SWINDON Harriers teenage talent Fletcher Hart continued his busy start to the season with another impressive performance in the second British Athletics Cross Challenge meeting at Milton Keynes, writes KEVIN FAHEY.
The 16-year-old has arguably been the most active club runner this autumn following a successful road relay campaign, an excursion on the track for the club’s final floodlit 3000m meeting, and then the start of the cross-country season.
That adds up to five hard races in five weeks - culminating in Saturday’s fixture at Milton Keynes which saw Hart face the toughest competition so far as many of the top runners in the country turned up at Teardrop Lakes.
Hart's 14th place in the Under-17 men’s race, backing up his eighth place at the opening fixture in Cardiff, was a solid result after a tough battle - though not one which the teenager was particularly pleased with.
“It was not what I wanted, but there were a lot more top runners in this race than at Cardiff,” said Hart.
“I tried to keep up with the front pack as long as I could, but I ended up slowing down on the second lap so was further down the field that I would have wished.
“But, overall, it has been a promising start to the season. Better than at this stage last year, and hopefully I can go even better moving forward. The aim is just to keep on improving.”
Hart’s next big race will be the third British Cross Challenge meeting in Liverpool at the end of the month, which traditionally has attracted the best field of the first half of the season.
“I’ll be aiming for the top twenty there,” added Hart.
Meanwhile, the official results from the opening Oxfordshire Cross Country League have now been ratified, and the Harriers won team golds in the senior men and U13 boys age groups, silvers in the U13 boys and U15 girls categories, as well as a bronze for the U17 men.
There were individual golds for Simon Byrne (senior men), Ella Spencer (U15s) and Charissa Griffiths-Clack (U11s), silvers for Harry Burdekin (U13s), Eloise Foster (U15s), Fletcher Hart (U17s), plus Courtenay Chessell (veteran over 40), and bronzes for Andrew Fulford (MV40) and Gary O’Brien (MV50).
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