"DORNE CUP"

Jess Middleton on her way to silver in the W16 race - photo Georgia Creagh   Heavy rain in the days preceding the 2009 edition of Wellington's Dorne Cup Cross Country Races left the underfoot conditions testing to say the least. All the winning times were well down on previous years, but the very small contingent from Hawkes Bay still managed to returned with their share of the silverware - two silver medals and a bronze. NZ Junior Women's Mountain Champion Rochelle Sceats continued her excellent recent run of form in finishing second to Palmerston North's Olivia Burne. Sceats, who will represent NZ at the junior world mountain running champs in Italy in September, struggled early in the race but her conditioning came through in the end and she was still looking strong at the finish. Sceats was happy to get one over third placed Nicole Mitchell, who beat her at the road champs last year. She is now looking forward to the North Island Cross Champs on July 4 where she may contest the Senior Women's event as preparation for the world event. The Bay's second silver came for Napier Harrier's Jess Middleton in the Women's 16yrs run. The underfoot conditions played into Middleton's hands as her strength came through where many of the speedsters were struggling. She finished 27 seconds shy of first placed Wellington's Ariana Harper, and admitted afterwards that she just had nothing left in her legs to contest the finish. The result bodes well for Middleton who will next weekend contest the NZ Secondary Schools Cross Country Champs in Nelson. In the Girls 12 race Middleton's club mate Georgia Creagh collected another bronze medal to go with the one she won last year. Although running 6 seconds slower this year, the underfoot conditions probably inidcate a considerable improvement for the talented youngster. In the Senior Men's race Wellington based ex-Napier Harrier Stefan Smith almost pulled off a victory, but had to settle for second to US based Ed Henshaw. Smith relished the tough conditions but in the end had to concede to the 2007 National Cross Country Champions superior strength and experience. Napier Results Women's 16 - 4km 2nd Jess Middleton 16:42 5th Annie Creagh 17:08 Girls 12 - 2km 3rd Georgia Creagh 8:44 24th Jinny Lee 12:35 Girls 14 - 3km 7th Sophi Rose 14:11 Masters Women - 6km 33rd Kim Creagh 34:16 Masters Men - 8km 23rd Ron Middleton 34:31 Also ex Napier athletes Stefan Smith 2nd SM Ryan Woolley 5th SM ex Hastings Ben Barry 1st M19 Full results here