Gwent League

Newport Harriers Gwent Cross Country League

Gwent Cross Country League 2007-2008

Blaise Castle, Bristol, 1st March 2008

Senior Men - Newport profit from full scoring turnout

Sunny weather, if a little cold on the hands, shone down on the Blaise Estate as this season’s Gwent League came to a conclusion on a course mostly soft going but with stony patches. Newport benefited from a full scoring turnout to secure Division 1 status for another season. Leading the black and amber pack was Neil Hardee who, after a fast start, dug in for 10th place. For most it was a short trip over the Bridge but for Gareth Fereday it was a flight across the Irish Channel, though Gareth fought off the jet-lag to come 65th. Ever-present Chris Oxley fought off the trauma of losing his car keys to come 74th. Darryn McAtee made it four in the top 100 in 93rd place while British Masters international Dave Proffitt rounded off the team score in 191st position. In the individual table after five races Neil Hardee was 7th, Chris Oxley was 17th and Darryn McAtee was 70th. In addition Neil came 2nd overall in the Masters 40+ category.

At the start of the day Newport were one place above relegation. We comfortably avoided the drop and advanced one place above Pontypridd to finish 9th in Division 1 and confirm our standing among the regional cross-country elite.

Senior Men Division 1

Senior women – Saxena cannot avert the inevitable

  Ann Saxena returned from injury, which at least ensured we had a runner in the senior women’s race. She finished 51st and while this translated to an excellent 2nd in the Masters 50+ race, Ann could not single-handedly prevent us from dropping to Division 3. Lack of athletes has been the problem all winter and no doubt this problem will repeat itself in the summer over the distance events on the track. Do we actually have a recruitment policy to address this, I wonder?

Senior Women Division 2