Little Louie stars as Peterborough & Nene Valley athletes claim a hat-trick of county cross country titles

Louie Hemmings and Molly Peel both became Lincolnshire county champions after winning their races on a classic cross country course at Biscathorpe in the Lincolnshire Wolds. The course incorporated river crossings, hills and plenty of mud.

Hemmings (11) won the under 13 title and is now Lincolnshire champion at 800m, 1500m and cross country despite still being in the first year of his two year age group. Will Harris finished in the silver medal position.

Peel won under 20 gold to add to her under 17 triumph from 2020. She was supported by bronze medal winning Ellie Rainbow.

The Cambridgeshire championship was held on a parkland course in St Neots, and though testing with plenty of mud it lacked the river crossings and variety of the Lincolnshire race.

But Peterborough & Nene Valley’s Erin Walker skipped her way through the mud to take the girls under 15 title in fine style, holding off the second placed athlete in the finishing straight.

There were plenty more successes at each venue and Sarah Caskey enjoyed a storming run when finishing runner up in the senior ladies race at St Neots.

Although the winner, Cambridge and Coleridge’s Clare Thurgood, proved too hot to handle, Caskey saw off the challenge of third placed Lucy Mapp of Hunts AC. The in-form Mapp has won all three of this season’s Frostbite League races, and was first over the line in last weekend’s Advance Performance 10k.

Peterborough & Nene Valley’s Nathan Bunting also had a tremendous run winning senior men’s silver, and leaving a number of quality runners in his wake.

The senior men were narrowly pipped for team gold by Cambridge and Coleridge AC. Luke Brown in sixth, 10th placed Tesfay Tewelled and Stuart Haw in 16th played valuable roles in the team success.

Esme Thorp finished as runner up in the under 11 girls race, and also won team silver along with Sarah Clough and Layla Gee.

Olivia Walker won Cambridgeshire under 17 silver, while Dan Lewis collected over 40 mens silver ahead of Kirk Brawn who took bronze. Along with Sean Beard, Brawn and Lewis won veteran team silver.

Harvey Hancock ran well to take the under 20 mens bronze while Felix Bowling collected boys under 15 bronze.

Ted Ash won under 15 Lincolnshire silver, and with Rhys Buswell in seventh and Noah Fell finishing eighth, PANVAC won team silver.

Evie Hemmings won individual under 15 silver, and picked up team gold along with teammates, fourth placed Lola Gaches and Faith Perkins in 5th.

The under 17 women also won team gold with Josie Knight picking up individual bronze. Aoife Glaswell, Lottie Hemmings and Hannah Taylor followed finishing fourth, fifth and sixth respectively

Harry Hewitt won individual silver in the under 17s race, and with Ed Linsdell in seventh and Isaac Fell eighth the team won silver.

Yaxley’s Abi Branston won under 20 silver in the Cambridgeshire Championship.