England's mountain runners perform well at Junior Home Countries International
The England Team performed well at the 2018 British and Irish Junior Mountain Running Championships, which incorporated the Junior Home Countries International. Returning to Glendalough in the garden of Ireland's County Wicklow, conditions and terrain lent themselves to fast running. The early morning rain had softened the ground, but cleared before the start of the competition.
First off were the U17s racing over 4.7km with 234m of climb. Scotland provided both the individual (Sunny McGrath) and team winners in the boys' race. The top English finisher was Matthew Knowles (Lancaster & Morecambe) in 4th, who was backed up by Louis Hudson (Keighley & Craven AC) in 6th, William Kay (Telford AC) in 8th, Fraser Sproul (Kendal AC) just behind in 9th and Daniel Sanderson (Ambleside AC) in 10th. Close packing ensured England took the team silver ahead of Wales. The other England finishers were Finnian Hutchinson (City of York AC) (11th), Eric Beaumont (Keighley & Craven AC) (17th) and Rowan Bennett (Morpeth Harriers) (22nd).
The England U17 girls team were a very close third through strong performances from Abi Smith (City of York AC) who led the team home in 4th, with Lilli Carr (Keighley & Craven AC), Lauryn Gregg (Rossendale Harriers) and Chloe Rylance (Ambleside AC) finishing closely behind in 8th, 9th and 10th respectively. The race was won by Sarnia Jones from Wales. Other England finishers were Bernadette Raven (Ilkley Harriers) (11th), Emily Jones (Wharfedale Harriers) (12th), and Briony Holt (Clayton le Moors Harriers) (13th).
Over the longer course of 6.7km with 338m climb, England dominated in the U20 races and took the top 3 places in a very competitive boys race. With the lead changing several times in the last mile, it was Matthew Merrick's (Bingley Harriers) speed which saw him take the individual title, followed by the pair of Ben Bergstrand (Middlesborough AC) and Elliot Matier (Border Harriers) who were separated by a single second at the finish. They were supported by Tyler Hutchinson (City of York AC) finishing in 5th and Mac O’Malley (Trafford AC) in 9th. Other England finishers were Martin Howard (Calder Valley FR) (13th) and Tom Humphries (Lancaster & Morecambe) (19th).
England again took the top team honours in the U20 girls’ race, led home by an excellent individual silver for Eve Pannone (Eden Runners). She was supported by Emily Field (Bingley Harriers) finishing in 4th, closely followed by Robyn Bennett (Morpeth Harriers, Christopher Waugh) in 6th, Lily Higgins (Halesowen A&CC, Michael Mielczarek) (8th) and Finty Royle (Chorley AC, Katie Hewison) (10th). Katie Lord (Notts AC, Robert Hughes) finished in 11th.
The only blight on the weekend was that Joe Hudson (Keighley & Craven AC), one of the firm favourites in the U20 boys’ race, sadly had to retire and receive medical treatment for a nasty laceration following a heavy fall at the half way point when in contention with the leading pack.
Team Lead, Duncan Richards, was pleased with the team performance and team camaraderie with many athletes getting their first taste of international competition and all that involves. “Hopefully this experience will motivate the athletes to achieve further international success.”
Pictured: The final descent of the boys U20 race, with Matthew Merrick leading Ben Bergstrand and Elliott Matier.
