Vernon and Steel lead by example at English XC relays
Steve Vernon (196) early on
Top XC exponent Steve Vernon blazed his Stockport Harriers team to gold in Saturday’s English Cross Country Relay Champs in Mansfield after running away with leg 1 for the Lancashire team, his 15.26 being the fastest leg of the day…
Women-of-the-moment Gemma Steel was also in dominant form anchoring her Charnwood club to gold after taking over leg 3 in 4th place on the demanding Berry Hill Park course.
Bryan Mills reports:
Senior Women (3 × 3km)
Leg 1 saw the 3 eventual medallists right up in the mix, with Elle Baker of Stockport handing over first in 10:04, the 2nd quickest lap of the day followed by Birchfield, Aldershot and Charnwood very much in contention.
Charnwood maintained 4th place for 2 legs but on the last lap Gemma Steel powered through the field to win with the fastest time of the day, 9:49. Aldershot rose from 3rd on leg 1 to take silver
with Birchfield in 3rd.
Teams
1. Charnwood AC 31:05
2. Aldershot Farnham & District 31:16
3. Birchfield Harriers 31:33
Fastest
Gemma Steel (Charnwood) 9:49
Elle Baker (Stockport) 10:04
Emma Pallant (AFD) 10:10
Senior Men (4 × 5km)
A heavy downpour before the men’s race turned the traditionally fast parkland course at Mansfield into a true test for cross country running. The gold medal was a done deal for Stockport after leg 1 with Steve Vernon clocking the fastest time of the day with a time of 15:26. The battle for the minor placings was a more closely fought race with the silver and bronze medals switching hands through the
race.
Vernon in top gear at Mansfield
City of Norwich ran strongly to be in 2nd after 3 legs, but a strong last leg from Simon Deakin saw Leeds City move up from 5th place to 2nd over the final 2 lap leg. Tipton were narrowly denied a bronze medal after Ryan McLeod had run superbly to lift the green and white hoops from 20th to 4th place, and Dan Beier gained another place moving up to 3rd after 3 legs.
Teams
1. Stockport Harriers
2. Leeds City AC
3. City of Norwich
Fastest
Steve Vernon (Stockport)15:26
Michael Mulhare (Belgrave) 15:31
Ashley Harrell (Norwich) 15:36
Full results now online at the ECCA site, with images by Bryan Mills via his Facebook page
