LAST Sunday saw the final fixture in the Frank Elford Westward Cross Country League. The last race of the season was held in the hotbed of Cornish running at Redruth School.

Most of the league placings had been decided in the previous five meetings, but there were still some medals that Tavy athletes had to fight for.

The first race of the day was the Under 11 development race, where Ewan Dix and Emma Luckham represented the club. Ewan finished 12th in the boys race and Emma 11th in the girls race.

Next up was the Under 13 girls race where solid performances were needed from the Tavistock contingent to secure the bronze team medal and they duly delivered. Tilly McDowell had a strong run to finish 4th (and give her 5th position in the league overall), Alice Bickley was next in for the club in 17th place (19th overall) and Krystina Cade made her debut and finished just behind Alice in an excellent 18th.

The Under 13 boys also fared well in their challenge to get a team medal. Joe Dix led the trio of Tavistock runners home in 8th place (giving him 12th overall), Dan Luckham chased hard to finish 10th (13th overall) and Dan Mercer did an excellent job in securing the team bronze, coming home in 15th (14th overall).

Senior ladies had just two runners from club, Bridie Head, running strongly as always came home in 24th, which gave her overall 16th place in the league a superb performance for her first full season. Jenny Sabine who has steadily progressed through the season came home in 34th, giving her 31st overall in the league – excellent considering she is running against older, far more experienced athletes.

With the bronze medal safe for Tavy in the mens’ vet category after the previous fixtures there was just one medal to fight for individually. Martin Exley-Deane was in silver position, but a victory over leader Paul Thomas of SW Road Runners would gain him the gold. Exley-Deane took the pace out hard and finished 35th on the day to secure the gold in his vet category, 56 seconds ahead of his rival. Matt Mercer had his highest position of the series finishing in 66th place.

The final girls race of the day was the under 15 girls and boys race where Natasha Farrington continued her rich vein of running, following an excellent run in the inter counties championships with a 2nd place in the girls on the day, which gave her 3rd overall in the league – a well deserved individual bronze.

Brad Stevens, new to running at the club, made only his second appearance at cross country finishing 11th in the boys race. With consistent hard work Brad will surely be a talent to watch out for.