Cross Country
Annual Report 2005 - 06
By the time you read this at the AGM another long, tough but enjoyable cross country season will be over with a number of intrepid runners having last week brought the season to its conclusion with the long trip to London to run the most famous cross country course of all at Parliament Hill Fields.
It has once again been a fantastic winter of competition for the club, possibly the best for many years, with much success by individuals and teams alike, as the roll of honour at the end of this report illustrates. But as with all team sports (and cross country is very much a team discipline) much of the success of the club in cross country is as always down to the team managers getting out athletes in numbers, so a big thank you to team organisers, drivers and supporters, particularly those for the younger age groups.
The club competed in all the main leagues in the region and once again the Under 11’s boys and girls both as individuals & as a team took the North Staffs League by storm. Much of this is clearly due to all the excellent work that is undertaken by their coaches with their determination to field as many runners as possible and just as important to ensure that they also enjoy themselves. There is much to learn from this approach & I have already asked some of the Under 11’s if they would consider turning out for the senior men’s team next season!!
The Under 13’s & 15’s boys took team & individual honours in the Manchester & District League but again there was a huge age gap between individual winners of Under 13’s & Over 55 categories! Well done to those particular athletes & come on you lot in the middle years! The only problem was the relegation of both the Senior & Veteran men’s teams from the top division as they failed to field a squad for the final match whilst wanting to save themselves for the following day’s County Championships. From the results I will let you the members judge if it was worth the sacrifice!
There were more great individual and team successes right across the age range in the County Championships from U/11 right up to Veterans, whilst in the Northern Championships it was Rebecca Craigie taking a fantastic silver medal in the Under 15 Girls who led the Club along with a host of other fine individual runs.
Finally I would like to say a big thank you to all helpers and officials who have made the fixtures we have hosted such a success for both the joint Manchester / North West Ladies League and the Cheshire League, once again illustrating that the club can run events to a high level of professionalism.
No doubt due to our success in organising events Macclesfield will remain a regular venue in the cross country diary, however it is likely that both of the above fixtures will be the last one in their respective leagues as the progress to create a new Greater Manchester & District league (combining the Cheshire, Manchester & District & North West Ladies Leagues) took a huge leap forward recently with a large meeting of clubs representing all three leagues who all moved closer to agreeing the basics of a newly constituted body to host a range of fixtures for the 2006 – 07 season. Club members will be kept informed of the new league’s progress as it becomes known.
I hope all athletes, managers & supporters have enjoyed their cross country season and look forward to the awards presentation in a couple of weeks where their successes will be celebrated. We can then look forward to next season which will no doubt follow a long, warm & eventful summer!
Mark Wheelton - Cross Country Manager
Cross Country 2005
– 06 (Individual & Team Successes)
Under 11 Boys –
League Champions
3rd place- Tom Ramsey
Under 11 Girls –
League Champions
Champion - Danielle Wallis
Under 13 Boys –League Runners Up
Champion - Lloyd Hilton
Runner Up - Calum Murray
Under 15 Boys - League Runners Up
Veteran 50 Runner Up - Raph Murray
Veteran 55 Champion - Barry Blyth
Senior Ladies Champion – Alison Hartopp
Veteran Ladies Champion – Alison Hartopp
Senior Ladies League Champions
Veteran Ladies League Champions
Under 11Boys - League Runners Up
Under 11 Girls
League Champions
Champion – Danielle Wallis
3rd place – Rosie Christiansen
Under 13 Boys
Champion Lloyd Hilton
League Runners Up
Under 13 Girls
3rd place - Beth Chasty
League Runners Up
Under 15 Boys - League 3rd Team
Under 15 Girls
League Champions
Champion – Rebecca Craigie
3rd place – Hannah Hills
Under 17 Ladies 3rd place – Daisy Williams
Senior Ladies
League Champions
Champion Anne Farmer
Runner up – Sarah Jones
Veteran Ladies
League Champions
3rd place– Nicky Le Good
Senior Men Runner Up - Andy Lamont
Veteran Men – League 3rd place
Ladies Overall Team (all age groups combined) – League Champions
Mens Overall Team (all age groups combined) – League Champions
Under 11Boys 3rd place - Tom Ramsey
Under 11 Boys Team - Runners Up
Under 11 Girls Runner Up - Danielle Wallis,
Under 11 Girls 3rd place - Rosie Christiansen
Under 11 Girls 1st & 2nd Team!!
Under 13 Boys Champion - Lloyd Hilton
Under 13 Boys 3rd place -Calum Murray,
Under 13 Boys - Champions
Under 13 Girls - 3rd Team
Under 15 Boys - 3rd Team
Under 15 Girls - 2nd Team
Under 17 Men Champion - Tim Pattison
Senior Ladies Team - Champions
Veteran Ladies Team - Runners Up
Under 15 Girls Runner Up – Rebecca Craigie