Blue Star Harriers clinch Sussex Cross Country League promotion

Racing at Lancing Manor, Adrian Fautly continued his winter-long good form to finish in an excellent 12th position over the 5-mile course in 29m 41s.

This placed him the third Under-20 man and secured his overall second placing in the league for the Under-20s, and with Francis Scarr in 20th (30m 31s), Alex Best in 40th (32m 22s) and Sam Taylor 69th (35m 6s), the team won the third division race, scoring 141 points.

This gave them second place in the final league table and guarantees promotion for next season, a good reward for all the team’s efforts this season.

Also in the Senior race Andy Dunstan was 71st in 35m 22s, Tim Atkin 93rd and Chris Lee 95th.

The afternoon started with the Under-13 Girls race, where Neave Scott was the top Blue Star finisher in tenth place in 13m 6s. She was hard pressed by Romy van der Veen in 12th place just four seconds behind. Madeleine Strickland finished 25th (14m 14s) and Tabitha Hammant in 29th (14m 55s) made up the team which finished in fourth place on the day.

In the Under-13 Boys race Connor Dearden had an excellent run to finish in seventh place in 11m 31s. He was supported by Josh Eeles (13th in 11m 45s, Chris Dunstan (31st in 13m 23s, Oliver Perrin (33rd in 13m 33s) and Jacob Cann (34th in 13m 35s). The team took sixth place both on the day and in the overall league.

The Under-15 Girls took fifth place on the day and sixth overall. Erin Bateman was 15th in 18m 38s, Caroline Wirth 21st (19m 30s) and Katie Perrin 24th (20m 29s).

In the under-15 Boys race Jack Milnthorpe was 12th, with Luke Triccas 16th as the team took fifth place on the day and eighth overall.

The Under-17 Men’s race Daniel Eeles (18m 56s) just edged club mate Will Thomas to 11th by three seconds. The team took fourth place on the day and fifth overall.

The Senior Women’s team was hit by illness and injury but Nicole Allen had a good run to finish in 31st place in 22m 11s.