Newport Harriers
Gwent League
Gwent League Round 3
4th December 2011, Singleton Park, Swansea
Women put in another strong performance
Harsh autumn conditions made this course even tougher than usual, but Newport Women maintained their promotion push. A weak Men’s team remain rooted at the foot of Division 1, while the juniors provided some encouraging performances.
Senior Women (154 starters) – Haydock overcomes several stern tests
Cross-country is never easy. Charlie-Ann Haydock’s first test was to find Swansea, then find Singleton Park, and then find the rest of her team, and to accomplish all this she phoned a friend a few times. Then despite ill fitting spikes she improved by almost 25 places on her previous position this season, to 75th, over the challenging course. Charlie’s performance helped Newport retain their lead at the top of Division 3 with two fixtures outstanding.
Ann Saxena (47th) was once again the winner in the over 55 category and remains league leader in this age group. Cynthia Greenslade ran strongly for 82nd place and Rhian Loudon was 55th. On the senior leader board Rhian is now one place and one point ahead of Ann but the momentum is currently with Ann.
Senior Women Division 3
| Pos | Team | Points |
| 1. | Newport Harriers Athletic Club | 1306 |
| 2. | Pontypridd Athletic Club | 969 |
| 3. | University of Wales - Swansea | 958 |
| 4. | Caerleon Running Club | 702 |
| 5. | Griffithstown Harriers A. A. C. | 724 |
| 6. | Forest of Dean Athletic Club | 457 |
| 7. | Sarn Helen Orienteering & R. C. | 380 |
| 8. | Porthcawl Runners Life | 347 |
| 9. | Southville Running Club | 331 |
| 10. | Aberystwyth Athletic Club | 299 |
| 11. | Stroud & District Athletic Club | 284 |
| 12. | Neath Harriers | 226 |
| 13. | Lliswerry Runners | 218 |
| 14. | Bristol University | 178 |
Senior Men (263 starters) – Proffitt and Davies provide some positives
While another severely depleted team means that Newport relegation is now a foregone conclusion, there were two positives from the race. Adam Davies made his club debut, finishing high up the field in 37th place, and the combined efforts of Adam and Dave Proffitt (231st) meant that Newport crept over the 1000-points total to acquire some respectability.
Senior Men Division 1
| Pos | Team | Points |
| 1. | Westbury Harriers | 3788 |
| 2. | Les Croupiers Running Club | 3732 |
| 3. | Cardiff Amateur Athletic Club | 3480 |
| 4. | Bridgend Athletic Club | 3428 |
| 5. | Neath Harriers | 3398 |
| 6. | Swansea Harriers Athletic Club | 3365 |
| 7. | San Domenico Road Runners Club | 3226 |
| 8. | Wells City Harriers | 3192 |
| 9. | Taf Running & Orienteering Teams | 2709 |
| 10. | Cardiff University Harriers | 2487 |
| 11. | Pontypridd Athletic Club | 2416 |
| 12. | Newport Harriers Athletic Club | 1184 |
Junior Girls – Lisa Scarfi leads our fabulous Under-11s
Lisa Scarfi achieved her best position yet in 4th place in the Novice Girls race. This puts Lisa 4th overall though her chances are good as today she beat two of the rivals above her. The U11s were our biggest squad on the day – Jessica Taylor 25th, Megan Thomas 26th, Lily Ivin 38th, Kayleigh Evans 47th – and they are currently 4th in the team competition
Aimee Wallace was 46th in U13 race. Celyn Evans started this race but wisely pulled out when the conditions proved too difficult for her. Bethan Jackson was 18th in the U17 race.
Junior Boys – top 10 finish for Lewis Daniels
Lewis Daniels improved four places on last time to come 10th in the U13 race.
Our biggest male squad on the day was the Novice Boys. Harvey Reynolds delivered
another good perofrmance in 18th place, supported by Ben Davies (38th) and Jay
Goldsworthy (42nd).