Match 1 – 20/10/2018 – Heaton Park, Manchester
The first match of the South East Lancs League took place at sunny Heaton Park, with good conditions for the large contingent of ECH athletes taking part. It was the first race of the cross country season for the under 11’s and they didn’t disappoint with both the boys and girls winning the team events. Alfie Manser finished a fantastic 3rd place with Alfie Bundy 5th and Bobby Burton just behind in 6th making up the team. Jessica Stafford also finished a brilliant 3rd place with good support from Anna Rooke 6th and Ava Royle 8th. The under 13 girls finished a solid 4th team with good performances from Maddie Ellor 21st, Ellen Lees-Hill 22nd and Leigha Manser 26th. The under 15 girls also performed well finishing 3rd team with a great 5th place from Jessica Willock followed up by Aliesha Smith and Macy Singleton making up the team in 10th and 16th respectively. The under 17 girls team won the team event with excellent performances from Megan Lewis winning the race, Abby O’Neill 2nd and Freya Handley 5th.
There was more success in the senior races with both the Ladies and Men winning the team events! Hayley Simpson had a great race to come home in 3rd place, with Bethany McManus 5th and Michelle Vaughan 11th (1st Vet 45) making up the team. Joe Hudak was first home for the men in a superb 3rd place and good performances from Haile Abraham 5th (1st under 20), Gavin Browne 7th and George Lewis 15th. The men also won both the vet 40 (Tim Greenald 4th, Michael Stansfield 7th and Darren Smith 10th Vet) and vet 50 (Ian Fraser 3rd, Chris Swire 10th and Saul Gallagher 24th vet) team categories.
Well done to all athletes who took part, there are some excellent pictures on our Facebook page especially of the juniors. See below photo montage courtesy of Darkstar Photos, please visit their website for even more photos from the day http://www.darkstarphotos.com/
Match 2 – 15/12/2018 – Tandle Hill, Oldham
The second match of the series took place at a very cold, windy and rainy Tandle Hill in really testing conditions for all athletes. Well done to all who braved the weather, there were some excellent performances on the day. A massive 17 ECH athletes took part in the under 11 boys race and they won the team event with Bobby Burton 2nd, Oliver Bentley 3rd and Alfie Manser 4th. The under 11 girls team finished 2nd team with good performances from Jessica Stafford 2nd, Anna Rooke 6th and Ava Royle 7th. Luke Carrington had a fantastic run to win the under 13 boys race and teammates James Harney and Edward Rankin finished 6th and 10th respectively to win the team event. The under 13 girls team finished a creditable 3rd place with May Mannion 5th, Imogen Gush 7th and Maria Rooke 13th. The under 15 girls also finished 3rd team with solid runs from Jessica Willock 9th, Aliesha Smith 11th and Abbie Hirst 15th. Megan Lewis had another impressive run to win the under 17 ladies race by 25 seconds.
The senior women’s team won both the over 18 and vet 35 categories. Hayley Simpson was first home for ECH with an excellent 2nd place finish, closely followed by Bethany McManus in 3rd place and Michelle Vaughan (2nd vet 45) in 16th place making up the team. Rachell Fawcett 18th (2nd vet 35) and Nicola Richards 39th made up the over 35 team. The senior men also won the team event with fantastic performances from Joe Hudak winning the race and George Lewis (1st under 20) 15 seconds behind in 2nd place. Gavin Browne came home in 6th with Haile Abraham 15th (2nd under 20) made up the team. Tim Greenald ran well to finish 2nd in the vet 45 category on the day.
See below picture of Joe Hudak (left) and George Lewis (right) in the senior men’s race. There are more photo’s on our Facebook page.
