Cross Country – Stowmarket.

The third fixture in the Suffolk Winter Cross Country League was staged at the picturesque Haughley Park Stowmarket, on a bitterly cold day. The 2-lap course at Haughley although on parkland proved to be very complex, with lots of hazards that included jumping over logs as well as runners having to cope with some very uneven terrain.
Waveney Valley Athletic seniors were down on numbers, mainly owing to a numerous number of members being out of action with injuries and illness, which was reflected in the combined ladies and men’s team A team dropping from their top spot to third place in the league. Credit must be given to the squad of thirty-seven members who competed, although Waveney moved down to third place thanks to their brilliant all round team effort, only a small margin of points separate the top three teams in the league, and with three remaining fixtures in the league, Waveney are still in contention to regain their senior team title they won last season.
Dominic Oliver ran a very intelligent race, by not getting carried away with the fast pace of the first lap, he judged his pace to perfection passing several runners on the final lap to clinch third spot overall in 31:49. Mark Thompson also put in a strong finish, in crossing the line in 29th place with 35:01. New member Jim Burgess in his first season of cross country running put in a very impressive performance by finishing in the top 40. Only one second separated Martin Horlock and Club captain Chris Pimlott who finished in 42nd (35:48) and 43rd place respectively. Chris Meadows clocked 36:38 in 57th place overall. Lloyd Scriven recorded his highest position this season, in crossing the line in 62nd place with 37:11. Other notable performances, Peter Rogers, Richard Aukland and Tim Earl all finished in the top 100. The consistent Bill Kingaby once again claimed 2nd place in his V65+ age group.
In the ladies section, Waveney had a very creditable turnout of 14 ladies despite the squad missing several of their regular members. Fist lady home for the team was Lisa Knights who continues her fine run of form, in finishing in 170th place overall, (23rd lady) with her time of 43:21. Sarah Norman posted 47:05 crossed the line in 236th place overall. Grainne Purvis clocked 51:29 in 313th place; close on her heels were Louise Harrod (315th) and Ann Millett (316th) who both recorded the same time of 51:21. Cheryl Goymer was 5th in her V55+ age group

Waveney’s senior results:

Third, Dominic Oliver 31:49. 28th Mark Thompson 35:01. 39th Jim Burgess 35:40. 42nd Martin Horlock 35:48. 43rd Chris Pimlott 35:49. 57th Chris Meadows 36:38. 62nd Lloyd Scriven. 37:11. 73rd Peter Rogers 38:18. 77th Richard Aukland 38:23. 86th Tim Earl 39:07. 103rd Karim Quaddance 40:08. 126th Daniel Harris 40:56. 160th Anthony Croucher 42:44. 167th Matt Baldry 43:00. 170th Lisa Knights 43:21. 171st Bill Kingaby (2nd V65) 43:26. 192nd Jon Comyn 44:47. 196th Darren Coulter 45:02. 227th Steve Gibbs 46:45. 231st Ian Hawkes 46:54. 236th Sarah Norman 47:05. 313th Grainne Purvis 51:29. 315th Louise Harrod 51:34. 316th Ann Millett 51:34. 318th John Skelly 51:35. 327th Dave Martindale 52:03. 330th Tony Millett 52:21. 342nd Layla Bedford 53:15. 349th Cheryl Goymer 54:00. 355th Stuart Smith 54:26. 361st Lisa Wilson 55:11. 372nd Pat Tuttle 56:11. 396th Rosemary Plant 60:53. 401st Jenni Skelly 61:54. 411th Debbie Foster 65:23. 412th Tara Carroll 66:36.421st Rachael Finch 68:45.
In the junior one lap race, James Burgess was Waveney’s only representative owing to most of the junior competing the day before in an indoor event. James who is in the first year of his U.13’s, age group, looks a promising prospect as a distance runner, he ran well over the difficult terrain to record 16:59 for 16th place in his age group.

The remaining three fixtures in the league:
Sun 18th Feb – Nowton Park. Bury St. Edmunds.
Sun 11th March – Fritton Lake.
Sun 25th March Haverhill.