9 December 2007	NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE - LEEK
	Strong winds and driving rain greeted competitors in the final North Staffs Cross Country League race of the season. In combination with the usual tough Westwood course this made for really difficult conditions, particularly for the youngest competitors.  However, 'it is the same for everyone' they say, and Stoke AC athletes rose to the occasion yet again with 5 individual and 5 team victories on the day, the most for any one club. Yet again we had an excellent junior turn-out and this is a testament to not only to the athletes and coaches commitment, but also their parents and grandparents. I mentioned in my report from the 3rd race at Stafford that Sarah Griffiths confidence appeared to be increasing with each race, and this was fully apparent in this final race. Sarah dominated through-out and ran strongly to a very well deserved win, remaining unbeaten in the league this season. Jessica Heath also ran a superb final race to finish second on this occasion, and gain the bronze medal overall. In 6th place Lydia Beech has improved massively this season, and backed up by Lydia Whiston, Mirade Nolan, Beth Beech and Louise Bodan the U11 girls captured the first League title of the day for the club as well. Macauley Snutch has been Mr Consistent in the U11 boys this season. But this time Macauley had to play second fiddle to a brilliant run by new recruit Callum Heath. Macauley knew the overall title was his though, and made sure with a carefully judged 2nd place. Close behind Lindon Evans returned after illness with a great 3rd place for a Stoke 123. Macauley Bloor improved massively from the previous fixture to finish 8th, whilst Daniel Bloor, Robbie Gregory and Jake Holdcroft also improved to help the team win the club's second team title of the afternoon.  A special mention must go to Allan Collis who dislocated his knee whilst very highly placed in the U11 race and had to be eventually taken to the North Staffs A&E by ambulance. The good news is that Allan is feeling a bit better now, although he is now in plaster, and I am sure that everyone at Stoke AC would like to wish this really brave lad a speedy recovery. The U13 girls team has been relatively light in numbers this year but Grace Mahoney has run consistently through-out the season and her strong final race effort helped her and her improving team mates Jade Heath and Jessica Griffiths to a brilliant League bronze. Like Sarah Griffiths, U13 boy Dave Sheldon has been unbeaten in the North Staffs League this season, and on the really tough hills Dave's seemingly limitless endurance soon told on his way to an emphatic fourth straight win. In fourth place this time, Kris Washington's reward for a much more consistent season this year was an excellent bronze for the overall individual. Connor Bradbury showed that he has fully recovered from his problems at Stafford Common to record his best cross country result of the season. Connor is still an U13 next season so definitely has even higher finishes to look forward to next year. Brad Sentence and Greg Smalley (who is also an U13 next year) had consistent runs well inside the top 10 and new recruits Corey Blanch and Ashley Wyatt are coming on well too. Mark Northcott and Callum Griffiths found the course and conditions a bit tougher but certainly put in their best efforts. Like the U11s the U13 boys totally dominated the team standings. The U15 girls race saw a relatively rare appearance by Kate Holt, probably the UK's top U15 girl this winter, and Kate duly romped home 2 minutes ahead of the next competitor. Likewise in the U17 women Heather Holt also put in a surprise appearance, but on this occasion found the opposition a little tougher as she finished a strong 3rd. The U15 boys individual standings this year have been dominated by two Stoke athletes who have each 'taken turns' to win races. In this final race it was finally Nathan Ainsworth who scored the biggest victory margin of the season as he charged away from Tom Guy in the later stages. Nathan is another new recruit this season and cross country seems to suit him particularly well. Having said that Tom is still an U15 next season! Mike Harding recovered well from recent illness to continue his consistent running this season, and Joe Broome also improved further with a top 5 spot. Luke Kinch is another first year U15 and he ran superbly to achieve by far his best finish of the year so far in 6th. Rob Wilson and Alex Brecker did not exactly look at home on this type of course course, but Alex did particularly well to get round without spikes, and both coped with good humour too! This was yet another of George Cooper's winning boys squads as they dominated the