12 Dec 2009	NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE - LEEK
	The usual tough hilly course, well organised and marshalled by Staffordshire Moorlands AC at Westwood High School, saw some excellent final league race performances from Stoke AC athletes, and a number of individuals and teams took overall North Staffordshire league medals. In the first race of the day, the U11 Girls Georgia Murphy, Caitlan Dimick and Laura Cogan all ran strongly to maintain their team's 5th place overall, with Georgia and Laura bravely completing all 4 races. Next up, the U11 boys, saw Edward Smith cap an excellent first season in the sport with 9th on this occasion, and 7th overall. Young Ethan Wemyss continued his steady improvement with 22nd and he too completed all 4 races. Unfortunately illness prevented a full team turn-out in this age-group. The U13 girls race saw an outstanding performance from the Stoke girls team as they took the League title in style, led home by Tasha Stone with a brilliant 3rd place in this race. Close behind were Megan Cogan and Jessica Heath also with great runs. Consistently superb performances from Megan across all 4 races saw her take a superb 2nd place overall in the league too. Sarah Griffiths ran well in her first year in this age-group and also finished a great 4th overall. Newcomers Catherine Mellor, Megan Smith, Oliverier Barnett, Isobel Manders and Charmaine Chauncy showed that they have plenty of potential for the future.  The U13 boys were also effected by illness, but Lyndon Evans put in an appearance on home ground and performed well in a tough field as he finished 5th on the day. However pride of place in this age-group for Stoke must go to Robroy Gregory and George Steventon who yet again completed all four races and put in 110% effort each time I saw them run. In the long term these gutsy guys may out run all their more speedy club-mates! In the U15 girls age-group the improving Jessica Griffiths, Jade Heath and Chloe Heath finished 7th, 8th and 9th respectively and Jessica was very unlucky to miss out on an league individual bronze medal by one point after a consistently good season. Like the U13 boys our U15 involvement in this league has been limited this year by participation in the UKA Challenge series. However, here Kris Washington showed his form is rapidly returning as he led a trio of Stoke lads home in 6th place. Close behind Kris, Ashley Wyatt and Kieren Lee had good runs too and they laid the foundation for a first team place on the day to show what might have been. Mike Harding had been a bit out of sorts in the first 3 U17 men's races this season, but at Leek showed his true potential with a storming run to take a comprehensive victory. Trailing Cannock's Phil Pugh, the winner of the 3 previous races by 30m at halfway, Harding really turned on the after-burner in the 2nd half. Pretty close behind in 4th place the improving Joe Broome also ran his best race of the season after a steady start, and like Harding looks good for the longer distances in the U20s next year. First year U17 Alex Brecker ran strongly for 6th and we know he has the talent to get closer to the individual title next year if he wants it enough. 15th placer George Mellor did brilliantly to complete all 4 tough races after only a few months in the sport and I would not be surprised if a some further rapid improvement comes in the New Year. Most of his competitors have already been running for 3-4 years, so to finish 10th overall in the League in your first season is an excellent performance. Stoke AC's senior men came into this race with an improved team result in the Birmingham league under their belts, but knew that rivals Staffordshire Moorlands AC would have to just about miss the race completely for us to take the team title. As it happened they turned out one of their better teams. We in turn proved ourselves much stronger than any other team in the league, so congratulations to Moorlands - team rivalry helps to make the league competitive and exciting!  