Results
Under 17 Girls
1st - Scotland
2nd - Wales
3rd - England
4th - Northern Ireland
5th - Ireland
Under 17 Boys
1st - Scotland
2nd - England
3rd - Wales
4th - Ireland
5th - Northern Ireland
Under 20 Girls
1st - England
2nd - Scotland
3rd - Wales
4th - Northern Ireland
5th - Ireland
Under 20 Boys
1st - England
2nd - Scotland
3rd - Northern Ireland
4th - Ireland
5th - Wales
Well done to the Winners of the City of Edinburgh Cup : Scotland
Under 17 Girls
1 Sarnia Jones Wales 22.14
2 Pippa Carcas Scotland 22.35
3 Sorcha Mullan Northern Ireland 22.41
4 Abigail Smith England 23.03
5 Aoife Coffey Ireland 23.04
6 Eden O'Dea Wales 23.14
7 Helen Chong Scotland 23.15
8 Lili Carr England 23.23
9 Lauryn Gregg England 23.32
10 Chloe Rylance England 23.34
11 Bernadette Raven England B 23.42
12 Emily Jones England B 24.11
13 Briony Holt England B 24.15
14 Ellie Hinks Scotland 24.55
15 Bethany BergstrandEngland B 25.03
16 Ella Quinn Northern Ireland 25.11
17 Emily Hanlon Wales 26.06
18 Beth Hobbs Scotland 26.11
19 Lleucu Lane Wales 26.14
20 Dearbhail Cuddy Ireland 26.27
21 Niamh McDonald Ireland 26.29
22 Ciara Kernan Ireland 27.22
23 Rebecca Magee Northern Ireland 27.46
24 Meadow McCauley Northern Ireland 30.2
Under 17 Boys
1 Sunny McGrath Scotland 18.57
2 Mike Spill Wales 19.22
3 Jack Trainer Scotland 19.29
4 Matthew Knowles England B 19.49
5 Harry Henriksen Scotland 19.57
6 Louis Hudson England 20.13
7 Joe Reardon Wales 20.18
8 William Kay England 20.28
9 Fraser Sproul England 20.32
10 Daniel Sanderson England B 20.32
11 Finnian Hutchinson England 20.32
12 Callum Morgan Northern Ireland 20.33
13 Luke E Maher Ireland 20.56
14 Eoin Richards Ireland 21.05
15 Daniel Stones Wales 21.11
16 Ben Cameron Scotland 21.16
17 Eric Beaumont England B 21.28
18 Cai La Trobe-Roberts Wales 21.47
19 Aaron Smith Ireland 22.04
20 Conor D McGrath Northern Ireland 22.28
21 Evan C Hogg Ireland 22.31
22 Rowan Bennett England B 22.56
23 Brendan McCambridge Northern Ireland 23.11
24 Kyle Ross Northern Ireland 23.14
Under 20 Girls
1 Grace Carson Northern Ireland 31.26
2 Eve Pannone England 33.14
3 Annabelle McQueen Wales 33.51
4 Emily Field England 33.6
5 Rhonda Mowat Scotland 34.13
6 Robyn Bennett England B 34.15
7 Anisha Badial Scotland 34.33
8 Lily Higgins England 34.38
9 Rona Tytler Scotland 34.49
10 Finty Royle England 35.31
11 Katie Lord England B 35.43
12 Holly Roberts Wales 36.04
13 Cassie Lagan Northern Ireland 36.32
14 Lynn McKenna Scotland 37.37
15 Jenna Bagnall Wales 38.23
16 Danielle Donegan Ireland 38.27
17 Lucy McCann Ireland 38.46
18 Rioghnach Catney Northern Ireland 39.36
19 Megan Bowen Wales 40.06
20 Niamh James Ireland 41.41
Under 20 Boys
1 Matthew Merrick England B 27.24
2 Ben Bergstrand England 27.34
3 Elliot Matier England 27.35
4 Anthony McCambridge Northern Ireland 27.5
5 Tyler Hutchinson England B 28.07
6 Gregor Malcolm Scotland 28.14
7 Conall McClean Northern Ireland 28.19
8 Robert Sparks Scotland 28.33
9 Mac O'Malley England 28.35
10 Ruairi Long Ireland 28.38
11 Thomas Berry Scotland 28.49
12 Alex Hunter Ireland 29
13 Martin Howard England B 29.16
14 Tom Wood Wales 29.28
15 Eighann Gollan Scotland 29.4
16 Cian C McDonald Ireland 30.02
17 Jared Martin Northern Ireland 30.02
18 Max Dunford Wales 30.06
19 Tom Humphries England B 30.07
20 Peter Carty Northern IrelandB 31.03
21 Cedol Dafydd Wales 31.04
22 Ifan Oldfield Wales 31.18
23 Iosac Coleman Ireland 31.25
24 Ethan Dunn Northern IrelandB 31.49
25 Jack Moore Northern IrelandB 32.05
26 Oisin Brennan Northern Ireland 32.43
27 Andrew Elwood Northern IrelandB 34.12
28 Joe Hudson England DNF