Holmfirth Harriers Under 17s women are the Yorkshire Cross Country champions.
Olivia Sykes, Erica Byram and Lucy Byram all featured near the front of the race, with Lucy Byram taking an early lead with Scarborough ACs Emma Clapton hot on her heels.
As the race progressed at Lightwater Valley near Ripon, the competitors fought hard to maintain a top eight placing to ensure qualification for the Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships in Birmingham on March 7th.
But working together in the windy conditions, Sykes, Lucy and Erica Byram crossed the line in sixth, seventh and eighth respectively to take home team gold.
The u15 girls finished tantalisingly close to the medals with a fourth placed finish thanks to the determination of Libby Shepherd, Genevieve Durrans and Annie Stone.
In the women’s race the Harriers team was weakened due to injury, but they faired well over the 6.4km race with team captain Helen Berry finishing in eighth place with a time of 24:25 to secure her place in the Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships, just over a minute behind race winner Alexandra Bell of Pudsey and Bramley (23:02).
Helen Fines came through in 22nd place in a time of 25:32, with youngsters Lucy Farquhar (27:01) and Jordan Mullinder (27:33) coming home in 43rd and 53rd respectively. The women’s quartet finished third overall behind South Yorkshire Clubs Rotherham and Hallamshire.
The women’s B team came home in 15th with Julia Johnson the highest placed finisher in 70th (28:21), followed by Ruby Sykes in 78th (29:02) and Zoe Storr in 94th (30:25). Jo Bailey-Taylor rounded of the quartet in 125th (33:25) in a tough field of competitors.
In the men’s senior’s race Dave Watson led the way for the Harriers with a superb 10th place over the 10k course in a time of 37:40. Richard Anderson finished in a respectable 22nd (39:08), Scott Smith-Harrison’s solid run saw him finish 41st (40:16), while Jonny Mclean followed in 71st (42:11). Dan Shaw also ran well in 84th spot (43:00) and making up the team was Gareth Humphries who came home in 139th (46:42). Together they earned themselves sixth spot in the men’s team event.
Other Holmfirth results were; 141st John Ewart (46.51), 155th Robert Hinchliffe-Smith (47.46), 187th Rob Kersey (50.53) & 220th Jason Haigh (57.53). The race was won by Jonathan Thewlis of Notts AC in 35:44, with Leeds City AC winning the team event convincingly.
U13 boys: 30 Callum Durrans, 36 Ned Johnson, 46 Samuel Bedingfield, 61 Archie Hall.
U13 Girls: 14 Sunnivah Waterman, 60 Sophie Kettlewell, 63 Alice Shelbourne.
U15 boys: 18 Harry Shelbourne, 27 Will Johnson, 40 Nicky Farquhar.
U15 Girls: 18 Libby Shepherd, 25 Genevieve Durrans, 29 Annie Stone, 31 Amy Kettlewell, 37 Ellie Sunman.
U17 men: 22 Chris Law, 24 Seth Waterman, 27 Lavell Pierre, 29 Alex Robinson, 30 Aaron Kettlewell, 33 George Green, 43 Lewis Bartholomew.
U17 women: 6 Olivia Sykes, 7 Lucy Byram, 8 Erica Byram, 40 Daisy Smith.
