Shropshire Star

Young guns shine in the Second City

Shropshire's junior cross country runners were left to reflect on a number of impressive performances at the British Inter-Counties Championships.

Published

Callum Mitchelmore led the way with a superb sixth place in the under-15s boys race around Birmingham's Cofton Park.

It continued an impressive season for Mitchelmore, which also saw him crowned Midlands champion, as he finished the course in 16 minutes, 16 seconds.

That placed him just 16 seconds away from a podium position, in a field of more than 300 runners from around the country.

Wrekin's Connor Bentley was just 11 seconds further back in ninth position, to cap a decent day for the under-15s Shropshire team, who finished 21st overall.

Kieran Clarke was their next man home, finishing in 159th place. There were also solid runs from Jack Cole (214th), Tom Wilde (239th), Sam Western (252nd), Tom Pegge (256th) and Charlie Stanton (276th).

The county also had plenty to cheer in the under-13s boys event, as Oswestry Olympians' Liam Rawlings and Telford AC's William Kay were the stars of an impressive team performance, which saw Shropshire finish seventh overall out of 41 counties.

Rawlings finished 14th, with Kay just two seconds and a further place back in 15th. Support came from Joshua Williams (74th), Charlie Brown (87th), Barney Bithell (171st), Louix Tziortzis-Foskett (182nd) and Oscar Hamilton-Russell (187th).

The seventh-placed overall finish matched that achieved by the women's under-21 squad, who were led home by county champion Dani Rowlinson.

Rowlinson, from Wrekin College, finished 18th, just three seconds and three places ahead of team-mate and Thomas Telford runner Fian Sweeney.

Shrewsbury Schools' Olivia Papaioannou was 50th, with Issy Otham (93rd) and Passy Goddard (134th) in another strong showing.

Elsewhere, Freddie Huxley was another young athlete who enjoyed a fine afternoon as he finished less than a minute behind the winner, Leicestershire's Isaac Akers, in the men's under-17s race.

Huxley's 17th place finish matched the result of the under-17s team. The other finishers were Charlie Tait Harris (99th), Will Hayward (109th), Dylan Gillett (111th) and Scott Hatton (181st).

Telford AC's Claire Martin put an injury-blighted season behind her as she led home the senior women's team in 29th.

Martin was well supported by Sarah Mackness, who came home in 78th position while Michelle Clarke was133rd.

Sara Willhoit (175th), Lucie Tait Harris (188th), Rachel Coupe (199th), Tracie Trueman (211th), Jacqui Gears (233rd) and Alison Preece (237th).

Paul Ward was the county's top finisher in the senior men's race as he claimed 72nd position.

The team's overall finish was 26th with other runners including Peter Middleton (178th), Pete Butler (207th), Rob Nash (212th), Gabe Morris (237th) and Neil O'Hanlon (243rd).

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.