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In the latest fixture at Coventry, City of Stoke senior men's squad
took another firm step towards survival in Division One of the Birmingham
Cross Country league.
Led home by another strong performance
from the continuously improving Seb Duffy in 28th place, the team finished
10th out of 16 teams on the day and remain in 11th place overall, and 200
points clear of the relegation battle, with just one race to go.
Close behind Duffy in 35th was a resurgent Tom Gayle, now recovering
rapidly from last summer's injury problems and looking good for further
improvement over the coming months.
Ultra Runner Brian Cole was our next counter in 73rd despite
having to save something for the Royal Marines Cross Country championships
next Wednesday.
Stoke stalwart John Danahay showed that a resumption of regular training
is starting to pay dividends with a top 100 finish, just a stride ahead of
5th counter Steve Bazell, who although not 100% because of a virus over
Christmas, finished strongly.
6th counter, youngster Liam Hendricken,
was another who found the going tough after a virus, but his 143rd place
kept the team in the top 10. Close behind Hendricken, Stoke's final
counter on this occasion was Dave Lee who shrugged off some recent
injury worries to battle with Hendricken all the way round.
Although this was another great team effort from the smallest squad in
the Division, we would definitely appreciate some additional recruits to improve
the club's results at this level. If you enjoy cross country,
why not join us and run in the Country's premier cross country league next
winter?
Finally, yet again our support was very vocal and mobile, with
Richard Barrington, Adrian Thiemicke, Kev Hendricken, and Seb's girlfriend
Maria making themselves heard above the crowd in lots of different places
around the course. Your shouts were much appreciated (especially by me,
when it got near the end of the race and I knew Steve was about
to catch me!).
John Danahay
Full
results and League positions
Photos
from Mick Hall
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