Home Countries XC International incl Inter-Area Match, Temple Newsam, Leeds – Saturday 8th February 2025
Athletes from all over the UK and Ireland gathered in Leeds on a dull and chilly day ready to race over a hilly and technical course at Temple Newsam park!
The majestic Grade I listed Tudor-Jacobean Temple Newsam house provided an impressive backdrop to an equally impressive field of the UKs top athletes.
The North brought its top athletes to compete in the Inter-Area match in the U20 and Senior competitions, competing against teams representing Midlands and the South of England. Representative teams from England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland were also competing in the event in the Home Countries XC International.
The U20 Ladies set off at 12.00pm with the North team of Ava Clough (Trafford), Georgia Bell (Leven Valley), Lilia Harris (Rotherham) and Lottie Langan (City of York). The race began with an uphill start that would be one of many over the challenging course. Although the ground was soft and runnable, there was no flat ground!
The ladies ran hard over a technical course with Georgia and Lottie in the lead group charge. Ava and Lilia in the mix and in close pursuit! The hills proved a tough challenge with no respite on technical fast downhill sections. The ladies fought hard over the 3 laps with Georgia Bell leading the North team and finishing in a fantastic 8th position with an uphill finish! Lottie Langan came in closely behind with a brilliant 11th place followed by excellent well fought runs by Ava Clough in 19th and Lilia Harris in 30th.
The U20 Men were next off at 12.30pm – Ewan Busfield (Derby), Robbie Price (Vale Royal), Leo Powell (Derby) and Harry Peacocke (Salford).
Ewan was mixing it with the lead-group early on, and managed to finish a superb 10th overall, beating several of the International competitors. Robbie price was next to finish in 31st. Harry and Leo rounding out the team in 40th and 41st respectively. Excellent runs from our the team and a great learning experience.
The Senior Ladies started the hilly battle at 1.00pm and no site of the sun meant conditions remained extremely cold with many athletes opting for extra layers!
Sophie Tarver (Wirral), Jade Morgan (Liverpool), Dominique Corradi (Leeds City) and Katy Wood (City of York) made up the strong team for the North. Sophie made her intentions clear leading the charge with a tight group of the England team in the front pack. Dominique pushed hard in the chase group with Katy in close pursuit and closely followed by Jade. The course challenged the athletes over the relentless 4 laps with positions changing and athletes having to dig deep to keep up the fight! Sophie Tarver gave all she had to finish a fantastic 4th place, only 6 seconds off the medals. Katy Wood fought hard to move through the field finishing in an excellent 12th place. Jade Morgan also gave a gutsy run to gain places in the middle section of the race and came through to finish in a brilliant 16th place closely followed 7 seconds after by Dominique Corradi pushing hard on the final brutal hill! An excellent performance by the North Senior Ladies team.
The final race of the day saw the Senior Men toe the line with a 1.40pm start – Chris Coulson (Houghton), Rich Allen (Leeds City), Tommy Power (Hallamshire) and a late addition to the team, Sean Flanagan (Leeds City) making his North of England debut after withdrawal due to injury of Euan Brown.
Tommy was keen to mix it with the lead group throughout the first half of the race, even managing to recover from a heavy fall on one of the downhill corners. Tommy finished a superb 10th. Chris ran much of the race solo and would finish an excellent 14th, only 15 secs down on Tommy. The very wily and experienced Rich Allen went off conservatively and came all the way through the field to finish 15th, chasing down Chris. Sean ran solidly to finish 32nd.
Inter-Area team scores will be published when confirmed by the organisers.
A massive thanks to Mark Tallon for all his hard work before the event with team selection and organising all kit!
Also a shout to Sophie Warden for her pre-race socials build-up and Ruth Hirst who was on the course on the day, getting some of the amazing photos of the team and updating socials in real-time!
A great day of XC racing! Thank you to the Northern Athletics Board for making these representative opportunities possible.
Claire Duck, Mick Hill – Northern Athletics, Team Management
Full results can be found HERE!
Ruth Hirst’s photo gallery can be found HERE!
