The second half of the cross country season has seen some great performances from Brighton and Hove girls. This season 13 girls have taken part in cross country. As Team Manager it has been a delight to see the girls competing so enthusiastically and I would like to thank them all for their commitment to the team.
The star performer has been Martha Coyle who has won individual gold, silver and bronze medals this season, as well as being part of a gold medal winning Sussex team. The star team has been our under 15s who have won one team Gold and two team Bronze medals. In addition to this we have a group of girls who have steadily improved throughout the season and show great promise for next year, many of these running their first cross country season.
The girls who have run for the club this season are Martha Coyle, Isobel Jones, Nancy Jones, Ella Witt, Ellen Carrick, Anneira Farrer-Daniel, Grace Fitzpatrick, Holly Turner, Esther Lutz Davies, Steffi Paraskevas, Laura Smith, Darci Stoker and Rachel Titheradge.
Results of Sussex Cross Country County Championship on 8 January
The County Champs at Stanmer Park saw Martha win the individual silver medal in the under 13s race with Anneira 17th, Isobel 23rd, Ellen 29th and Ella 33rd., with the team coming 5th. Our under 15 team, Holly, Esther and Steffi, won team bronze medal with Esther 7th, Steffi 11th, Holly 15th, Laura 17th and Darci 21st. In the under 17s Rachel was 8th.
Results of Third League Match at Bexhill on 15 January
After being in second for nearly all the race a storming finish by Martha secured her first place at the Bexhill race. All the girls produced great performances, especially since most of them are in younger half of the age group. The finishing positions were Martha 1st, Isobel 15th, Nancy 20th, Ella 23rd, Ellen 26th. In the under 15s Esther was 5th, Steffi 12th, Laura 15th and Darci Stoker 19th. Rachel was 23rd in the women’s race and was part of the scoring women’s team.
Results of Fourth League Race at Lancing on 12 February
The final race of the season at Lancing produced the best results of the season for the under 13 team. Martha led the way winning the race, with Ella 10th, Nancy 11th and Ellen 16th. In the individual competition for the league Martha won the gold medal having won three out of the four races. The team were in 4th place overall. The under 15s also had a good run with Esther the first Brighton runner home in 4th, Steffi 7th, Laura 10th and Holly 12th. In a closely fought team competition for the league the girls won the bronze medal, just 5 points behind the first placed team. Our lone under 17 runner, Rachel, was 35th in the women’s race and was part of the silver medal winning women’s team.
South of England Race at Parliament Hill 29 January
A very congested calendar in January meant that just two athletes made it to Parliament Hill this year with Martha finishing 15th and Esther 60th out of a field of 200 runners.
Inter counties at Birmingham 5 March
Martha and Esther were selected to represent Sussex in the Inter-counties at Birmingham with Martha coming 36th and Esther 167th again against a large field of 300 runners.
Sussex Schools and English Schools Competitions
In the Sussex Schools Races Rachel was 5th in the senior girls race, while in the junior girls race Martha was 3rd with Esther 11th, Steffi 13th , Laura 19th and Darci 38th. The top twenty runners went on to run in Reading against other south east counties. Rachel was 31st in her race while in the junior girls Martha was 22nd, Esther 49th, Steffi 63rd and Laura 77th. Rachel and Martha were chosen to run for Sussex in the English Schools Races at Nottingham. Rachel was 137th and Martha 63rd in fields of 300 runners.
Brighton Schools Races
In the local Brighton and Hove secondary Schools race at Waterhall the Brighton and Hove AC athletes performed well. Year 7 race was won by Isobel closely followed by Nancy, Ella and Ellen. While the Year 8 and 9 race was won by Martha followed by Ester and Steffi.
Sussex School Year 7 and 8 Schools races
The girls made a good showing at Year 7 and 8 races with Martha second in the Year 8 race and in the Year 7 race Isobel was 9th, Nancy 11th, Grace 15th and Aneira 18th. They all went on to represent Sussex at Reigate. Martha won a bronze medal in the Year 8 race. In the Year 7 race Nancy was the second fastest Sussex girl in 37th position, while the other girls all finished within 6 places of each other with Aneira, Isobel and Grace finishing 61st 62nd 66th respectively.
Well done to all the girls – great performances throughout the season.
A special thank you to Pete Witcomb and John Clements who give up so much of their time to train the girls on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Saturday morning. Without this dedication these successes would not be possible. On behalf of all the girls, and their parents, I would like to thank them both for giving up their time to coach the athletes.
Ann Titheradge
Girls Cross Country Team Manager