Cornish runners were once again well to the fore in the first Charles Stanley Westward Cross Country League match of the winter, held in unseasonably warm sunshine at Stover School near Newton Abbot.

Cornwall Athletic Club emerged as the top club on the day, fielding 64 runners in a busy programme of six races, covering age groups from the Under 11 to Senior and Veteran runners.

A high quality Senior Men’s race attracted a massive field of 176 runners, with Phil Norman (North Devon AC) leading a strong quartet of top Devon athletes across the line. Mile High’s Tony Brewer, sought and found the higher standard of competition he was looking for, running strongly throughout the 9000 metre race, finishing in a very creditable sixth position.

In the team competition Cornwall AC won four of the eleven age groups, with the club’s combined Senior and Under 17 Ladies and Under 13 Girls teams leading the way.

Sixteen year old Grace Brock (Under 17) stormed around the 5000 metre course, leading from gun to tape and repeating her victory in the first league race twelve months previously.

Team captain Emma Stepto worked her way through the field, finishing second, with Amy Sole in sixth position, completing a comfortable victory for the ladies' team, with the club’s ‘B’ team in third place and the ‘C’ team sixth. Newquay and Par AC, led by Sian Temple (9th) led the mid Cornwall club home in fifth place.

At the other end of the age groups Cornwall AC’s National Under 13 Girls cross country champion, Maisy Luke, dominated the Under 13 Girls race, cruising, in her seemingly effortless style, around the 3000 metre course, winning by a thirty second margin and leading the Cornwall AC team to a comfortable victory, well ahead of local rivals Newquay and Par AC. Abby Jose (4th) and the Falmouth youngster Erin Devery (7th) completed the winning team.

An equally impressive individual performance came in the Under 17 Men’s 5000 metre race, where Newquay and Par’s English Schools Cross Country International Finn Birnie stamped his authority on the race from the outset, winning by twenty nine seconds. An evenly matched quartet of Cornwall AC runners, including two locally based runners, packed well, Kirstof Klimik (3rd), Abu Gupta (4th), Falmouth’s Sam Goodchild (5th) and Helston’s Jacob McAlone (6th), to win the team race in style.

Cornwall AC secured their fourth team win in the Under 13 Boys event, which also included two more young runners from Falmouth, Zac Clemens (4th), James Horton (6th). The race developed into a very close tussle with Exeter Harriers, thanks to superb team running from Clemens (4th), Horton (6th) and Tyler Gregory (7th). Both clubs shared the same points but the victory went to Cornwall AC, when their third scoring runner was well clear of Exeter’s third scorer.

KEY FOR CLUBS

CAC Cornwall AC, ECH East Cornwall Harriers, FRR Falmouth Road Runners, MH Mile High, NP Newquay & Par AC, NRR Newquay Road Runners.

RESULTS All individual Cornish positions and Teams finishing in the top 10

Ladies: Seniors: 1 Grace Brock (U17) CAC 20.43, 2 Emma Stepto (V45) CAC 2105, 7 Amy Sole CAC 21.46, 9 Sian Temple NP 22.25, 13 Heidi Tregenza CAC 22.46, 15 Niki Smith CAC 22.53, 16 Katie Hughes CAC 23.09, 17 Debbie Starkey NP 23.11, 19 Louise Greenwell CAC 23.22, 20 Miranda Heathcote (V45) NRR 23.39, 24 Carlotta Sigel CAC 24.09, 25 Imogen Wood (U17) CAC 24.10, 26 Kathryn Burgess (V40) 24.11, 31 Ellen Kenny (U17) NP 24.32, 33 Sophie Lloyd CAC 24.36, 37 Megan Davis NRR 24.50, 40 Emma Mossop (V40) FRR 25.02, 45 Sharon Daw (V50) ECH 25.14, 46 Michelle Steele NRR 25.25, 55 Emma Eva CAC 25.56, 56 Karen Harrison (V50) CAC 25.59, 59 Kerrie Hutchinson CAC 26.08, 62 Nancy Hill (V50) CAC 26.18, 66 Samantha Jayne (V45) NRR 26.32, 68 Rachael Thomas (V45) CAC 26.36, 71 Katie Walker (U17) CAC 26.50, 72 Louise Gore (V35) NRR 26.51, 76 Becky Luke (V40) CAC 26.55, 81 Claire Davidson (V45) ECH 27.07, 85 Janna Eyre (V35) CAC 27.13, 88 Abbie Milnes CAC 27.18, 89 Debbie Nugent (V55) CAC 27.20, 90 Jenny Stephens CAC 27.21, 91 Sharon Beard (V45) NP 27.25, 97 Alison Potter (V40) NRR 27.49, 98 Lily Tawse (U17) CAC 27.51, 105 Sarah Hill (V45) NRR 28.39, 106 Suzie Goff-Bombarde CAC 28.41, 115 Trinity Earnshaw (U17) CAC 29.37, 122 Deborah McColl (V50) FRR 29.56, 128 Barbara Lock (V55) ?? CAC 30.47, 131 Lucy Hewitt (V50) NRR 31.02, 132 Danni Rawson (U17) NRR 31.08, 146 Ellie Parkin CAC 34.52, 148 Karrie Fox (V55) FRR 36.18, 150 Donna Francis (V55) NRR 40.27, 151 Louise Cooke-Davies (V50) NRR 41.52, 152 Paula Osborne (V40) NRR 42.32, 154 Lorna Wood (V55) FRR 44.30. Teams: 1 Cornwall AC ‘A’ 593 points, 3 Cornwall AC ‘B’ 559 points, 5 Newquay & Par ‘A’ 546 points, 6 Cornwall AC ‘C’ 535 points, 9 Newquay Road Runners 500 points. Veteran Ladies Teams: 2 Cornwall AC ‘A’ 273 points, 5 Newquay Road Runners 244 points, 7 Cornwall AC ‘B’ 224 points, 10 Cornwall AC ‘C’ 161 points. Under 15 Girls: 3 Grace Davidson NP 11.15, 6 Jessica Spry NP 11.34, 8 Freya Perkin CAC 11.36, 10 Lauren Webster NP 11.38, 19 Rebecca Benney CAC 12.33. Teams: 2 Newquay & Par AC 284 points, 8 Cornwall AC 175 points. Under 13 Girls: 1 Maisy Luke CAC 11.16, 4 Abby Jose CAC 11.59, 5 Kerrie Shanley NP 12.01, 6 Charli Dawson NP 12.13, 7 Erin Devery CAC 12.29, 9 Stella Pope CAC 12.39, 15 Phoebe Andrews CAC 12.49, 17 Abbie Downing CAC 12.52, 18 Kimberley Knight NP 12.53. Teams: Cornwall AC ‘A’ 291 points, 2 Newquay & Par 274 points, 4 Cornwall AC ‘B’ 262 points, 9 Cornwall AC ‘C’ 214 points. Under 11 Girls: 5 Jemima Pratt CAC 6.15, 6 Emily Childs NP 6.20.

