Hercules Wimbledon round-up: Weir 10 at Liverpool Cross Challenge
Ellen Weir was once more the pick of the Hercules Wimbledon athletes this weekend as the U20 was an impressive 10th at the Liverpool Cross Challenge this weekend, writes George Mallett.
Saturday’s race sees some of the nation’s best distance runners converge on Sefton Park with qualification for the Euro Cross Country Championships at stake.
This year’s championships will be held just outside Turin, Italy on December 11 with the top six in each individual race usually earning automatic selection for Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Weir, the Birmingham University medical student, was less than 40 seconds behind race winner Alice Bates and just 20 seconds behind sixth place on the day, meaning she just missed out on qualification for what would have been the second successive year.
First home in the senior men’s for Hercules was Jonathan Cornish in 69th. It shows the quality of the opposition that he completed the just short of 10k muddy course in 32:13, three minutes behind race winner Emile Cairess of Leeds City AC. Cornish has twice represented England this summer over 5k and the half marathon.
In 35:59 was Sam Todd, who finished in 174th. Todd, a relatively recent transfer from City of Norwich AC, was narrowly outside his best performance at the event in 2019 when he finished 151st.
Chasing the mud in Croydon was a small Hercules contingent competing in the South of the Thames Championships. In the senior men’s race, just short of 8k, Jamie Bannister was the first Hercules man home in 27th.
The club’s next generation were slugging it out in the Downs League at Epsom. This event sees juniors from U11 to U17 get some of their first taste of cross country.
Max Harrison impressed, winning the U11s race, with Max Williams winning the U17s.
With full results yet to be released, it builds on a strong start for the U13 boys, who were first after the opening fixture.
Williams, Harry Allen, Cyrus Sheikh and Adam Amrani Hussain made up the winning quartet that day with Selen Ciceksever, Freia Harper-Tee, Summer McDougall and Beatrice Eminson finishing second for the girls in that age group.
Everyone at the South London Press thanks you for your continued support.
Former Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has encouraged everyone in the country who can afford to do so to buy a newspaper, and told the Downing Street press briefing:
“A FREE COUNTRY NEEDS A FREE PRESS, AND THE NEWSPAPERS OF OUR COUNTRY ARE UNDER SIGNIFICANT FINANCIAL PRESSURE”
If you can afford to do so, we would be so grateful if you can make a donation which will allow us to continue to bring stories to you, both in print and online. Or please make cheques payable to “MSI Media Limited” and send by post to South London Press, Unit 112, 160 Bromley Road, Catford, London SE6 2NZ
