St Helens Sutton A.C. Members took part in the Northern Athletics Cross Country Championships held in Knowsley Safari Park.

The conditions were very wet whilst the ground was soft and muddy underfoot for the first few races, however the conditions got increasingly more difficult as the afternoon progressed.

First out were the Under 17years women. Rachel McGoldrick led the girl’s home in 56th place in a time of 24 min.05 secs, swiftly followed by Maria McGoldrick whom finished the 5.3km course in 57th position in 24 min.06 secs.with Maddie Williams ran well to finish 77th in 25 min.22 secs.

Second was the U13yrs girls’ team.

They covered the distance of 3km and the team consisted of Kanyarat Avison leading the way in 179th place in 15 min.27 secs., Imogen King who finished 197th in 16 min.03 secs., Lucy Price 209th in 16 min.38 secs. and Sian Glynn 219th in 17 min.56 secs. with a smile on her face! The girls packed well as a team and finished 36th.

Next off was the U17yrs men’s race, this included Sam Miley who ran well to finish the 5.8km course 110th in 25 min.36 secs. Lone U13yrs boy, Joe Houghton finished strongly in 103rd place covering the 3kms in 13 min.31 secs.

By the time it came to the U15yrs girl’s race the conditions had deteriorated, the rain was heavy and the course was wet and boggy.

Samantha Price finished the 4km course sharply in 123rd in an excellent time of 20 min.03 secs., Alex Glynn started the race superbly however she suffered an injury during the race and was unable to continue.

The conditions were very wet and rainy for the U15yrs boys 4km race. Sam Thomson finished quickly in 157th place in a time of 18 min.24 secs. and Joseph Woods ran a gutsy race to finish 172nd in 22 min.10 secs.

The U20yrs men’s race saw Callum Lockett complete the 8km course in 44th position in a quick time of 31 min.17 secs.

The Senior Ladies were next off the 8km race saw Gemma Connolly finish in 21st place in a time of 33 min.53 secs, Julia Eccleston finished 145th in 41 min.52 secs, Sonya Monahan finished 149th in 42 min.12 secs and Louise Hogg finished the course in 191st position in 45 min.36 secs.

The ladies all ran well and finished 17th as a team.

Finally came the senior men’s 12km race. Tom Griffiths led the men home in 201st place in 51 min.52 secs., John Greenall was 217th in 52 min.23 secs, Andy Wilson was 253rd in 53 min.23 secs.

John Appleton junior finished 289th 54 min.15 sec, Barry Graney finished 302nd in 54 min.36 secs and. Maurice Collins completed the counting team 382nd in 58 min.40 secs.

The team finishing 29th. Ian Roberts was 481st in 64 min.03 secs, Ray Vose 503rdplace in 65 min.57 secs., Peter Johnson 563rd in 69 min.58 secs and Anthony Doyle completed the turnout in 600th position in 78 min.38 secs..