There was more medal success for Bedford & County’s endurance athletes at the Eastern AA Cross Country Championships on Saturday 19th November. Held at Southill Park estate, the regional championships were greeted with cool temperatures, grey skies and persistent rain. The inclement weather combined with an uneven tussocky course and long distances made the races a genuine cross country challenge.
In the U13 age group, Bedford and County’s boys took the silver team medal (Oliver Coombes, Oliver Henderson and Harry Henderson) with Megan Reynolds and Izzy Danobrega competing for the girls. Harry Scott, Oliver Wilson and Sam Bosher won team silver for the U15 boys. A strong turnout in this age group also saw Bedford finish fourth (Theo Beale, Isaac Mitchell and Archie Henderson) and fifth (Luca Devlin, Dylan Stokes and Zach Danobrega) in the team competition. Lily Farr won individual bronze in the girl’s U15 race with Jessica Parrish and Ellie Harper completing the team which finished in sixth place. Cameron Barnes and Daniel Smith both ran strongly for the U17 men.
Lyla Danobrega was a strong contender for performance of the day, the U17 athlete winning the combined U17W/U20W/Senior Women 6km race outright. Moving into the lead after the initial charge downhill away from the start, Lyla set the pace all the way to the finish to take the Eastern Counties U17 title. Emma Coombes came 12th in the women's race.
Craig Emmerson also took the senior men’s win in convincing style. Setting a fast early pace that few could stay with, Craig led a small front group through the opening laps of the 12km race. Putting in a fast lap with around half of the distance still to go, the remaining challengers were dropped and Craig soloed to the finish to win the Eastern Counties title in 37:17. Simon Coombes, 6th overall, won the MV50 honours in 41:04 with Charlie Palmer (42:26) taking MV40 silver. There was also success for Imogen Chesterton who won the Eastern U20 women’s title.
For the full results, see Eastern AA 2022 Cross Country Championships - Results.
Report by Ewan Wilson.
