OWLS A.C. Leicester

Owls Rory Fraser has qualified for the NCAAs by running a provisional qualifying time at the Albuquerque Convention Centre over 3,000m on Saturday. The current Leicestershire County Cross Country Champion edged out Patrick Smyth to win the indoor race in 8:08.29, which equates to 7:56.31 when altitude adjusted.
 

Over a icy and boggy course at Stafford Common, the Owls U20 Men collected the team gold medals for the 3rd year in a row. Despite having two members of the team out injured, the team finished with 45 points to win the team event by 6 points from Bristol & West. Josh Norman ran a strong race to collect the bronze medal, with bottom age Sam Stabler 5th. Danny Hallam took  8th place after feeling slightly tired, and Paddy Radley and Lewis Smart produced a close finish for the 4th counter's spot and came in 29th and 30th. This was the first time the same Under 20 Men’s club had won the championship for three years in a row since it began in 1952.

In the Senior Mens race,  Paul Richardson produced his strongest performance on the country for some time to finish 7th in a strong field, after pulling through in the second half of the race. Early leader Gaz Davies, who has been suffering from a cold this week, did well to finish 9th, a great performance considering it is his first year in the senior age group. Paul Miles and Jay Williams had a good tussle and eventually came out 34th and 40th respectively. Tom Meakin finished 59th with Mike Davies 175th. The team were a clear 5th position, which is a promising result.

Over 6km, the Under 17s did well, with Niall McSharry running very well to spearhead the team finishing 23rd. Ash Chambers was 22 seconds down and finished 31st, with new recruit Will Bourne running his first regional championships for the club and coming in 36th. Jake Boat finished the team finishing 66th, with Rupes Radley placing 79th. The team were pleased to finish a solid 7th in what is always a competative age group.