TAVISTOCK Athletic Club yet again became Devon County Cross Country champions at Exeter on December 2. It was not the men who took the gold on this occasion, but it was the turn of ladies’ team.

Amongst fiercely competitive racing the Tavistock club walked away from the championships with a stunning haul - six different team medals - gold for TAC senior women and veteran women, silvers for U15 girls and U13 girls, bronze for U15 boys and U13 boys as well as four individual gold medals and one individual silver.

The Devon Championships were incorporated into the third round of the Charles Stanley Westward League, ensuring all the top runners were present for the competition. Tavistock AC yet again had a strong turnout with 26 females and 23 males taking part – a record of 49 runners for the club.

The day’s racing turned out to be all about the females for the Tavistock club. The second race of the day, the women’s and U17 girls, got the Tavistock AC club off to a well deserved medal start. An excellent performance from Olympian silver medallist Heather Fell in fourth in the Devons gave the club their first gold as she comfortably won the veteran 35 category. Second team member home was Sam Lake who won the female veteran 40 category to collect the second gold. Hot on her heels was U17s Natasha Farrington who’s performance gained her county selection for the South West Championships.

Next in was Tilly McDowell, who was Cornish gold medallist last month, then Caroline Steven who won the V50 category with her 56th place in the league. The third for the seniors was Emma White in 27th in the Devons, which gave her bronze in the vet 40 category and secured the senior’s team championship and the veteran ladies’ championship gold. With Helen Kula-Przezwanski finishing in 34th place in the Devons she picked up a well deserved silver medal in her category.

In the U13 girls, it was a team silver with Charlotte Walker (sixth), Matilda Riggott (ninth) and Piper Haffenden (13th) showing how consistency reaps rewards. In the U13 boys over the same 3km course, the boys could not quite match the colour of the girls medals but were delighted to come away with a team bronze medal with Will White, Ewan Dix and James Crossey being the scorers.

In the following race, the U15 girls, over a 3.9km course, Amelia Riggott had a stunning run. She sat in on two Exeter Harriers for most of the race before pulling away from them on the final hill to secure her gold medal. With Krystina Cade having a strong run in fifth and Elyse Kedzior-MacDonough in 10th, another team silver was secured. The U15 boys followed in the footsteps of the U13 boys by also picking up a bronze. Will Russell (sixth), Joe Dix (seventh) and Dan Luckham (16th) were the contributing team members.

The final race was the U20 mens’, senior and veteran mens’ combined. Unfortunately for TAC there was not a team medal, but the men’s team was pleased to see progress with a fifth place finish. Individually Adam Holland had got married (and completed a marathon the day before) so was a little below par. New boy Bart Thomas made a solid debut in 39th, Martin Exley-Deane won his category again but the star of the men’s race was Bob Chapman who picked up the club’s fourth individual gold by winning the veteran 70 category.