BRC X-C Competition 2023/24 End of Season Report

This year’s XC competition reached a disappointing conclusion with 3 of the last 4 fixtures cancelled, mostly to water-logged parking. This has meant our competition has been reduced from 12 to 9 fixtures.

In the Ladies competition, Nikki Courtney went one better than last years 2nd place to take the top spot, competing in all fixtures. Sandra Watson has also returned to the top three to take 2nd place, closely followed by Michelle Connor in 3rd who’s ran an excellent XC season.

  1. Nikki Courtney (427 points from 9 races)
  2. Sandra Watson (327 points from 7 races)
  3. Michelle Connor (313 points from 7 races)

In total, 27 ladies made 88 individual performances. Also worth noting that the top three all ran from the ‘slow’ pack. Best turn-out was 20 runners at NEHL Alnwick – exactly the same as last year!  Click HERE for ladies results.

 

In the men’s competition, Michael Ashby ran all available fixtures and finished the season in first place. Steven French completed one less fixture and took a respectable 2 place. Simon Clough equaled his efforts from last year and finished in 3rd.

  1. Michael Ashby (392 points from 9 races)
  2. Steven French (357 points from 8 races)
  3. Simon Clough (231 points from 5 races)

In total, 31 men made 76 individual performances, taking into consideration the cancelled fixtures, numbers are well down on last year. Best turn-out was at NEHL Aykley Heads with 12 runners in attendance.  Click HERE for mens results.

 

NEHL Overall Standings (No Prizes)

This is a look at how we faired against the other clubs in the NEHL.

Congratulations to the Senior Ladies team who finished runner-up (behind Crook AC) in Division 3 and have been promoted to Division 2. Second place from 34 Teams is a fantastic achievement! Consistency was the key as the ladies finished 3rd team on 3 occasions with an 8th place at Druridge Bay. At the end of the season we had 6 Ladies running from the Medium Pack and one from the Fast Pack.

The fortunes of the Senior Men’s team differed somewhat. After promotion last year, the men struggled in Division 2 and finished at the foot of the Table (11 Teams). Not exactly the type of consistency you want but we were last in all 4 fixtures. With numbers down and a few notable departures, it’s looking like Division 3 is the best place for us. At the end of the season we had 2 men running from the Medium Pack and 2 from the Fast Pack.

Here are the results from the NEHL Individual Grand Prix, this is calculated as being the best 3 ‘net’ performances (with pack handicaps removed). The highest placed BRC athletes were:

Senior Ladies:

  1. Kate McLean (45th /2795 pts)

Other than Kate, we didn’t have any other Senior NEHL performances.

Veteran Ladies:

  1. Kandis Watson (26th/2913 pts)
  2. Leanne Herron (40th/2870 pts)
  3. Carly Ellis (52nd/2831 pts)

22 Veteran Ladies competed.

Senior Men:

  1. Karl Bryce (62nd/2710 pts)
  2. Joe Wren (67th/2683 pts)
  3. Luke Dickinson (399th/819 pts)

5 Senior Men competed.

Veteran Men:

  1. Richard Bickerton (125th/2542 pts)
  2. Michael Ashby (173rd/2204 pts)
  3. Robbie Barkley (218th/1864 pts)

16 Veteran Men competed

There will be some definite changes to the Calendar next year. Aykley Heads is no longer available as a host venue and there is talk of re-arranging the fixtures so the courses with hard parking appear later in the season. There may also be 2 Nationals in one season with the cancelled Telford fixture rescheduled for September; if the usual February fixture still takes place then this is likely to be at Parliament Hill, London.

Well done everyone!

