Athletic club's ladies put gloss on a disappointing outing (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Athletic club's ladies put gloss on a disappointing outing

IT proved a disappointing day for the aspirations of Cirencester Athletic Club men who had hoped to do better in their recent Oxford Mail Cross Country League outing to Bletchingdon.

A great start in the first fixture in November had seen the ladies well placed in second in Division 1 and the men in sixth.

Despite both teams suffering from absences, there were several notable individual successes at Enslow Quarry, the second fixture of the season. On a quagmire of a course, which included The Trench, a thigh deep trough of water, the Cirencester ladies still performed well.

The were aided by an impressive one-two, courtesy of Wendy Jones - a minute clear of her rivals - and Jane Wassell who, for second race in succession, improved on her best-ever result in the league.

And Diane Moore ran really well for the team under pressure to take 28th position.

She improved by 16 places on her position in the first race to give the club a fighting chance of retaining the team trophy in the remaining three fixtures.

Sue Brown also finished well in 47th, improving her position by 25 places. But the club's men experienced real disappointment by dropping from sixth place - nearly fourth - to ninth in Division One.

Most ran reasonably well, but with a drop in numbers, the gaps between finishers were too large for the team to be competitive.

Pancho Gonzalez led the team home in 23rd, despite badly twisting an ankle on a hazardous course.

And 17-year-old Ian Sanders performed really well, particularly given the bad conditions that he'd never previously encountered and his storming finish is surely an indicator that there is more to come.

Ian Fletcher was another to run well, improving 40 places on his previous outing. Once again the youngsters, coached by Paula Vass and Tim Collings, turned out in good numbers, particularly the U11s girls.

Cirencester results are as follows:

Oxford League cross Country, round two: U11s boys: 24 Mark Whistler 3.49; U11s girls: 7 Lucy Vass 3.32, 17 Laura Eales 3.55, 23 Olivia Williams 4.07, 24 Jenny Eales 4.11, 27 Verity Greenhaugh 4.27, 31 Zoe Frazer 4.50; U13s boys: 23 Liam Frazer 9.57; U13s/U15s girls: 33 Charlotte Somers (U13s) 10.38.

Women: 1 Wendy Jones 21.57, 2 Jane Wassell 22.57, 28 Diane Moore 27.48, 47 Sue Brown 30.04. 85 finished.

Teams: 1 Witney 16pts, 2 Cirencester 31. 30 teams closed in. After two races: 1 Witney 39pts, 2 Cirencester 53. 28 teams closed in.

Men: 23 Pancho Diaz 36.18, 39 David Wright 37.47, 80 Ian Sanders 41.42, 87 Martin Pitts 42.07, 101 Ian Fletcher 43.39, 109 Chris Riches 44.30, 118 Colin O'Hare 45.03, 123 Chris Sherrington 45.24, 147 Tony Curry 47.47, 152 Dick Waldron 48.28, 178 David Edelsten 55.29. 188 finished.

Teams: Division 1: 1 Woodstock 89pts, 9 Cirencester 557, of ten teams. Division 2: 17 Cirencester B 1167. 20 teams closed in.

After 2 races: Division 1: 1 Woodstock 173pts, 9 Cirencester 900. Division 2: 10 Cirencester B 2054, 18 teams closed in.

Next fixture on January 2 now becomes vital for the teams where a stronger turnout is needed at Banbury.