit Angharad Bishop from Newport. Angharad is well known to the club and was cleared to compete for the club on 1st December. So, one day later wearing her new Cwmbran colours she showed her new teammates they had better watch out, as with little or no preparation she finished an impressive 15th place. These 3 girls along with the missing Danielle Page have now established Cwmbran at the top, and they have overtaken Cardiff by 1 point to lead the team title race. Jenna has taken a strong grip on the individual title race now leading by 7 points, while Aysha is only 2 points off 2nd place, but currently lies 4th.
The men’s Under 20’s continues to be very strong despite Ieuan Thomas missing these races. Afan Humphries has now found that spark that has been missing for the last year, and bounced back to show his real quality. In a personal battle with David Bishop of UWIC and Ashley Rymer of Westbury, they managed to produce one of the best races of the day. David Bishop eventually came away to win by 5 seconds but not without a real battle from Afan, who just held off a real surge from Ashley to pip him by 1 second for 2nd place. Afan now looks like he’s getting back to the runner he was a few years ago where he finished 4th in the UK national Cross country championships and Wales need to see him back there. Overall, Afan stands 5th in the individual standings. Not bad as he hasn’t run all the races. Gavin Hanrahan and Adam Roberts had there own personal battle for club supremacy further down the field. Gavin, by his own high standards will admit that he is having an “indifferent” winter season. He has produced some real high quality performances such as his runner up spot in the Tour of Torfaen half marathon, and then has had some real “off days” on the cross country circuit. This one was somewhere in between. Only a few days before Gavin did not intend to run and had not prepared for this race, but on hearing that the Welsh team for the trip to Brussels would be picked from this event meant some last minute preparations. Alas, on the day it wasn’t good enough and he finished in 10th place. We all know with Gavin that he has great potential and will come strong again. Adam the “new kid on the block” continues to produce his strong steady performances. He can take great heart from finishing 1 place behind Gavin in 11th place and only 10 seconds behind. Gavin now lies 8th overall and Adam 10th. Amazingly, these 3 runners have amassed 109 points so far this season between them. This should have them in 2nd place overall in the team competition, but for some reason they are not listed. Watch this space for further news on this subject!
Finally it was good to see Jessica Dickson back on the cross country
circuit. Jessica another runner who doesn’t exactly enjoy cross country produced
a good enough run for what she was trying to achieve. I’m sure she will be
satisfied with her 15th place.
The Welsh Inter Regional Cross Country Championships were held recently in the normally picturesque setting of Singleton Park, Swansea. But, on one of the worst days imaginable for Cross country running, athletes seemed relieved to just make it across the finish line.
Cwmbran Harriers had a strong contingent of athletes available for the East Wales team chosen across all age categories from Under 13’s all the way through to masters.
The Under 13’s had Cwmbran Harrier entrants aplenty, with 4 going for East Wales boys and 2 for the Girls. In conditions that were some of the worst ever seen at a cross country event the lads adapted very well and produced tremendous performances. An example of how bad the conditions were was summed up by these lads warm up, which took place on the team bus just prior to the race starting, then hiding in the team tent until called to the line, and hopefully not standing around for more than 10 seconds before the gun went! James Hanrahan led the way for the boys and in the normal 2 horse race between himself and Elliott Hardee of Newport Harriers, James on this occasion had to give 2nd best to Elliott who went away to win impressively by 11 seconds. But, James was also highly impressive in securing 2nd place, some 12 seconds ahead of 3rd. Marcus (Zola) Price who has overcome his last exploits at Blaise Castle, Bristol, where he lost a running spike on his first lap, produced his best cross country race to date. His 4th place finish was achieved in a mad scramble to the line where Tom Davies and Callum Sullivan of the South, were split by Marcus at the finish line. There was only 2 seconds covering all 3 athletes and right to the end any of these 3 could have taken 3-5th place. Also highly impressive on the day was Robert Morgan. He was one of the few who seemed to enjoy the conditions and can be well pleased with his 8th place. His brother David did not fair quite as well and despite only being 17 seconds slower could only settle for 14th place. Overall these boys’s can be rightly proud of walking away with the team gold, 2 points clear of the South team who are always traditionally strong.
The Under 13 girl’s had 2 Cwmbran runners, with Ellie Leek leading the way for the Cwmbran Girls. She was 9th overall and 3rd East Wales athlete home. Not a bad performance at all when you realise she can run in this category again next year. 4th East Wales athlete home was another Cwmbran girl Emily Paul who secured 17th place. Well done to both girls!
The Under 15’s did not have as many entries, but as
normal the Under 15 girls once again produced the goods!