Men: Seniors: 6 Tony Brewer MH 34.09, 10 Dan Rodgers CAC 34.36, 12 Jordan Clay CAC 34.51, 29 Matthew Crew CAC 36.40, 31 Simon Williams (V40) NP 36.51, 37 Tony Dunn (V50) CAC 37.40, 49 James Barnet FRR 38.47, 51 Nathan Elemen CAC 39.03, 53 Craig Webster (V40) NRR 39.11, 56 Paul Sole CAC 39.35, 60 Stuart Felton FRR 39.57, 61 Andy Trudgian (V45) NP 39.58, 65 Tom Newman CAC 40.05, 67 Matthew Bridges CAC 40.13, 73 Giuliano Formisano CAC 41.10, 81 Lee Hall NRR 41.55, 87 Steven Rendle (V45) NRR 42.07, 91 John Sole CAC 42.27, 94 Adrian Ball (V50) CAC 42.39, 102 Wayne Glanville NRR 43.38, 114 Ryan Williams FRR 45.20, 115 Luke Reed NRR 45.31, 119 Darren Squire (V45) NP 46.25, 124 Scott Toy FRR 47.22, 128 Nick Whittaker (V50) NRR 47.45, 135 Nigel Trevena (V50) CAC 48.26, 140 Richard Davies (V50) NRR 49.02, 148 Barry Osborne (V45) NRR 50.18, 157 Russell King FRR 52.13, 161 John Horton (V65) NP 53.30, 162 Robert Beard (V50) NP 54.02, 165 Bob Wilcocks (V55) FRR 59.33, 166 Nick Savin NRR 61.48, 168 Kieran Murrant FRR 67.45, 169 David Garrard (V65) FRR 76.26. Teams: 4 Cornwall AC 1372 points. Under 17 Men: 1 Finn Birnie NP 19.06, 3 Kristof Klimek CAC 19.44, 4 Abu Gupta CAC 19.46, 5 Sam Goodchild CAC 19.47, 6 Jacob McAlhone CAC 20.05, 13 Connor Trerise CAC 21.13, 16 Luke Hopper NP 21.59, 20 William Wright NP 22.24, 22 Morgan Squire NP 23.04. Teams: 1 Cornwall AC ‘A’ 291 points, 3 Newquay & Par AC 266 points, 6 Cornwall AC ‘B’ 183 points. Under 15 Boys: 8 Bradley McClelan NP 10.28, 9 Isaac Murray CAC 10.29, 10 Rees Stewart NP 10.30, 22 Luke Downing CAC 11.16, 29 Henry Sheffield CAC 13.01. Teams: 6 Cornwall AC 243 points, 8 Newquay & Par AC 184 points. Under 13 Boys: 5 Zak Clemens CAC 11.02, 6 James Horton CAC 11.06, 7 Tyler Gregory CAC 11.07, 15 George Mitchell CAC 11.54, 17 Jago Leuzzi CAC 12.04, 22 John Pritchard NP 12.19, 30 Blake Williams NP 13.29, 32 Finley Thurman NP 13.50. Teams: 1 Cornwall AC ‘A’ 285 points, 7 Newquay & Par AC 219 points, 9 Cornwall AC ‘B’ 170 points. Under 11 Boys: 5 Fraser Abbiss NP 5.39, 14 Charlie Luke CAC 5.59, 36 Harry Brown NP 6.46.