EXCELLENT results were achieved by the 73 members of Tavistock Athletic Club who competed in the county championships at Bicton College on Sunday.
This represented a good turnout from the Tavistock club and included a number who were running in a county championship for the first time. Conditions were ideal with bright clear still weather.
In the Under 13 girls' race Emma Passmore and Sarah Guy got the club off to a good start, both running strongly. Emma finished the race in tenth place in a time of 13 minutes 14 seconds with Sarah finishing in 13th place in 13mins 49 secs.
In the Under 15 boys' race Tavistock were well represented by three regular Westward league runners. The start was fast despite the first 150m of the course being uphill and the strong field maintained the pace for the initial stage of the race.
Tavistock's Paul Rowe was not intimidated by the stronger runners in the field, many of whom were over a year older, and fought hard to stay with the leading group.
The other Tavistock runners, Adam Tofield and Shaun Hewitt, found themselves battling with each other for position.
Paul Rowe ran well to finish in seventh place in a time of 17mins 23secs with Adam Tofield moving into 25th place in the closing stages to finish in a time of 20mins 29 secs with Shaun Hewitt finishing 26th in a time of 20mins 38 secs. Consistent running by the three boys put the Tavistock team into fourth place in the race.
In the senior ladies' race Karen Ballentyne represented Tavistock and ran well to finish in 30th place in a time of 49mins 15secs.
In the senior men's race Tavistock were again well represented with seven runners. Richard Drage led the Tavistock contingent finishing in overall 15th place in a time of 46mins 40secs. This was a good run by Richard and gave him first place in the male vet 40 category.
The next Tavistock runner home was Steve Groombridge finishing in 21st place in a time of 48mins 38secs. This also put a Tavistock runner in the medal table with Steve finishing as the third male vet 45 runner.
Jerry Rickeard finished just two places behind in 23rd place in 48mins 53secs with Robin Musgrave finishing 41st in 52mins 45secs and finishing as the second male vet 50 runner.
Tim Gent, running for the first time in a county championship, finished in 46th place in 63mins 25secs. Roger Hewitt finished in 89th place in a time of 68mins 02secs.
This represented strong running in the Vet categories and Richard Drage, Steve Groombridge and Robin Musgrave were awarded silver medals as the second male vet team in the championship.