Natasha Cockram once
again was right up there at the front of the pack. But, she didn’t look at her
best, I’m sure the conditions played their part, but overall she should not
have been disappointed with 4th place. Not far behind was
Benytta
Doman who was having quite a strong run. For a slightly built athlete these
were more than testing conditions, but Benytta seemed to cope really well. Her
7th place was only 4 seconds behind Natasha and must give her
encouragement that she is starting to peak at the right time of the year. A
good sight was to see
Steffie Wright back there at the top of the field. Steffie is another runner who looks as though her injury worries of the last 12
months are now behind her and she appears to look ready to compete again.
Although she could not maintain her early leading position her 12th
place is a definite step in the right direction and I’m sure Steffie will soon
maintain the strong starts she is currently producing. Thanks must also go to
Bria Dickson and
Jade Flook who turned out for East Wales for the first time. Their
33rd and 36th place finishes ensured that East Wales took 3rd place
overall in the team competition in this age group.
The Under 15 boys only had 2 Cwmbran athletes and they both did their bit for the team. Lewis Shaw finished in 31st position and Freddie Naxtriyan was only 2 places further back in 33rd.
The Under 17 Girls and the Under 20 women only had 3 Cwmbran athletes in total, but all 3 had superb runs. As is usually the case Jenna Roberts led everyone home in the Under 17 4K race. This time she was pushed all the way by local favourite Leah Dixon. 4th home was Aysha Doman and only 20 seconds behind Jenna, which shows a significant improvement for Aysha. Despite East Wales having athletes finishing 1st, 4th, 8th 10th and 15th this was not good enough to secure a team medal, as 8 finishers were required. Danielle Page turned out for the East for the first time and acquitted herself superbly. She should be well pleased with her 7th place.
The Under 17 boys event came towards the end of the day when the course already battered by wind and rain was made even worse by the now sea of mud. This didn’t seem to deter the 4 Cwmbran lads who ran superbly. While Dewi Griffiths was given a surprisingly good race by fast improving Adam Bitchell of Aberystwyth, not far behind was Jamie Bussell. Jamie looked quite fresh at the end of the race and made the course look relatively easy! Michael Kershaw had the best of his battle with long time friend Gareth Lewis. Michael came home in 12th place and Gareth in 14th. Having one of his best runs was Dan Lester. Despite the appalling conditions Dan seemed to cope quite well and he was well pleased with his 24th place at the finish.
The unluckiest runner of the day had to be
Gavin
Hanrahan who missed the start of the race as the marshals called the runners up
5 minutes early. Gavin wasn’t the only athlete to suffer from this on the day
and there were quite a few unhappy athletes who either started well after the
others or, who missed races completely. Gavin was lucky in the fact he could
see the athletes disappearing down the hill in front of him and he set off in
pursuit some 30-40 seconds late. He should be well pleased to have finished 7th
overall having caught the majority of the field by the end. In fact had he
started with the other athletes there is a strong likelihood that he would have
been in the top 3-4. As the race unfolded it was clear this was to be a
straight fight between
Afan Humphries representing the South and
Ieuan Thomas
from the East. On this occasion Afan had the better of the day winning by 3
seconds, but both lads finished over 2 minutes ahead of the rest of the field.
Following the completion of these races the Welsh selectors chose a side to run for Wales in the Lotto Cross cup in Brussels on 17th December, and the club are pleased to announce that Jenna Roberts, Aysha Doman, Afan Humphries and Ieuan Thomas have all been selected for this event. Congratulations to everyone!
The World Lotto Cross Cup held each year in Brussels proved a very successful outing for many of the Cwmbran Harrier athletes who made the trip on December 17th.
For 4 of the athletes, Jenna Roberts, Aysha Doman, Afan Humphries and Ieuan Thomas it was at the invite of Welsh Athletics to compete for Wales, but, Cwmbran also took 9 other athletes for the experience of running one of the best cross country races on the athletics calendar each year.
