Notts at the Inter Counties
The county was well represented at Saturday’s Inter Counties XC. With athletes from a dozen different clubs, Notts fielded scoring teams in 9 out of 10 age groups. Star of the day was undoubtedly Rushcliffe AC’s Maya Todd McIntyre. Fresh from winning the National XC at Wollaton 2 weeks earlier, Maya got stuck in from the start of the U17W race - leading a group of 5 athletes until the last half mile, where she tired a little and faded to fourth place. However she dug deep and summoned a remarkable sprint finish to nick the bronze medal in the final 200m. The result also gave her the overall Cross Challenge series trophy. Not far behind were two more Notts international athletes. Triathlete Lizzy Edge (Rushcliffe AC), placed 15th with another strong finish, whilst Lauren McNeil (Mansfield Massey Massive) finished 31st. Yasmine Nutt (Notts AC) completed the scoring quartet who placed 14th team.
First 3 home for Notts in the U17G
Adam Knights, reunited with his spikes
Jenson Connell (Mansfield) in 26th place lead the U17M Notts team to 18th position, whilst Becky Harris (Notts AC) and Mollie Scott (Mansfield), both in the top 75, helped the U20W to 18th team.
There was drama in the U20 Men’s race. Edward Buck (Newark) obviously didn’t get the message that he was entered in the Senior Men’s team as he lined up in the U20M race with no vest or number. Team mate Adam Knights (Sutton) lost his spikes in the first field but carried on barefoot for 5 miles. True grit. Morgan Gallimore (Absolute) and Toby Percival (Rushcliffe AC) had less eventful races but both ran well with Morgan placing an impressive 76th.
In the Under 15’s, Amelia Crispin (Newark) in 81st lead the girls to 27th position whilst Solomon Okrafo-Smart (Absolute) finished in a fine 61st place helping the team to 33rd.
Abigail Nicholson (Notts AC) had a great run for 45th place – first home for the Notts U13G team, who finished 37th. The U13 Boys were 34th, lead home by Edward Holden (Mansfield) in 140th.
Joshua Flood (Rushcliffe AC), delighted to finish
Ben Burnham (Mansfield) in action
In the Ladies race, Juliet Potter (Notts AC) ran a blinder for a top 20 individual and team finish. The last race of the day saw Oliver Matharu (Holme Pierrepont) home first in 112th place with the team 22nd. Remarkably, less than 24 hours later, Oliver ran a pb on 72 minutes in the Cambridgeshire Half Marathon! Wow! Also worthy of note was Notts AC’s Alistair Watson, running for Leicestershire, who finished 16th and first veteran.
(Most of) The Notts Men
Well done and thank you to every single athlete who donned a green vest at the weekend. You did yourselves, your clubs and your county proud.