Our leading man Seb Duffy ran strongly throughout and did enough with a fourth place finish to guarantee himself the League title for the second year in a row! Getting closer to Seb with each race is the returning Tom Gayle who glided around to sixth and who will hopefully keep the momentum going into the New Year. After a brilliant second place in the corresponding race last year, Brian Cole was out of sorts this time, suffering from a cold, but he still put in a maximum effort to deliver for the team in eighth. In ninth place Steve Bazell showed that he is definitely on the up with a great run. Perhaps benefiting from a more conservative start than in the past Steve looks the most comfortable of us all in the photos, but we know that he is a fearsome competitor who does not give an inch when you try to pass.  With a bit of a cold and after a fall at the bottom of the hill on the first lap I faded after a mile and faced a race long battle with team-mates Andy Allen and U20 Liam Hendricken as we stayed within 10 metres of each other for close on twenty minutes of running. It was nip and tuck all the way, with Liam strongest uphill, Andy fastest on the flat, and with me hanging on trying to get some breath in. I am sure it won't be long before Andy gets in front of me again - he nearly always has in the past! But on the final hill I managed to make a break for it and finish 25th, whilst close behind Liam and Andy had their own scrap that saw them finish 27th and 29th respectively for an excellent team score of 79 points. Seventh man home Dave Lee never really got into this race after a knee injury early on, but we certainly won't write him off because we know that he has loads of potential to tap into yet, and might just be the best of us all one day! Liam Hendricken also finished second overall in the U20 men's category with a very impressive first season in the senior ranks. This improvement, after finishing well down in the U17 category last year, shows that Liam has considerable natural talent but is also a lesson for all young men who stay in the sport, that with a bit of consistent training and application the older men are not so hard to beat after all...  Also many thanks to Steve Shubotham and George Cooper for team management and race side support! John Danahay Full results on the North Staffs Cross Country League Website: www.nsccl.co.uk Great photos courtesy of Brian Dale and Mick Hall And a senior men's race video from Seb's girlfriend Maria, who also took some photos - see below U11 Girls Team 5th - 58 points 17. Georgia Murphy 20. Caitlan Dimick 21. Laura Cogan U11 Girls - League Overall - Team 5th 13. Georgia Murphy 14. Laura Cogan U13 Girls - Team 1st - 12 points  3. Tasha Stone  4. Megan Cogan 5. Jessica Heath 9. Sarah Griffiths 23. Catherine Mellor 24. Megan Smith 25. Olivier Barnett 32. Isobel Manders 34. Charmaine Chauncy U13 Girls - League Overall - Team 1st 2. Megan Cogan 4. Sarah Griffiths U15 Girls - Team 3rd - 24 points 7. Jessica Griffiths 8. Jade Heath 9. Chloe Heath U15 Girls - League Overall 4. Jessica Griffiths U11 Boys  9. Edward Smith 22. Ethan Wemyss U11 Boys - League Overall 7. Edward Smith 17. Ethan Wemyss U13 - Boys - Team 3rd - 41 points 5. Lyndon Evans 19. Robroy Gregory 22. George Steventon U13 Boys - League Overall 7. Robroy Gregory 11. George Steventon U15 Boys - Team 1st - 21 points 6. Kris Washington 7. Ashley Wyatt 8. Kieran Lee U17 Men - Team 1st - 11 Points 1. Michael Harding 4. Joe Broome 6. Alex Brecker 15. George Mellor U17 Men - League Overall - Team 1st 2. Michael Harding 4. Joe Broome 10. George Mellor Jun, Sen & Vet Men - Team 2nd - 79 pts  4. Seb Duffy 6. Tom Gayle 8. Brian Cole 9. Steve Bazell 25. John Danahay M45 27. Liam Hendricken U20 29. Andy Allen M40 52. Dave Lee Senior Men - League Overall - Team 2nd 1. Seb Duffy 3. Brian Cole 4. Steve Bazell 9. John Danahay 13. Liam Hendricken U20 Men 2. Liam Hendricken M45 Men 2. John Danahay 7.54 8.15 8.23 9.51 9.57 10.07 10.38 12.05 12.14 12.27 13.03 14.13 13.22 13.44 14.47 10.24 11.27 11.28 14.14 14.33 17.23 17.31 17.48 17.55 18.49 19.34 23.14 30.31 31.17 31.27 32.05 33.36 33.48 33.52 35.46