The most successful performance of the day came from Jenna Roberts. Jenna who has broken into the Welsh team this year found the hilly and extremely muddy conditions to her liking. The European races are in general run over shorter distances on the continent than we are used to in Britain, and are organised by year of birth. So, Jenna found herself in a race for those born in 1991and 1990 (although the Germans managed to get 3 girls born in 1989 into the race). At the gun the 32 athletes set off up the steep incline which appeared to have been watered and deliberately made as muddy as possible. The race over 2,500m proved very demanding and a group of about 10 athletes broke away early. By the top of the major incline Jenna was in a group of 5 athletes pushing away. The long sweeping downhill allowed gaps to appear but Jenna stayed with the pace. On this downhill section Cwmbran’s other Welsh representative Aysha Doman made her move. Initially up at the front on the first hill, she dropped back to the middle of the pack by the top of the hill, but, on this long downhill section she pushed hard and was lying in around 10th place at the end of the lap. The second lap seemed to be a time for consolidation for most of the athletes. Jenna was split from the leading 2 Belgian runners, but she ended in a right battle with Liesbeth Pollentier of Belgium for 3rd place. The final 100m proved vital and the Belgian girl just had enough to hold off Jenna to take 3rd and Jenna 4th by a clear 6 seconds. Aysha also consolidated on the second lap and looked very strong on the uphill sections. Aysha’s finishing position of 13th was only 30 seconds behind Jenna and considering the standard of athletes on display can both be proud of their efforts.
Almost as successful was Natasha Cockram. Running for her a very short course of 2,000m Natasha seemed to revel in the conditions. At the start Natasha did not “blast off” with the rest but made her was through the field. It was pleasing to report at half way through the initial lap Steffie Wright took up the lead and tried to push on and break the initial pack of 8 girls. Steffie is really starting to show some form now and this injection of pace really split the field. Natasha was one of the ones who hung at the middle of this breakaway group, and on reaching the downhill section moved up through to the leading 4 athletes. As the second lap moved through the uphill sections Zenobie Vangansbeke of Belgium pulled away and she eventually won the race by 8 seconds, but all the other places were up for grabs, on the long downhill section to the finish another Belgian and Dutch girl broke the small remaining pack and this left Natasha in a group of 6 battling to the end. Natasha held her nerve against the closing pack and rightfully finished in 5th place. Like Jenna before her she was the first runner from GB to finish. Not far behind was the very tired Steffie Wright who finished in 11th place and 3rd British runner home. Just behind Steffie was Benytta Doman. Benytta had for her a quiet race. She was in the main pack for most of the course and only really broke out to challenge the front-runners in the middle of the second lap. For Benytta the course didn’t seem long enough and she was definitely closing as the race progressed, but alas, not quickly enough. One runner who definitely didn’t get on with the conditions or the course at all was Lora James. Lora really struggled around the muddy, hilly conditions and she seemed happy to eventually see the finish line, coming home in 44th place.
The boys had just as tough conditions to run in, No one ran badly, but no one really threatened the podium positions either. In the Junior boys race, James Hanrahan running the 2,000m course struggled in the mud. His slight frame struggled in the muddy conditions and he can be satisfied with his 35th place out of 69 finishing athletes. Jamie Bussell had a steady run in the 1990-1991 age group race. All athletes ran the same 1,000m course (with an extra 500m loop for some age groups), and therefore Jamie’s age group had 4 gruelling laps. Jamie’s 17th overall place was really decided by lap 3. A breakaway group of 10 established a healthy lead and Jamie covered the next group of 10. These groups battled within their own individual races right to the end. His time of 15 minutes 30 seconds was very good for the conditions and the standard of athletes in the field. Gareth Lewis, Michael Kershaw and Dan Lester had their own private battle further down the field. Gareth came home in 36th place 30 seconds behind Jamie, Michael 42nd 30 seconds behind Gareth and Dan looking very tired, looked as though he could cross the line on hands and knee’s in 53rd place. One bright spot for GB and Wales in this race was the performance of Dewi Griffiths. Dewi from Carmarthen Harriers imposed himself on this race from the 3rd lap and there was only going to be one winner. He won by 11 seconds. The next 8 placed athletes behind him were a year older. In the coming years let’s hope that he and many other Welsh runners are winning by that sort of margin!
In the senior boys event Afan Humphries and Ieuan Thomas turned out for Wales, and both found the conditions very tough. They had the “pleasure” of 6 laps of this course. Ieuan coped the best of all the Welsh athletes and came home in 8th place (beating one of his closest rivals Ross Millington from Manchester, who the following day was chosen to run for GB in Spain in January). Afan was not far behind in 12th. Again, this course appeared to be too short for Afan. He was no higher than 24th at half way, moved into the top 20 after 5 laps, and then came with a storming finish moving strongly up the hills, to finish in 12th.Gavin Hanrahan really struggled with this course. He didn’t seem to come to terms with the hills and eventually came home in 36th place.
The Welsh Cross Country Championships held over last weekend produced a winner from Cwmbran’s ranks. Jenna Roberts, who during the course of this winter has swept aside all Welsh opposition in her age group, ensured last weekend was no exception.
