AS the Westward League Cross Country season enters its second half, Tavistock athletes and teams position themselves for medal finishes. With the final positions decided by the best five finishes from six starts, race day four at Bideford on January 13 was always going to be key. The conditions proved to be a major influence on a course which is always challenging due to some difficult climbs. Again, it was a day where the junior members of the club were to prove the heroes. In the first race, strong individual performances by the whole team meant Clare Fraser won in style to take overall lead in the U13 girls' championship and with Sarah Hornby(sixth), Emma Champion (ninth) and Annabel Longden (tenth) Tavistock also took over from Conwall AC as top team. The U13 boys' team matched their female counterparts by also going to the top of the table thanks to Harry Eaton's fifth place , Ralph Lawsons's sixth being backed up by Seth McNamara- Waddington in 16th and Sam Lloyd in 17th. Having been unable to field a team yet, the U15 girls' sole representative, Rebecca Windemer, is having a solo battle for glory. In a very competitive category, her fourth place leaves Rebecca in joint second for the individual honours. The U15 boys' team remain at the top of the medal chase with Nick Champion's third place finish ensuring he holds on to second individual position. On another outstanding day for the top Devon team, Sam Straughan's fourth, George Speak's ninth and Sam Eaton's 14th places underlined the Tavistock talent in this category. In the U17 men's competition, the ability to field enough runners to make a low scoring team was a deciding factor, with rivals Plymouth and Cornwall failing to do so and allowing Tavistock to leapfrog both rivals and take over at the top after their first victory of the season. They now look certain of medals when the season ends, the only issue being the colour. After having been in the top five finishers all season, Tom Gill found something extra in the mud to record his best finish so far in second. With Tom Lawson managing a brave fourth, despite picking up an injury, tenth and eleventh places for Matt McNamara-Waddington and Owen Drage contributed to their best day yet. The U17 ladies compete in the senior team event and Sam Fraser and Laura Aspen have making a significant contribution to the team's secure third place overall as well as occupying top ten places in the individual category. At Bideford they were well placed again in the top 20 in their race whilst taking third and fourth places among the U17s. First lady finisher was again Heather Fell (third) who is the only top contender to have finished all four races. With the final places in the season being decided from the best five results over the six-race season, Heather is now assured of at least second place. With team- mate Sue Bratchley looking strong to take third in the 40-45 grouping after her first top 20 finish, it was Megan Fell who ensured a low team score by taking 21st place. In the senior men's competitions, it now looks likely that the veteran men are going to take the most medals. Despite losing leading 45-49 runner Richard Drage to a back injury, the veterans of Chris Champion (17th), Rupert Warren (18th), Martin Exley (19th) and Tony Symons (22nd) moved ahead of rivals Cornwall AC into what now looks like an unassailable lead in their quest to retain their trophy for a third consecutive season. At the front of the race, top Tavistock athlete Pete Freedman continued his outstanding form to clinch third, with Harry Wiltshire (tenth) and Adam Holland (15th) leading the team home. Despite this, another third overall for the senior team means that the chances of overall victory at the end of the season are looking increasingly unlikely. In another high turnout, Tavistock runners Andy Vallance (30th) Charlie Lloyd (40th), Gavin Punchard (44th) and Robin Musgrave (59th) meant the black vests were in evidence throughout the 80-runner field.