Ladies Results 

Position Entrants Veteran
Status		 Farr’don
Race 1		 Wrek’ton
Race 2		 XC Relays
Race 3		 Aykley
Race 5		 NE Champ Race 5 Sherman
Race 6		 Birtley
Race 7		 Northern
Race 8		 EN Champ
Race 9		 Alnwick
Race 10		 Lambton
Race 11		 Thornley
Race 12		 Points Races Ave
1 Nikki Courtney   47 44 49 50 48 48 44 49 — 48 — — 427 9 47.44
2 Sandra Watson   48 47 0 47 49 47 43 47 — 0 — — 328 7 46.86
3 Michelle Connor   46 42 47 45 0 0 42 45 — 46 — — 313 7 44.71
4 Kandis Watson   0 48 0 49 0 50 49 50 — 50 — — 296 6 49.33
5 Gemma Floyd   50 46 50 0 0 49 50 0 — 49 — — 294 6 49.00
6 Leanne Herron   0 50 0 46 50 46 47 48 — 0 — — 287 6 47.83
7 Alison French   43 0 44 0 47 0 40 44 — 0 — — 218 5 43.60
8 Gemma Harmon   42 37 47 0 45 44 0 0 — 0 — — 215 5 43.00
9 Claire Mason   0 0 0 0 46 45 39 43 — 0 — — 173 4 43.25
10 Carly Ellis   0 49 0 48 0 0 0 0 — 47 — — 144 3 48.00
11 Chloe Barrass   45 0 48 0 0 0 46 0 — 0 — — 139 3 46.33
12 Katie Donaldson   49 41 0 0 0 0 45 0 — 0 — — 135 3 45.00
13 Janice Stewart   44 38 45 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 127 3 42.33
14 Helen Morris   0 0 0 43 0 0 38 42 — 0 — — 123 3 41.00
15 Anne Craddock   40 0 0 40 0 0 36 0 — 0 — — 116 3 38.67
16 Kate McLean   0 45 0 44 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 89 2 44.50
17 Ruth French   0 0 0 0 0 0 41 46 — 0 — — 87 2 43.50
18 Ralph Dickinson   41 0 0 0 0 0 37 0 — 0 — — 78 2 39.00
19 Heather Christopher   0 0 0 0 0 0 48 0 — 0 — — 48 1 48.00
20 Lisa Scorer   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 45 — — 45 1 45.00
21 Lee Elder   0 43 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 43 1 43.00
22 Lesley Falkous   0 0 0 42 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 42 1 42.00
23 Michelle Castro   0 0 0 41 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 41 1 41.00
24 Sonia Sultman   0 40 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 40 1 40.00
25 Gwen Forster   0 39 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 39 1 39.00
26 Anita Dabbs   0 36 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 36 1 36.00
27 Jocelyn Bolam   0 35 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 35 1 35.00
— Kathryn Angus   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 0 0 0.00
— Lucy Hickey   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 0 0 0.00
— Lyndsey Nangle   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 0 0 0.00
— Sharon Stafford   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 0 0 0.00
— Stacey Short   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 0 0 0.00

Mens Results

Position Entrants Veteran
Status		 Farr’don
Race 1		 Wrek’ton
Race 2		 XC Relays
Race 3		 Aykley
Race 5		 NE Champ Race 5 Sherman
Race 6		 Birtley
Race 7		 Northern
Race 8		 EN Champ
Race 9		 Alnwick
Race 10		 Lambton
Race 11		 Thornley
Race 12		 Points Races Ave
1 Michael Ashby   43 45 45 41 44 44 43 44 — 43 — — 392 9 43.56
2 Steven French   45 44 44 42 45 46 46 45 — 0 — — 357 8 44.63
3 Simon Clough   46 47 0 0 0 0 45 47 — 46 — — 231 5 46.20
4 Richard Bickerton   0 0 0 43 46 45 0 46 — 44 — — 224 5 44.80
5 Ellis Hetherington   0 0 50 0 48 0 50 50 — 0 — — 198 4 49.50
6 Karl Bryce   0 49 0 47 0 49 0 0 — 49 — — 194 4 48.50
7 Rob Barkley   0 50 0 50 0 50 0 0 — 0 — — 150 3 50.00
8 Josh Fiddaman   50 0 49 0 50 0 0 0 — 0 — — 149 3 49.67
9 Craig Harmon   49 0 48 0 0 0 49 0 — 0 — — 146 3 48.67
10 Joe Wren   0 48 0 49 47 0 0 0 — 0 — — 144 3 48.00
11 John Younger   0 0 0 48 0 0 47 0 — 47 — — 142 3 47.33
12 Steve Dobby   0 0 0 0 0 48 0 48 — 0 — — 96 2 48.00
13 Henry Povey   0 0 0 0 0 47 0 0 — 48 — — 95 2 47.50
14= David Shields   0 0 0 45 0 0 0 0 — 45 — — 90 2 45.00
14= Nicholas Pearson   44 46 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 90 2 45.00
16 Stephen Forster   41 43 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 84 2 42.00
17 Lee Anderson   0 0 0 39 0 0 0 0 — 42 — — 81 2 40.50
18 Michael Stott   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 50 — — 50 1 50.00
19= Jake Jansen   0 0 0 0 49 0 0 0 — 0 — — 49 1 49.00
19= Jon French   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 49 — 0 — — 49 1 49.00
21= Robert Rhodes   48 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 48 1 48.00
21= Harry Riches   0 0 0 0 0 0 48 0 — 0 — — 48 1 48.00
23= Dayle Stafford   47 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 47 1 47.00
23= Joseph Dungworth   0 0 47 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 47 1 47.00
25= Paul Noble   0 0 0 46 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 46 1 46.00
25= Paul Norvell   0 0 46 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 46 1 46.00
27= Shaun Morris   0 0 0 44 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 44 1 44.00
27= Mark Wallbank   0 0 0 0 0 0 44 0 — 0 — — 44 1 44.00
29 Andrew Evans   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 43 — 0 — — 43 1 43.00
30 Tom Moffett   42 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 42 1 42.00
31 David Stamp   0 0 0 40 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 40 1 40.00
32 Adam Rowe   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 0 0 0.00
— Dave Bradley   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 0 0 0.00
— Gary Jones   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 0 0 0.00
— Martin Fairbairn   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 0 0 0.00
— Paul Blackett   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 0 0 0.00
— Ralph Dickinson   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 0 0 0.00
— Rob Morris   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 0 0 0.00
— Robert Sharratt   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 0 0 0.00
— Steven Jones   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 — — 0 0 0.00