Jenna running in the Under 17 Women’s event took a stranglehold on the race from an early stage. Jenna showed her real strength on the long sweeping hills of this picturesque Ruthin Course. The 5,000 metre course was to Jenna’s liking. From early in the proceedings the race became a race between Cwmbran, Carmarthen and Swansea, after Cwmbran’s other main leader Aysha Doman had to withdraw due to illness during the race. Alaw Beynon-Thomas of Carmarthen and Drusilla Griffiths from Swansea tried in vain to stay with Jenna, but her overall strength told as the race progressed and she came away to win comfortably in a time of 22m 03 sec, well clear of Alaw in 2nd some 15 seconds behind. This follows on well from Jenna’s domination of the Inter Regional Championships before Christmas. With such a good winter behind her we look forward to seeing something special on the track later this summer.
Jenna was not the only runner to win medals. In her first season with Cwmbran Harriers, Danielle Page took a very fine 3rd place ahead of far more experienced runners from Carmarthen Harriers and Swansea Harriers, to ensure she won her first major medal with the club. Danielle can be well proud of her achievements in such a short time with the club.
The biggest winner of the day came from Afan Humphries. Afan was totally dominant from gun-to-tape, winning by 48 seconds. All other runners just couldn’t cope with the extra strength and power Afan possessed. Even teammate Gavin Hanrahan couldn’t keep with him, and Gavin had the additional heartache of finishing just outside the medals in 4th place. But, such was Afan’s dominance that Gavin was over 2 and a half minutes behind!
The Under 17 boy’s race was once again dominated by Dewi Griffiths who came away from the best-assembled field of the day to win by 16 seconds. But, a real battle unfolded for the other places. Both Jamie Bussell and Michael Kershaw not only battled the leaders but each other, but in keeping an eye on each other they eventually lost touch with the leaders and Jamie eventually fought off Michaels challenge to take 4th place, and Michael came home in 5th some 2 seconds behind.
Cwmbran’s main strength is normally in the younger girls age group of the Under 15 girls, but missing both Natasha Cockram and Lora James, it was left to both Steffi Wright and Benytta Doman to carry the flag for the Cwmbran club. Both girls are now just about over illness and injury that they have been carrying for most of the winter, and they can both be pleased with their finishing positions of 5th for Benytta and 8th for Steffi. With the Welsh Schools Championships not too far away, both look as though they are recovering just in time to reach peak form for these Championships and hopefully an outside chance of Welsh honours.
The biggest field of the day came in the Under 13 Girls Championship where Ellie Leek continues to battle against much older girls. The course didn’t seem to be to Ellie’s liking, but in a field of 31 finishers she can be pleased with her 13th place.
The best team performance for the club came at the Under 13 boy’s age group. James Hanrahan had a real battle with eventual winner and one time Cwmbran Harrier Elliott Hardee, while James Brock of Bridgend came up on the rails to deny James 2nd place and he had to settle for 3rd only 2 seconds behind the Bridgend athlete. Not far behind in 6th place was Marcus Price who had his best run of the winter. Marcus easily beat lads who he had struggled with earlier this winter. Also making good progress was Robert Morgan in 9th and David Morgan in 15th, these results combined gave Cwmbran a very comfortable win overall in the team competition and ensured the run of winning team championships continued for this great group of athletes.
Welsh athletics cannot be criticised for holding the Championships in North Wales, as athletics is for all and everyone needs equal opportunity to compete. But, with a 400-mile round trip, South Wales athletes being decimated by illness and arranging these championships the week before the Inter Counties Cross Country Championships in Nottingham, this was the worst attended event for a major championship in a very long time. Of the 32 cross country junior athletes available in Cwmbran only 14 attended. Welsh Athletics need to look long and hard about when they hold these championships because these events need the major athletes to attend and need the numbers to make the event worthwhile. The real disappointment seems to be with the lack of interest from the North Wales athletes. There were 3 non-Welsh club athletes, 86 from the South Wales area, but a very poor 27 from North Wales.
The 45th Welsh Schools Cross Country Championships held in Brecon on Sunday 18th March brought further success and medals to the highly successful middle distance runners at Cwmbran Harriers.
For many of the age groups there was an opportunity to gain their first Welsh vest, and overall this was a very successful day for both Cwmbran Harriers and East Wales in general.
