The arrival of Storm Ciara made for possibly the worst conditions as Tamworth AC’s junior athletes brought their cross country league season to an end. Disruption to travel forced a depleted team, but those who made the trip to Wolverhampton were not perturbed by the strong winds and heavy rain. On the contrary, some fantastic performances from the Tamworth youngsters made for a fitting finale to another successful season.

The earlier races missed the worst of the weather with the Under-11 Boys kicking things off for Tamworth in their 1.6km event. Dominic Harper was first over the line in an excellent 14^th place with a time of 6:42. Jack Dolan was hot on his heels in 16^th place on 6:51 and twin brother Oliver Dolan followed in 25^th place on 7:06. All three boys have a 100% appearance record in the league this season and took 8^th place on the day in the age group standings to secure 6^th place in the final series results.

Ben Edwards returned from injury for the Under-17 Men’s 4.8km race; completing a Tamworth duo with Reinis Baltins for the first time this season. Reinis led Ben from the start, but Edwards found his stride to take 20^th place with a time of 20:45, ahead of Baltins in 22^nd place on 21:11. The results pushed the pair up from 13^th place to finish the season in 11^th in the age group standings.

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The Tamworth Under-11 Girls trio, like the boys, also completed the full set of four races this season. Elizabeth Fleming had another superb race; leading the field for most of the 1.6km course, and just missing out on the win; succumbing to Daisy Frost of host club Wolverhampton & Bilston in the final stretch. Elizabeth’s outstanding performances over the season have earned her the individual silver medal; awarded in each age group based on athletes’ best three performances over the season. This is a remarkable achievement for the youngster in a very competitive league alongside some of the biggest clubs in the country. Hannah Beales continued to build her collection of impressive results with another top-10 finish in 9^th place and 7:16 on the clock. Hannah’s improvement over the season has pushed her well up the individual series placings to finish in an excellent 11^th place. Isla Rogers rounded off her first season of cross country competition in a solid 55^th place with a time of 8:26; to help the girls finish in 7^th place in the team series standings.

Jessica Salt, another ever-present in the Tamworth team this season, added to her run of great results in the 2.5km Under-13 Girls competition. Jessica finished in 8^th place with a time of 10:17 to secure 8^th place in the individual series standings. Freya Cole had another solid run to take 29^th place with 11:12.

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The storm was in full force, with the rain hammering down by the time the 2.5km Under-13 Boys race got underway. Unfazed by any of it, Ben Godber and Francis White completed their 4 out of 4 races for the season with obvious determination. Ben was first over the line for Tamworth in 65^th place, clocking 12:10, followed by Francis in 76^th with 12:52.

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By the end of the day the Under-15 Girls were left with a mud bath around their 3.2km race. Tegan Vickery, whose performances have markedly improved over the previous three events, saved her best until last; running head-to-head with teammate Phoebe O’Connor for a dramatic finish. Phoebe put on a late surge to catch and cross the line with Tegan, but with both clocking 15:28, the race officials gave 13^th place to Tegan and 14^th to Phoebe. Natasha Lee came in next for Tamworth in 28^th place on 16:03 followed by Daisy Smith in 37^th on 16:40. Another 100% appearance record for all four girls this season and 7^th place on the day earned them 5^th place in the final series standings; an excellent result for their efforts.

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In the overall combined league table, Tamworth AC dropped one place to 11^th, but team manager Ben Evans was still very impressed with the youngsters: “Those were tough conditions for anyone today, so to see these kids, some as young as nine, taking them on with such determination is hugely inspiring. The parents, supporters, our coach Colin Pleass and photographer Allen Cook all took the brunt of the storm too and I am so grateful for their incredible unwavering dedication throughout what’s been another marvellous season. Some of our athletes aren’t quite done yet, with inter-counties, national and schools championships coming up, but the rest of them can take a well-earned break from competition now to get themselves ready for the summer fixtures”