Shrewsbury Athletic Club's successful North Wales Cross Country League campaign continued with victories for the Mens' and Womens' teams in the second fixture at St David's College, Llandudno on Saturday. Despite key team member James Hickinbottom having to pull out during the race through injury, Brett Edwards led the Mens' team home in 7^th place and a second team victory in the Series, with Matt Hall 8^th, Adam Roberts 13^th, ultra runner Michael Betts 16^th , Gabe Morris 17^th and Steve Waters completing the team scorers in 23^rd place. There were some strong individual improvements, notably Ollie Parry improving by 14 places from the Mold race and a solid performance by Club debutant Glen Speake in 48^th place.

The first outing of the cross country season by Sara Willhoit, who led the Womens' squad home in 2^nd place, was enough to propel the team to 1^st place in Division 2, in the best performance by the Club's Womens' team seen in recent years. Olivia Mann, joined by her twin sister Melissa in her first cross country for the Club, completed the team scorers in 9^th and 12^th places respectively, with Lauren Morley narrowly missing out on scoring, in 13^th place after a sprint finish.

Mens' Results:

7 Brett Edwards 32/01, 8 Matt Hall 32/09, 13 Adam Roberts 32/55, 16 Michael Betts 33/09, 17 Gabe Morris 33/15, 23 Steve Waters 34/21, 25 Kevin Francis 34/47, 28 Ollie Parry 35/28, 29 Graham Jones 35/35(1^st Veteran Over 60), 30 Andy Yapp 35/40, 47 Connor Middleton 36/46, 48 Glen Speake 36/47, 49 Richard Jones 36/49, 60 Haydn Jones 38/01, 65 Sean Hickey 38/11, 79 Pete Savill 39/19, 120 Chris Wakeman 42/09.

Womens' Results:

2 Sara Willhoit 21/16, 9 Olivia Mann 22/06, 12 Melissa Mann 22/22, 13 Lauren Morley 22/23, 25 Jacqueline Macey 23/54, 51 Gill Evans 25/53(1^st Lady Over 55), 110 Sheila Richards 40/09.

A Club team competed in the Midland Counties Athletics Association 4- Stage Cross Country Relays at Aldersley, Wolverhampton, where an outstanding performance resulted in the Club finishing 12^th out of 64 teams, with James Hickinbottom timed at 22/01, Graham Jones 24/36, Steve Waters 23/41 and Matt Hall 22/17.

James Hickinbottom was in top form to earn victory in the Bridgnorth 10K, winning comfortably in a time of 34/43, with Pete Hughes 27^th in 41/51. Further afield, Pete Butler competed in the Amsterdam Marathon, gaining the Good for Age standard in the Veteran Over 60 category with a time of 3/43/23. Robert Lisney chose the Great Birmingham Run for his debut half marathon, achieving a time of 1/24/38, while Pete Hughes achieved a time of 1/32/15 in the Manchester Half Marathon, a new personal best time by over two and a half minutes.