WARRINGTON Athletics Club hauled in the medals at the Cheshire Cross Country Championships held at Birchwood Forest Park on Saturday.
Four individual and five team gold medals capped a busy day of racing that featured more than 460 athletes from across the county.
Katie Lowery, Joe Buckley, Jack Marwood and Steve Watmough were the club's stand-out performers on a course that was firmer than in past years but featured steep hills and mud patches in places.
> WATCH: Youngsters tackle the Cheshire Cross Country Championships
> VIEW: 180 pictures in our gallery of Saturday’s event
Added to the prize list was five individual and one team silver, as well as two bronzes.
Warrington's under 11s boys won the team gold for the 18th time in 26 years, while the girls matched the feat for the 12th occasion in 22 years.
Results:
Senior men: 24 Tom Greaves 39.50; 28 Steve Watmough 40.31; 39 Dave Norman 41.55; 74 Daniel Newman 44.33; 78 Steve Burthem 44.46; 86 David Gill 45.11. Team: 7th 329 points.
Masters Men: 7 Steve Watmough, 1st over 55; 11 Dave Norman, 2nd over 55; 32 Daniel Newman, 8th over 50; 36 Steve Burthem, 4th over 55; 44 David Gill, 2nd over 60. Team: 5th, 86 points
> VIDEO: How the men’s race was won
Under 20s men: 7 Charlie Turnbull 32.05.
Under 20s women: 1 Katie Lowery 20.15; 4 Lauren Ferris 21.49; 5 Rachael McQuillan 23.33. Team: 1st 10 points.
Under 17s men: 1 Joe Buckley 16.49; 2 Jordan Jones 17.03; 7 Ben Webb 18.08; 9 Joe Roberts 18.30; 11 Isaaq Ataullah 18.40. Team: 1st 10 points.
> INTERVIEW: Buckley’s high hopes for big races ahead
Under 17s women: 5 Siobhan Gregory 24.29; 6 Madeleine Anderson 24.38.
Under 15s girls: 3 Orla Gregory 16.25; 4 Jess Connolly 17.00; 11 Eva Ferris 17.41. Team: 2nd 18 points.
> VIDEO: Under 15s girls reflect on team silver
Under 13s boys: 2 Erik Marshall 12.41; 11 Rory Gregory 14.06; 14 Ben Pucill 14.25; 25 Zak Chamun 15.15; 28 Max Ryder 15.30. Team: 3rd 27 points.
> VIEW: Marshall's thrilling sprint finish to seal silver
Under 13s girls: 5 Emily Entwistle 14.22; 6 Lucie Davies 14.38; 9 Molly Wormald 15.03; 10 Alice Nicholson 15.05; 15 Harriet Bell 15.58; 22 Amelia Smithers 16.48; 23 Evie Owen 16.50; 27 Corin Smith 16.59; 29 Rhiannon Wilkes 17.42. A Team: 1st 20 points; B Team: 6th 47 points; C Team: 8th 79 points.
Under 11s boys: 1 Jack Marwood 8.13; 2 Jacob Pryor 8.27; 4 Tyreece Swinton 8.44; 13 Spencer Astbury 9.10; 15 Ben Woods 9.15; 17 Matthew Seddon 9.24. A Team: 1st 7 points; B Team: 4th 45 points.
Under 11s girls: 4 Nia Wharton 9.12; 6 Eva Jha 9.20; 7 Imogen Wharton 9.21; 18 Cara Gregory 9.57; 21 Sinead Gregory 10.11; 24 Ellie Barker 10.26. A Team: 1st 17 points; B Team: 6th 63 points.
RACES IN MORE DETAIL:
> FOOTAGE: See the women’s race unfold
The day started with the under 11’s races and Warrington Athletics Club runners were prominent from the gun.
Jack Marwood took an early lead followed by team mates Jacob Pryor and Tyreece Swinton.
Jack and Jacob pulled clear to take the Gold and Silver medals while Tyreece completed the A team in 4th place to take the Team Shield with 7 points.
The B team of Spencer Astbury (13th), Ben Woods (15th) and Matthew Seddon (17th) finished 4th team and were 1st B team on 45 points.
Not to be outdone the girls A team packed in well with Nia Wharton (4th) Eva Jha (6th) and Nia’s twin Imogen Wharton (7th) for a total of 17 points to win the Team Shield.
The B team with identical twins Cara Gregory (18th) and Sinead Gregory (21st) along with Ellie Barker (24th) finished 6th on 63 points and were 2nd B team. Esme Heavey, having been in 3rd place, was unfortunately unable to finish when she became unwell.
Next up were the under 13s where Erik Marshall, having been in 3rd place for most of the race, produced an excellent finish over the final few hundred metres to take the Silver Medal and backed up by Rory Gregory (11th) and Ben Pucill (14th) they collected the team Bronze Medals on 27 points.
Zak Chamun and Max Ryder both ran well to finish in 25th and 28th places respectively.
In the girls, Emily Entwistle (5th), Lucie Davies (6th) and Molly Wormald (9th) ran excellently to take the team gold medals with 20 points.
The B team of Alice Nicholson (10th) who just failed to catch Molly plus Harriet Bell (15th) and Amelia Smithers (22nd) finished in 6th place on 47 points and were 2nd B team, while the C team of Evie Owen (23rd), Corin Smith (27th) and Rhiannon Wilkes (29th) finish in 8th place on 79 points and were 1st C team.
In the under 15s girls, Orla Gregory had an excellent run to win the bronze medal and led the team completed by Jess Connolly (4th) and Eva Ferris (11th) to the team Silver Medals on 18 points. Maisie Bell and Jasmine Jones did not finish.
In the under 17s, Joe Buckley was an excellent winner of the Gold Medal in the men’s race and was followed home by Jordan Jones for the Silver Medal.
The team was completed by Ben Webb, recently transferred from Halton and Frodsham and only cleared to run in the team from New Years Day, in 7th place for a total of 10 points.
Joe Roberts had an excellent run to finish in 9th place and a below par Isaaq Ataullah finished in 11th place.
In the girls Siobhan Gregory and Madeleine Anderson had a race-long battle to finish in 5th and 6th places.
In the under 20s women’s race there was a family battle for the Gold and Silver Medals as Katie Lowery fought off her young sister Emily (running for Vale Royal) to run out the winner.
Katie was backed up by Lauren Ferris (4th) and Rachael McQuillan (5th) to take the team Gold Medal with 10 points.
> INTERVIEW: Lowery sisters in the medals for rival clubs
In the men’s race Charlie Turnbull fought hard all the way to finish in 7th place while Jack Wadsworth did not finish.
The day was completed by the senior men’s race where Tom Greaves ran excellently to finish in 24th place to lead the team in to 7th place.
The team was completed by Steve Watmough (28th) 1st over 55, Dave Norman (39th) 2nd over 55, Daniel Newman (74th) 8th over 50, Steve Burthem (78th) 4th over 55 and David Gill (86th) 2nd over 60 for a team total of 329 points.
In the Masters team race, Steve Watmough, Dave Norman, Daniel Newman and Steve Burthem finished in 5th place on 86 points.
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