team standings. This season Stoke AC's U17 men have been led superbly by Josh Kinch who really has improved dramatically since last year. Josh ran another great race for a top 3 finish yet again and there was no bigger smile on a winner of an individual title in this league. Dave Clarke has not yet shown the form this winter which took him to a double track victory in the YAL final in the summer, but we know it is in there somewhere and when it comes out anything is possible. However Dave still showed the strength and consistency to gain the 3rd individual overall in the league. Rob Cook is possibly the fastest of the Stoke lads over a shorter distance, but he did really well to cope with the hills on this occasion for his 8th place. Overall this team also dominated the team standings this year. Stoke's showing in the senior women's race this year has actually been our best for a little while, as Clare Booker put in another gutsy run for 11th and Leslie Degg used her massive experience to improve 8 places on her Stafford run a month ago. Going into this race the Stoke men knew that they needed to beat a resurgent Staffs Moorlands by 24 points to win their 5th straight North Staffs title. Last year we could have done it, but Staffs Moorlands should be congratulated on building a much stronger squad this year (and starting to turn it out at last), and we were never really in with a shout. In fact it was only due to another timely run by Adrian Thiemicke that we avoided being automatically relegated as we finished with only 6 competitors for a fourth time this season. In the circumstances 2nd overall was a good result, but we know we have to change our approach to recruitment (and retention) to continue being competitive as a club in this category. Having said that, our current athletes are all great competitors. Royal Marine Brian Cole showed that he is well on the way back with a typical carve-up through the field to finish a strong 7th. Not far behind, Andy Allen remains a superb example for younger cross country runners to follow as he completely dominated the over 40 category, and Steve Bazell as predicted made the top 10 on this tough course. Gavin Walters however threw up the biggest surprise of the day as he finished an amazing 12th, just one week after he finished 125th in the Birmingham League - how does he do that? Ian Milner was our next finisher as he ran a very well paced race (for once!) to finish 35th. Finally the aforementioned Adrian Thiemicke ran an outstanding race for 113th overall to complete the team and still get second team on the day as well. And, although we can claim we were missing the likes of Tom Gayle, Pete Benyon, Carl Shubotham, Danny Barker and Mark Kinch, Staffs Moorlands did not turn out their best squad either, so we really need to look for a major improvement in our depth to regain the title next year! Senior men's photos taken by me - apologies for the quality! Andy Allen Steve Bazell Gavin Walters Brian Cole Ian Milner Adrian Thiemicke John Danahay Full results on the North Staffs Cross Country League Website: www.nsccl.co.uk U11 Girls Team 1st - 9 pts,  1. Sarah Griffiths 2. Jessica Heath 6. Lydia Beech 11. Lydia Whiston 13. Mirade Nolan 15. Beth Beech 18. Louise Bodan U13 Girls - Team 2nd - 35 points 7. Grace Mahoney 11. Jade Heath 17. Jessica Griffiths U15 Girls  1. Kate Holt U17 Women 3. Heather Holt Senior Woman 11. Clare Booker 32. Leslie Degg (L50) U11 Boys - Team 1st - 6pts  1. Callum Heath 2. Macauley Snutch 3. Lindon Evans 8. Macauley Bloor 13. Daniel Bloor 15. Robbie Gregory 18. Jake Holdcroft U13 Boys - Team 1st - 10 pts  1. David Sheldon 4. Kris Washington 5. Connor Bradbury 7. Bradley Sentence 8. Greg Smalley 10. Corey Blanch 11. Ashley Wyatt 18. Mark Northcott 24. Callum Griffiths U15 Boys - Team 1st - 8 pts 1. Nathan Ainsworth 3. Tom Guy 4. Mike Harding 5. Joe Broome 6. Luke Kinch 13. Rob Wilson 15. Alex Brecker U17 Men - Team 1st - 16 pts 3. Josh Kinch 5. Dave Clarke 8. Rob Cook Senior Men - Team 2nd - 186 pts  7. Brian Cole 9. Andy Allen (M40) 10. Steve Bazell 12. Gavin Walters 35. Ian Milner 113. Adrian Thiemicke (M40) Overall Team 1st - 46pts 12.45 - 1st U11 overall 13.04 - 3rd U11 overall 13.54 14.24 14.47 15.11 16.04 Overall Team 3rd - 135pts 14.56 15.46 18.44 18.19 21.30 25.22 28.04 Overall Team 1st - 62pts 13.08 13.11 - 1st U11 overall 13.19 14.52 15.53 16.09 17.27 Overall Team 1st - 32pts 17.55 - 1st U13 overall 19.35 - 3rd U13 overall 20.13 20.20 20.41 20.56 21.06 22.04 24.57 Overall Team 1st - 30pts 19.02 - 1st U15 overall 19.58 - 2nd U15 overall 20.04 20.22 21.02 22.28 23.06 Overall Team 1st - 60pts 21.20 - 1st U17 overall 22.12 - 3rd U17 overall 23.35 Overall Team 2nd - 541 pts 30.53 31.05 - 1st M40 overall 31.42 32.11 34.14 41.07