ON SUNDAY (Oct 23), the second edition of the Welsh Cross Country Relay Championships took place at the Monmouthshire Showground, following on from the success of its first meeting in 2015 and this year, the Harriers were able to field six teams.
The top result of the day came from the Carmarthen Harriers under 13 boys, who led from start to finish to become Welsh champions at the national relays in Monmouthshire.
Liam Edwards (Bro Myrddin) led the way in the fastest leg of the day, opening up an 80 metre gap from a Cardiff athlete. Jac Chapman (Dyffryn Amman) then extended the lead in a fine second leg.
For the penultimate leg, Dafydd Jones ran a strong race first consolidating the lead and then pulled away still further handing over to Frank Morgan, who had an unexpectedly comfortable last leg he led the team home in 19.29 a full 43 seconds ahead of their nearest rivals. Ioan Cressey-Rodgers and Dafydd Thomas were amongst the B scorers.
This excellent result followed on from some very good under 11 performances which kicked off a full day of racing; in particular, Ifan Bowen (Y Dderwen), who comfortably won the boys race, and Bessie Hill, who was 12th overall.
They were helped by the remainder of the athletes: Steffan Davies, Huw Cressey-Rodgers, Jake Lyncock, Milly John and Keira Carmody. The boys’ positions gave them bronze team medals while the girls were just behind in fifth overall.
In the older age groups, the under 15 and under 17 girls narrowly missed out on the medals with strong fourth places finishes overall. Scoring for the under 15s were Deryn Cressey- Rodgers, Siwan Jones-Evans, Eva Edwards, Maddie Morgan, Molly Cressey-Rodgers and Beca Roberts, while, in the under 17’s, Taylor McArthur, Non Morgan and Grace Page competed in the race which saw a small field of four teams.
The squad was slightly depleted for the relays due to the half term holidays; however, the under 13 girls finished a good sixth, thanks to Jessica Jones, Gwennan Wright, Ellie Loweth and Clara James, with a number of the girls making their debut. Running the first leg in the under 17s men was Morgan Llywelyn.
In all, 27 athletes made the long trip to East Wales and enjoyed an excellent day of cross country on a demanding course in a top quality event featuring clubs from across Wales.
They will be looking to continue this good form at the next Gwent League Cross Country League fixture for under 11s to senior athletes, which takes place at Brecon’s Penlan Arena High School on November 12.
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