The year 7 athletes are the only ones who cannot be defending a title, as this is their first effort over this flat and normally windy course. Ellie Leek (St.Alban’s School) flew the flag for Cwmbran being the first East Wales athlete home in 13th places overall and over 20 seconds ahead of the next quickest East Wales athlete. The year 7 boys running the same 2.8K course as the girls but had some very poor running conditions to run in and they did well to battle the snowy, windy conditions. David Morgan (King Henry VIII) ran really well to come home only 30 seconds behind the eventual winner, but due to the high standard of competition he still finished in 15th place. David can be pleased that his efforts enabled SE Wales to hold off Dyfed Schools to take the overall year 7 title.
The Junior runners were trying to gain international honours by finishing in the top 8 runners and therefore qualifying to represent Wales in this weekends British Schools International in Dublin. Cwmbran will be represented in this event by both boys and girls. Natasha Cockram (Croesyceiliog School) started off extremely well in appalling conditions, and although she couldn’t catch eventual winner Jade Williams, she easily qualified for the team, eventually finishing in a well-deserved 4th place, and only missing a medal by 11 seconds. In the year 7 boys, it was pleasing to see 3 South East Wales boys make the International team. Chris Carpanini (St Albans School), Elliott Hardee (Bettws) and James Hanrahan (St. Alban’s) all qualified for the team to gain their first Welsh Vest. James can at last start chasing his brother’s achievements (Gavin Hanrahan), who has over the last 4 years gained many international vests. James was at one time looking good to gain a medal from a top 3 finish, but in a dramatic finish from the back end of the Brecon Leisure Centre, a late scramble saw 4 athletes pass him and he had to settle for 7th place, with only 10 seconds separating 3rd place to 10th. One of the ones to just miss out was Marcus Price (Fairwater School), despite a good run; Marcus came home in 25th place. But, based on the huge strides Marcus has made over this winter, much can be expected from him this summer on the track and next winter back on the cross-country fields. Only 24 seconds behind Marcus was Robert Morgan (King Henry VIII), in 42nd place. Robert in his first season with Cwmbran can be well pleased with finishing so high. The standard in the Welsh Schools is much higher than can be expected at most other races and much can be expected from Robert next year.
The Middle girls and Boys also will see representatives from Cwmbran in the Schools International following a superb run from Benytta Doman (Gwynllyw School), where she came right back to form and looked to be getting faster and faster as the race progressed. Over the second lap of the 4.3K course she passed 2-3 slowing athletes and powered away to gain a well-deserved bronze medal. While in the Middle Boys race Jamie Bussell (Newbridge School), although not at his best, was still more than good enough to gain his place in the Welsh Team in 7th place. Jamie is coming back to fitness and with the extra week to recover might be the “dark horse” in Ireland and might produce something special. Both Michael Kershaw (Brynmawr School), and Gareth Lewis (Brynmawr School), both looked like the hard work put in over this last winter had finally caught up with them and neither produced their best. Michael came home in 12th place and Gareth in 25th. Thankfully, both of these lads have more than shown their undoubted skill over this last winter. Their time will certainly come again!
The Seniors once again produced the most medals and the most International vests. Jenna Roberts (Caerleon School), although not quite fast enough yet to catch Non Stanford and Elinor Kirk, was more than a match for everyone else in the field and came home in 3rd place, well over 15 seconds clear of the 4th placed athlete. The biggest smile of the day must have belonged to Danielle Paige (Rougemont School), who with a cool head held off late challenges from her fellow South East Wales colleges Bethan Woods (Usk College) and Aysha Doman (Gwynllyw School) to take 8th place and gain her first International vest. In the late charge to the line Bethan Woods also grabbed an International vest for the Welsh Schools team, and Aysha should be included in the Welsh AAA team for the upcoming International against Midland Counties in Pencoed. Finally, in what must be an unprecedented achievement, Cwmbran Harriers managed to get every athlete who turned out in the senior boys race into an International team. Ieuan Thomas (Fairwater School) continues to come back to full fitness and form following his disappointment in missing out on GB Selection in Nottingham, and with quite a bit of ease he moved away early to easily win the senior boys race by 35 seconds. Afan Humphries (Ystrad Mynach College) battled as hard as he could, but, at the moment couldn’t find that bit extra and had to settle for 3rd. Not far behind was Gavin Hanrahan (St. Albans School) who eased into the Welsh Schools team in 5th place.
Overall Cwmbran Harriers can be well pleased with the weekend performances, with Natasha Cockram, James Hanrahan, Benytta Doman, Jamie Bussell, Jenna Roberts, Danielle Page, Bethan Woods, Aysha Doman, Ieuan Thomas, Afan Humphries and Gavin Hanrahan all gaining International vests. As an extra bonus Ieuan Thomas wins his 24th International vest in 4 years and will also be Welsh team captain.