Storm Dennis has been pretty grim – and that’s an understatement! – but it didn’t stop the latest round of the Gloucestershire Cross-Country League taking place even though the notorious Pittville Park ditch in Cheltenham was deemed too dangerous to tackle, an adjusted course ensured some honest racing by several hundred competitors.

Gloucester Athletic Club’s policy this season, as in recent times, has been to use the league to develop its young athletes and prepare them for the challenges of senior level athletics and again the young talent in the club was evident, no more so than in the senior/U17 women’s race where Millie Porter underlined her potential to place an excellent 6th overall and 2nd U17W.

Another U17, Tilly Ashley, also coped well with the conditions to place 12th overall and 3rd in her category while seniors Charlotte McGlone, Kim Millward and Briony Bishop were not far behind as they placed 17th, 19th and 23rd respectively.

LU17s Lucy Jeffery and Amber Spackman recorded their best-ever placings in the league, coming home in 34th and 52nd places, while other club finishers in the race were Nicola Waters (68th), Charlotte Hall (76th) and Emma Jeffery (90th).

The race incorporated the M65 and M70 age groups and saw Arthur Daley place 36th overall and 1st M70 and Rowland Clegg 71st overall and 6th in the M65 group.

The U15 girls’ race saw Keira Barry secure her first top 10 League placing, finishing 10th, with support from Anna Pollard in 14th and Jessica Stringer in 15th place.

Two U17 men who are progressing nicely in their first season are Matthew Ward and Josh Collenette and they placed 4th and 5th in their category, while in the U15 boys’ race, Jacob Barry placed 5th, Ben Darlow 15th and Ethan 19th.

Aliya Hawkins was the club’s sole representative in the U13s age group and she placed 22nd in the girls’ race, while the U11 girls’ race saw Adelina Ducker finish in 20th place, just ahead of Olivia Postgate in 23rd, Matilda Farmer in 33rd and Bailey Ward in 36th place. In his first club race, Levi Akane placed 44th in the U11 boys’ event.

The club’s senior men’s priority during the winter was to focus on the Birmingham Cross-Country League which they managed to great effect when winning the Division Two, but they are taking this opportunity to blood new runners.

Owen Parry has been a mainstay of the teams over the past three seasons, establishing himself as a regular in the ‘A’ team, and he achieved his highest-ever league placing when coming home in 22nd place.

Newcomer Eugenio Diz, in his first club race, impressed when placing 37th while U20 Sebastian Clark made a significant breakthrough when placing 41st.

Dave Gresswell secured another scoring place, coming home in 75th place, Lloyd Andrews crossed the line in 94th with Chris Davis making the scoring team for the first time in 133rd place.

A club spokesman said afterwards: “The number of young athletes we had out today demonstrated the talent coming through. We’ll be watching them all closely as they turn their attentions to the track during the summer months ahead of the challenges of next winter.”

The Club’s annual general meeting takes place on Monday 24th February at the Fountain Inn, Westgate Street, Gloucester (7.30pm).