THERE WAS a fantastic turn out for the 112th Welsh Cross Country Championships at Swansea’s Singleton Park on Saturday, and the new route in this beautiful setting made for a tough but good run for the athletes, with 46 Harriers members taking part with several making their debuts for the club.
The primary schools races kicked things off early in the morning where 200 runners took part. There was a bronze medal for the year 6 boys team, thanks to Frank Morgan (4th) Ioan Cressey-Rodgers (6th) and Finlay Hayes (24th).
Milly John, Emma Brazier and Jessica Lee finishing in 7th, 19th and 20th, which put the girls in 4th position. In the other races, Caryl-Haf Lloyd was 21st in the year 6 girls whilst Steffan Davies was 16th and Owain-Harri Davies was 23rd in the year 5 boys’ race.
The best team performance of the day from Carmarthen came in the first Welsh Championships race – Under 13 boys where there were 10 team members involved – more than any other Welsh club. With the everreliable runner Iwan Glynn missing this week through injury the team stepped up.
The A team of Deian Morgan (12th) Liam Edwards (13th) Jac Chapman (19th) and Gwion Owen (25th) secured a fantastic silver position behind Cardiff. They were followed in well by Bedwyr Thomas (27th) Steffan Turner (28th) Dafydd Jones (34th) and Morgan Batten (35th). Sion Evans in 44th and Leon Champion in 51st scored for the C team.
Daisy Thompson and Phoebe Davis continued their fantastic form across all competitions by finishing in 5th and 7th in the under 13 girls against athletes a year older. The team just missed out on a podium position as they finished 4th with the remainder being Maddie Morgan (36th) Clara James (37th) Gwawr Davies (44th) and Tanwen Moon (45th).
Ahead of the championships, Carmarthen’s under 15 boys would have started as one of the favourites for the title but unfortunately several of the top runners dealt a massive blow as they were forced to be out of action due to injuries.
Tomos Rees led the way in 15th and followed in by Gareth Thompson (29th) Callum Lovatt (35th) William Thompson (44th) and Caspar Farquhar (48th) for a decent finishing, with the boys coming in in 7th.
The under 15 girls and under 17/20 women had incomplete teams however there were strong runs from those who started. Non Morgan, Eva Edwards and Cerys Davies were 23rd, 36th and 37th whilst Ellie Kiff and Amber Howell were both 8th in their respective U17/20 age groups.
The under 17 and 20 boys both raced separately and both finished on a high note. Another podium place for Carmarthen came from the 4 under 20 men – who were looking to impress as selection for the Home Countries cross country international match in Scotland was made from this. Ashraf Liles in 6th led the team and just behind were Ryan Jenkins (8th) and Sion Lewis (12th). Dwayne Griffiths in 16th secured the team medals.
Identical to the U13G, the under 17 boys just missed out on team medals in the dreaded 4th, 2 points behind 3rd and the finishers were Morgan Llywelyn (14th) Thomas Jones (15th) Cellan Williams (22nd) and Ioan Thomas (28th).
In the senior age groups, there was a 10th position for Huw Davies in the male 45 category, and Gordon Orme was another clear and easy champion for the male 70 category.
Local Carmarthenshire runner, Dewi Griffiths was the clear victor in the senior men’s race, taking his fifth title and equalling Steve Jones’ achievement of five wins on the trot.
At Bute Park in Cardiff on the weekend it was the St David’s 1K, 5K and 10K Fun Races. Sharon Leech in the 10K was 2nd in her vet age group in 0.39.56 while in the 5K; Trystan Leech crossed the line 2nd youth in 0.19.11.
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