​High Peak youngsters put in excellent displays

Six HPAC athletes turned out to run in the second of the Derbyshire Mini-League cross country race series, held at Rutland Sports Park near Ilkeston.

With mild weather and a firm course a super fast pace was expected in each race. And that’s how it started in the first race, the under 11 girls, which featured HPACs Bea Allen and Holly Woolley.

A hot pace was set by the race leaders but Bea settled well and moved through the field to establish a clear second place finish, with Holly running a very mature race to finish 5th out of a field of 21 runners.

The Under 11 boys competed in a 1.5km race, with High Peak’s Alfred Pritchard closing on the first placed runner from Derby AC in the latter stages of the race but just running out of time, eventually finishing second.

In the same race, Laurie Swain-Fossey of HPAC proved his good stamina coming in eighth in the 16-strong race field.

The third HPAC runner in the U11 race was Bertie Johnson, who set off like a train, but then went slightly the wrong way before correcting himself but still finding himself leading the pack. Bertie ran fabulously against strong opposition and eventually finished in 13th place.

The under 13 girls race was over a 2km course and HPAC had Jess Dilks as their sole representative in this race. After a very good start Jess settled into about seventh place, and it looked as though that was where she would finish until a dramatic sprint finish saw her move up to overtake three girls and grab a very exciting and lofty third place finish.

The under 13 boys race over 3km saw Rafe Johnson of HPAC compete against tough opposition, coming in ninth with a very well-paced performance.

Finally, Matty Miller, who won the first race of the series, followed this up with a second place finish at Rutland Sports Park. This means that Matty is in first place in the XC league table after two races, with one race to go on December 16th at Derby.

In the under 11 boys Alfred Pritchard sits in first place and in the under 11 girls Bea Allen and Holly Woolly sit second and fourth in the league table respectively, so all of these have every chance of winning medals in the last race.

Super Saturday was rapidly followed by Super Sunday at Queens Park Leisure Centre, Chesterfield for the second instalment of the Derbyshire Indoor Sportshall season.

High Peak Athletics Club were again in full flow, with a superb team outing, littered with ambition, endeavour and success.

In the under 11s category there was another excellent display from the HPAC girls and boys. In the Sprint 1 lap, the dynamic Georgie Riley came fourth with a superb effort.

In the boys, Alfred Pritchard finished third with Scott Curwen taking first with an excellent time of 13.50. In the 3 Lap, the dominant Pritchard finished second continuing in his fine vein of form.

In the standing Long Jump, George Murcott and Laurie Swain-Fossey again impressed, both finishing in the top ten, with Scott Curwen taking first with an imperious performance.

To cap things off, the boys finished second in the competitive 4 x 1 lap relay, the team made up of Scott Curwen, George Murcott, Laurie Swain-Fossey and Alfred Pritchard.

The under 13s produced another vibrant display. In the 2 lap sprint, Isabella Curwen finished sixth with Emily Hallworth and Georgina Dews both finishing in the top ten. The dynamic Charlie Wardle again excelled, finishing third, with Alfie Fraser eighth.

In the 4 lap, Isabella Curwen came fourth with Charlie Wardle taking third place. In the standing long jump, Georgina Dews and Emily Hallworth delivered fine performances, taking sixth and eighth place, respectively.

More success came in the speed bounce, with Isabella Curwen and Georgina Dews both finishing in the top ten, and Alfie Fraser impressing with a compelling fifth place.

Finally, Martha Riley and Olivia Pritchard, the club’s under 9 youngsters put in fine performances in the under 9 race.

Full of endeavour and spirit, the team go again with upcoming cross country in Derby and in January for the next sportshall fixture.

If you would like more information or would like to be part of High Peak Athletics, training is held on a Saturday morning at 9.30am at the Buxton Community School. All kids aged between 7-17 are welcome.