WOODFORD GREEN WITH ESSEX LADIES’ cross country season got off to a cracking start with the home Met League fixture at Claybury.

The under-15 boys’ team, the under-15 girls’ team and the under-17 boys’ team all won their team races, with the senior men placing second and the senior women third.

Of Woodford’s men, Dan Agustus and Hywel Care, eigth and tenth respectively were rarely far apart in the field of 338 finishers. Kevin Murphy (17th) produced an excellent run while Bertie Powell finished 20th in his 35th consecutive Met League race.

Jordan Donnelly notched a Met League personal best in 23rd whilst under-20 Alex Cornwell came home in 26th. Gareth Lloyd finished in 27th place with Angus Holford in 33rd.

Other finishers included Darren Southcott (43rd), Tom Phillips (44th), Craig Berg (50th) and Matt Molloy (51st).

Lauren Stewart was tenth of 145 finishers coming through from behind to pip Kat Gundersen (11th). Bernie Pritchett finished in 19th place.

Sidnie Sales (38th), Katharine Foy (44th) and Claudia Conway (48th) were the remaining scorers.

Woodford’s youngsters were also present, producing an excellent team performance and some notable individual results.

In the under-13 boys’ race, Canaan Solomon and Daniel Rowden made the early pace and by the end of the first lap had built a 30 metre lead over the chasers. Canaan made his break half way round the second lap and came home 15 seconds ahead of Rowden.

For the under-13 girls, Alicia McArdell in fourth was Woodford’s first runner, closely followed home by Sky Mulvey in fifth place. Debutants Jodie Ratcliff and Rosie Poole completed the A team scoring in eighth and ninth place respectively to give the team a commanding lead in the league table.

In the under-17 women, Lauren McGregor was expected to run well and she did not disappoint with a third place finish. Not far behind was Amelia Barrett in a highly creditable seventh place. Isobel Moss (15th) and Ellie Foster (21st) made up the scoring.

The under-17 men also led the way in the team competition with James Stockings in a fine fourth place with Perry Rowan (15th), Ryan Dunne (17th) and Sean Kenny (20th) packed well for the team score.