Girl power earns Nene Valley a glittering haul of medals

Nene Valley Harriers girls went on a medal winning spree in the final North Midlands Cross-Country League fixture of the season at Wollaton Park in Nottingham on Saturday.
Nene Valley Harriers all-conquering Under 17 girls team . From the left they are Megan Ellison, Josie Fortune and Ellie Piccaver.Nene Valley Harriers all-conquering Under 17 girls team . From the left they are Megan Ellison, Josie Fortune and Ellie Piccaver.
Nene Valley Harriers all-conquering Under 17 girls team . From the left they are Megan Ellison, Josie Fortune and Ellie Piccaver.

The Under 17s won all four meetings held throughout the course of the winter to comfortably claim the team prize.

And to cap a successful season Megan Ellison finished second overall in the individual stakes.

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Ellison came home fifth on the day and received sterling support from Josie Fortune (7th) and Ellie Piccaver (10th).

The senior ladies had a pair of medal winners in their ranks with Ruth Jones winning the series silver medal in the Over 35 age group and Sophie Wilkinson-Hargate picking up bronze as an over 40.

Louise Blake in 25th was the first Harrier home at Nottingham with Jones hot on her heels in 28th place.

Lottie Hemmings was also among the medals, finishing third Under 13 in the series standings. Hemmings finished 12th at Nottingham, three places behind team-mate Sophie Reeves.

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The Under 13 girls won team bronze, a well deserved award for their efforts throughout the season.

The Under 15 girls also finished third and Amber Park (5th), Katie Tasker (10th) and Hannah Knight (14th) all enjoyed pleasing runs on the day.

Nora Brill led the Under 11 girls home in seventh position, but the team were out of the medals.

Although slightly overshadowed by the girls, the Nene Valley boys won team bronze at Under 13, Under 15 and Under 17 level.

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Sam Oakley was third in the Under 13 race with his brother Ollie 14th in the Under 17 event. Bradley Allan in 12th was the first Harrier over the line for the Under 17s. Owen Willgroom ran well coming home 15th for the Under 15s while Jack Haunch led the Under 11 challenge in 16th.

Lloyd Kempson has spent the last year in Australia and has recently been altitude training at over 5,000 feet in the Victoria Alps.

The 23 year-old has returned home, only landing nine hours before the senior men’s race began.

Despite a lack of sleep he showed that the Australian lifestyle and training regime had suited him well as he finished sixth in a strong field. To put this into context Kempson completed the 10k course in 35:35, over a minute quicker than last year and five positions higher.

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Alex Hampson was 33rd in the 275-strong field with Michael Channing 40th.

Peterborough AC‘s Amittai Ben-Israel, running for Coventry University, was 31st.

The senior Nene Valley men finished the season in fourth place.

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