Vale Royal Athletics Club dominate medals table at county cross country championships (From Northwich Guardian)

Vale Royal Athletics Club dominate medals table at county cross country championships

9:09am Tuesday 16th February 2010 in

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RUNNERS from Vale Royal Athletics Club have reminded their rivals why they are the county’s number one.

The Knights Grange-based outfit claimed more than two dozen individual and team medals at Saturday’s Cheshire Cross Country Championships.

“I think it might be another record breaker,” said coach Shaun McGrath.

“Once more we proved we have so much strength in depth with the medals shared between boys and girls across the age groups.”

Megan Huxley is perhaps their star turn, extending her remarkable unbeaten record into a fourth year after winning the U17s girls race.

She cruised to victory, finishing more than a minute before clubmate Hannah Paver, as Vale Royal AC defended their team title in the same age class.

There were individual success in the juniors races too for Rebecca Craigie (U20s women), Zack Bamber (U15s boys) and Matthew Sheen (U13s boys).

Three top six finishers helped the U20s men take the team title, while the U15s girls and U13s boys repeated their victories from a year ago.

“I am so pleased with the club’s results,” said chairman Alan Parsons.

“I never cease to be amazed by our coaches’ ability to harnessed raw ability and shaped it into pure seeds of success.”

He had extra reason to be cheerful too as daughter Jess and son Will were gold medal winners in the U13s girls and U11s boys races respectively.

There were smiles too among Vale Royal’s seniors at Nantwich’s Reaseheath College.

The men, including counters Chris Perry – who finished third overall - Stu Doyle, James Griffiths, Gavin Tomlinson, Tom Heaward and Graham Miles, beat rivals Wilmslow RC in a tightly-fought contest to retain their team title.

Meanwhile the ladies secured team silvers in both the seniors and veteran categories, while Helen Smith (LV40) and Maggie Fenn (LV35) and Carole Williams (LV55) each won individual medals.

Colin Rathbone, now 66, was the club’s oldest winner in the veteran men’s O65s race.