EALING Southall & Middlesex AC youngsters burned a trail in the first Met League cross country race of the season on Saturday.
Their third place finish out of 23 clubs was solace for an average showing by the seniors in green.
The men finished eighth out of 21 and ended up towards the bottom of Division One, while ESM women were the wrong side of a huge middle throng in a record 200 field, and lost valuable points as a result.
But the highlight of the day at Claybury, in Woodford, was second place for U17 Erica Wallace, who led her team to fourth in the high quality race.
Finishing just 50 metres behind the winner, Wallace was followe by Nicola Ravenhil in sixth. The U17/U15 Boys team placed 11th, just outside the top third. John Fielding was first to show in eighth, and eight was also the significant number for the U13 boys with Dylan Rice heading his team-mates.
In the men’s race, league debutant Simon Shaw took the 8km hilly terrain in his stride, finishing 32nd in a near-record field of 427, and the second V40 in the field. Just two seconds behind, in 34th, Mo Hashi produced his best League performance to date.
The women’s team was boosted by the return of Alison Hopkins after a long absence from cross country, who led the club home in 56th.
ESM results: Women, 6k: 56 Alison Hopkins V40 25m:50s; 63 Nikki Shelley 26:11; 65 Shona Cowper 26:19; 72 Leanne Smith 26:42; 86 Carol Jones V55 27:23; 118 Christine Meek V55 28:40; 135 Patricia Thomas V50 29:43; 160 Helena French 31:39; U15/17 Girls, 4k: 2 Erica Wallace 16:29; 6 Nicola Ravenhill 16:41; 27 Anisa Ibrahim U15 18:24; 40 Cameron Thomas U15 19:18; 47 Zoe Crown U15 19:50; 54 Roisin Lynch 20:24; 55 Megan Rice U15 20:44; 58 Sarah Freegard U15 24:03; Men: 32 Simon Shaw V40 27:28; 34 Mo Hashi 27:30; 62 Manish Kunwar U20 28:52; 91 Luke Nicholas 29:49; 155 Mark Kencroft V45 31:23; 175 Florjan Bakalli U20 31:52; 197 Andy Dodd 32:30; 204 James Steel V45 32:45; 264 Ian Leslie V55 34:37; 285 Martin Shelley 35:25; 332 Steve Plested V60 36:56; 345 Phil York V50 37:36; 358 Keith Freegard V55 38:02; 380 Rob Howells V55 39:34; 399 Martin Wilson V60 41:29; 405 Graham French V55 42:07; U15/17 Boys: 8 John Fielding 14:31; 24 Luke Adar 15:25; 61 Jonathan Martin U15 16:31; U13 Boys: 19 Dylan Rice 12:28; 28 Matteo Lamagna 12:58; 30 Mahiis Hersi 13:04; U13 Girls: 36 Fatima Hussain 18:34; U11 Mixed: 25 Masaki Kanai 6:32; 34 Najiib Hersi 6:53; 39 Marco Lamagna 7:00