Match 3 – 19/01/2019 – Heaton Park, Manchester
The third race of the series took place at the familiar Heaton Park, again with a good turnout and performances from ECH athletes in muddier, wetter conditions than last week. The under 11 boys team finished a solid 3rd place with Alfie Manser 5th, Bobby Burton 10th and Oliver Bentley 11th all having great runs. Emily Bowker had another fantastic run in the under 11 girls race winning by over 45 seconds, with Jessica Stafford 9th and Meadow Wright in 10th which was good enough for 2nd in the team event. The under 13 girls finished 3rd team with good performances from Matilda Byrnes 10th, Maria Rooke 11th and Imogen Gush 13th making up the team. The under 15 girls also finished 3rd team with Aliesha Smith having a strong run coming home in 6th, followed by Macy Singleton 16th and Abbie Hirst 17th. Megan Lewis had a brilliant run to win the under 17 ladies race by over 20 seconds and Abbie Hirst finished a solid 4th place.
The senior women performed brilliantly to win the team event with Hayley Simpson having a great run to come back in 3rd place, with Bethany McManus 6th and Lily McGuinness 9th (1st under 20) making up the team. The senior men came 2nd in the team event with Joe Hudak having another consistent run to finish a superb 2nd. Tim Greenald 19th (3rd Vet 45), Liam Browne 23rd Michael Stanfield 33rd made up the team. Dave Salmon ran well to finish 3rd vet 70.
A huge thank you has to go to all those who have helped set up the course today and Marshall! Including Gary Matthews, Martin Lewis, Martin McGann, Dennis Thomas, Simon Grundy, Phil Jacques, John Bowker, Shirley Aldridge, Dave Steward, Lynne Alford, Lisa Kennedy, Lucy and anyone who I may have missed (many apologies if I have missed any names)!
The last race of the series takes place at a new venue – Yarrow Valley Park in Chorley on the 16th February.
Below photo of our juniors – more photos can be found on our Facebook Page.
Thanks to Darkstar photos for the below collage, more photos are available on their website:
http://www.darkstarphotos.com/
>Full Results<
>Series to Date<
Match 4 – 16/02/2019 – Yarrow Valley Park, Chorley
The final match of the series took place at a new venue at Yarrow Valley Park in Chorley on a mainly flat, dry and fast course in rather nice sunny conditions! Another excellent turnout from ECH athletes especially in the younger age groups. Both the under 11 boys and under 11 girls won the team events with Alfie Bundy 2nd, Alfie Manser 3rd and Oliver Bentley 7th for the boys and Jessica Stafford 5th, Ava Royle 7th and Isla Herring 8th in the girls race all having fantastic runs. The under 13 boys and under 13 girls teams both finished in 2nd place with James Harney running brilliantly to win the boys race by 10 seconds, followed home by Cole Wright 11th and Zach Conboy 18th. The girls packed well with May Mannion 7th, Maria Rooke 9th and Alice Cunningham 10th making up the team. The under 15 girls team also finished 2nd with much improved Aliesha Smith finishing a solid 3rd place with Jessica Willock 7th and Macy Singleton 15th making up the team. Megan Lewis had another consistent run to win the under 17 ladies race by nearly 20 seconds and teammate Abby O’Neil finished a strong 5th.
The senior ladies team performed well to win the team event, with in form Hayley Simpson first home in 2nd place, followed by Bethany McManus 6th and Michelle Vaughan 11th (2nd vet 45). The senior men also won the team event with Joe Hudak having a great run to win the race pulling away on the final lap to win by over 10 seconds. George Lewis finished a solid 5th (1st under 20), Tim Greenald 9th (1st vet 45) and Liam Browne 15th made up the team.
Well done to all those athletes who managed to complete the series by completing 3 out of the 4 races this season. Special mentions to Alfie Manser (3rd under 11 boy), Jessica Stafford (Joint 3rd under 11 girl), Megan Lewis (1st under 17 lady), Hayley Simpson (2nd senior lady), Michelle Vaughan (2nd vet 45), George Lewis (1st under 20), Joe Hudak (1st senior man), Michael Stansfield (2nd vet 40), Darren Smith (3rd vet 40) and Tim Greenald (1st vet 45)
Photo below of our juniors athletes enjoying the day. More available on our Facebook Page.
