Starting with the final race of the day, the division two and three ladies’ race was a great watch. Walton fielded a strong team, and they certainly delivered. Alex Slotwinska was Walton’s first runner to finish the 3.75-mile course in a brilliant 3rd place, her highest ever finish in the Surrey League, well done Alex!
The next Walton vest across the line belonged to Megan Sharpe, who was on her racing debut, putting in a very accomplished performance to finish a strong 11th place. Megan was closely followed by ladies team captain Mandy Ruks in 15th place and Lizzie Amos in 19th. Both ran excellently to make it four athletes inside the top 20 places.
Next was another debutant, Lucy McKenna, who finished in 97th place, running a solid race to bring home valuable points for the team. Well done Lucy on your first outing for Walton!
The ladies team finished 3rd on the day from 24 teams, a fantastic result which puts us in a brilliant position going into match two on 9th November.
After being promoted as divisions three champions last season, Walton men found themselves in a much tougher division two. Relishing the challenge of a deeper field, Walton men fielded a strong team of 16
First to finish the 5-mile course was Craig Jarman, running well to come home in 28th place, and less than 20 seconds later, men’s team captain Duncan Woolmer in 35th. The two veteran cross-country runners showing their value, well done guys.
Last season’s individual division three champion, Jani Kraner was next in 44th. Strong running Jani, well done. An ever-improving Alfie Pike was next, as 58th scorer, followed just over 30 seconds later by Robert Smith, 64th scorer. Solid running from both.
The next five Walton runners were less than a minute apart, providing excellent scoring in the second half of the A team. Robert Lovegrove (74th scorer), running for Walton for the first time in a few years after returning from Wales, ran impressively, closely followed by Clinton De Tarnowski (76th), Jonathan Hiorns (77th), Nicholas Grobler (78th), and Richard Singleton (84th), all of whom ran strong races to complete the A team. Well done guys, valuable points earned!
Chris Ness was our first B scorer, finishing 28th, followed by debutant Charlie Hobbs in 35th, both getting their cross-country seasons off to a good start. Jamie McLoughlin followed a few seconds later in 41st, and shortly after Ollie Sayner in 43rd. Chris Coppellotti was next in 63rd and Martin Willis completed the Walton team members in 84th. Well done all!
Walton men finished 7th overall on the day from 10 teams. This is a good result after a big step up to division two. We now have a foundation on which we can build from and I expect that we will have an even stronger team heading into match two on 9th November. Well done guys, be proud of your efforts.
For those of you that like a stat, the runner behind Jani in 45th place was actually the winner of the B race, which illustrates the strength of the division. Three teams had all ten runners finish within the top 50 overall. With a full-strength team, we are more than capable of holding our own in this division, but we need to ensure we have everyone out as often as possible.
The next match is in Oxsted on Saturday 9th November. Last year, Holland sports put on a tremendous event with music, BBQ and drinks, it is not to be missed.
Well done everyone, see you at the next one.