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Conor Robinson
blazed to Glory to win a rare UK Inter Counties Cross Country Gold medal
and, in one of the best set of results for the Cornish team, Annabel Gummow
added a Silver medal & Charlotte Cayton-Smith narrowly missed a podium place
in her first year of competition.
 There
have only been three other Cornish Inter Counties Champions & you have to go
back to the County's most successful athlete on both track & cross country,
Jonathan Richards, for the only male winner. He won Gold as an Under 17 in
1981, Under 20 in 1983 & Senior in 1986 and is listed among just a handful
of athletes to win in consecutive age groups. Since then, two females have
won the coveted British Championship medal, Jemma Simpson as an Under 13 in
1997 & training partner, Zoe Jelbert as an Under 15 in 1999
Conor first hit
the headlines last year when he emerged in the second half of the winter to
snatch a Gold medal in the National Schools Championships. Ironically, he
missed these Championships at Nottingham last year as he was not known as a
leading contender when the entries were registered!
This year there
was no mistake & he was one of the athletes tipped to be in the medal
placings. Conditions were ideal for the Championships with the parkland course
in the grounds of Wollaton Hall in Nottingham at their most perfect.
Already
in the leading bunch of Under 15 athletes at the top of the climb away from
the start towards the majestic Hall, Conor was happy to sit in over the
opening large lap before taking his chance to break the leaders as they
approached the final long straight. Being chased closely by the Suffolk
athlete, he held his form to win the race in a close one second margin.
Over the same
course & distance of 4.5Kms for the Under 15 Girls, Annabel's race was a two
athlete affair. By the time the athletes climbed the hill to start the
second smaller lap, Surrey's Emelia Gorecka was 20m clear & there was clear
daylight behind Annabel. A concerted effort from the far end of the course
saw Gummow eating back the ground between her & the leader
 which she closed
to seven seconds at the finish & a marvelous Silver medal placing.
It's
hard to believe this is the first competitive year for Under 13 Charlotte
Cayton-Smith as she's already chalked up some impressive medal winning
performances but this was a big step up in the level of competition so far &
she set off cautiously, gauging the strengths of the mainly older
opposition. It wasn't until the second half of the race that she started to
gradually pull back the girls in front, firstly to get into a top ten
position then into fifth & finally win a chase to the line to finish a
superb fourth.
With over three
hundred athletes in each race & 42 British Counties & Home Country Regional
teams, plus hosting the trials for the UK teams for the World Championships,
the whole event is a spectacle for the parents & supporters, providing the
highest level of competition in any Championship for the athletes. To finish
in the top half is a tremendous achievement both for individuals & teams.
Best team placing
came on the back of the Robinson win with his first being backed up by
terrific performances from Dan Nash at 29th, Harry Allen 72nd, Hobie Martin
79th & Gareth Smith 80th.
Most other teams
hovered around the mid table but there were several other top individual
performances to get into the first 100. Jacob Landers led home the Under 17
team at 28th, Charles Gunning 59th & James Waldie 84th, Bethany Alston was
34th, Nicola George 76th & Anna Sharrock 91st in the Under 20 Women & Ryan
Cleave 83rd in the Under 20 Men's event.
Danny Old was
68th & Sam Lane de Courtin 72nd for the Under 13 Boys & for the Girls in
this age group, Finlay Bray was 95th & Melissa Keveran 107th. April Hogg was
98th in the Under 15 race.
In a high quality
Trials race for the Senior Men, which saw one of the most exciting finishes
of the day, Ollie Shilston finished at 50th.
Newquay &
Par's athletes:
    
Pics: Anna Sharrock, Melissa
Blake Lomax, Nicola George, Ailsa Sharrock, April Hogg
Pic: U13 pack
Pic: U13
team -Katie, Zoe, Tamsin, Finlay, Charlotte, Dave (NOT U13 Girl!) , Melissa,
Anna, Yvonne
If you have more
pics of the N&P athletes, please send them in! |
