Photo – Sean Molloy winning the Kent Cross country League at Bromley.
Sean Molloy, from Tonbridge Athletic Club, produced a controlled, front-running victory at the final Kent Cross country League fixture of the season, on Saturday. The 7.8 kilometres long course around Norman Park, Bromley and adjacent woodland was relatively dry and flat, but Molloy soon hit the front and finally won by 27 seconds in 25.02. This was his first league win as a senior, but fifteen years since he managed his very first victory as an under 13 in 2008.
The Tonbridge men’s team was missing many key athletes, as the National Championships are just a couple of weeks away, but still had enough to win the four and twelve to score competitions on the day, plus secure the league titles. Jamie Bryant (8th), Isaac Arnott (9th) and Calum Laing (15th) scored, as 210 finished from 12 clubs.
The Tonbridge women’s squad finished second to a dominant Blackheath and Bromley team, who had filled the first three individual places. Harriet Woolley led the team home in 4th, with Maria Heslop having a fine run for 6th and Ella Ayden 15th.
On Thursday evening, at Armagh, Northern Ireland the annual International Road Races took place. The standard of competition was incredibly high, creating a significant number of fast times. Kieran Reilly ran 14.05 to finish 28th in the men’s 5km race, just head of Alex Howard’s 14.06 and Ben Cole’s 14.07. Cole’s time moved him to 6th on the UK all-time list in the men’s over 35 age group. Verity Hopkins finished 29th in the Women’s 3km race in 9.35.
Four Tonbridge medals at National Indoor Championships
Tonbridge AC had good representation at the National Indoor Championships for the under 15, 17 and 20 age groups, held at the English Institute for Sport, at Sheffield. The highlights were four medal winning performances, two coming from Joe Stone in the under 17 men’s events.
Stone finished 3rd in the Long Jump, recording a personal best of 6.65 metres, before finishing 2nd in the 400 metres in 50.56, which improved his own Tonbridge AC indoor age record.
Lucinda White cleared 3.50 metres in the under 20 women’s Pole Vault for the second week in a row, to equal her personal best and Tonbridge club record. This performance captured the bronze medal and ranks her 4th in the UK in the under 20 women’s age group.
Harriet Medlen negotiated three rounds of the under 17 women’s 200 metres to finish 3rd in the final, with 25.28, having run 25.23 in her semi-final, which was an indoor personal best.
There were also two fourth-places with Elsa Pawson clearing an indoor personal best of 2.55 metres in the under 15 Girls’ Pole Vault and Lucy Tallon recording 24.90 in the under 20 Women’s 200 metres.
