IF any of the more than 300 boys, who turned up at Cardiff's Trelai Park the week before last for the Cardiff & Vale Schools cross-country championships for boys, had hoped for a firm, fast course, they soon discovered that they had been indulging in some wishful thinking.

A combination of recent heavy rainfall, water draining of the nearby Ely link and the steady drizzle, which started 30 minutes before the first race, made for a very heavy course, which soon churned up in a number of places to give a really muddy slog.

Thankfully, the opening race, the u15 event for boys in years 8 and 9 over two small and one big lap, had the best of the conditions and, in lead group of four, it was two Vale athletes who made the early pace. Dan Owen (Llantwit) headed the field on the opening small circuit with Sully resident Rory Heslop (Bro Morgannwg) ensuring that the lead quartet maintained a fast tempo through the muddy section to the high point on the last lap. At that point, Mike Ward (Llanishen) kicked away in determined fashion on the slippery descent to claim the victory by two seconds from Heslop with Owen having to settle for fourth behind Tom Bevan (Cardiff High).

The year 7 race, over one small and one large lap, was dominated by the Cardiff High duo of Tommy Shorey and John Cove, who claimed the gold and silver medals. Five Vale athletes finished in the top ten places with Joshua Kirk (Barry Comprehensive) taking the third place award.

Perhaps the most pleasing feature of the senior boys' race, over three large, muddy laps was the number of competitors ­ over 90 finishers, not far short of the u15 race. The age group, which includes pupils from years 10 to 13, includes two individual age groups ­ an u17 section for pupils in years 10 and 11 and an u20 for sixth form students.

Sadly, the top two Vale u17 athletes ­ year 11 Owen Haswell (Stanwell) and Elliot Mears (Cowbridge, year 10) ­ were unable to compete.

Year 13 Rowan Axe (Radyr) was the class act in this race leading from gun to tape for a win by 35 seconds. Behind him, there was a battle royal between another pair of year 13 students for the U20 minor medals ­ and the Vale bragging rights. Tom Whitmarsh-Knight (Bro Morgannwg) and Joe Beech (Cowbridge) ran shoulder to shoulder for over 5km Barry resident Whitmarsh-Knight just managed to pull clear to claim second place with Beech having to settle for third.

With another sixth former, Ashleigh Harper (Whitchurch), taking fourth place, the u17 awards were still up for grabs but that was soon sorted as Llantwit year 11 Darren Jones, making a welcome return from illness, finished fifth to take the u17 title. Year 10 Declan Court (Cardiff High) had a spirited run to take sixth, and second place in the u17 section, while another year 10, Oliver Beaman (Cowbridge), produced his best run since October to finish eighth overall and claim the u17 bronze.

In the team competitions, the u15 team from Barry ­ Matthew Edwards (7th), Callam Barrie (10th), Rhys James (13th) and Richard Lewis (14th) ­ produced the biggest shock of the day to win the title ahead of the more fancied squads from Cardiff High and Radyr, while the Llantwit year 7 squad of Ben Owen (6th), Arran Bright (12th), Connor Beattie (18th) and Ben Murphy (19th) finished third behind Llanishen.

The individual and team awards will be made at the Cardiff & Vale Schools Cross-Country Presentation Evening, which will be held at Ysgol Gyfun Bro Morgannwg on Tuesday, May 12, starting at 7 pm.

VALE RESULTS

Senior (U20 & U17) Boys ­ 5.2 km ­ 92 finishers

2 Tom Whitmarsh-Knight Bro Morgannwg U20 20:05; 3 Joe Beech Cowbridge U20 20:13; 5 Darren Jones Llantwit U17 20:26; 8 Oliver Beaman Cowbridge U17 20:58; 16 Joseff Whitmarsh-Knight Bro Morgannwg U17 21:28; 18 Daniel Lewis St Cyres U17 21:33; 20 Rhys George Bro Morgannwg U17 21:50; 23 John Davies Cowbridge U17 22:00; 26 Dominic Jackson Howell's U20 22:12; 28 Ieuan Donovan Bro Morgannwg U17 22:24; 32 Joseff Swain Bro Morgannwg U20 22:48; 35 Tom Howles Llantwit U17 22:53; 36 Dan Ruffle Llantwit U17 22:55; 38 Tieran Scott Bro MorgannwgU17 23:08; 40 Matthew Robinson Llantwit U17 23:11; 43 Dimitri Fallas St Cyres U17 23:23; 44 Sam Middlemiss St Cyres U17 23:25; 45 Josh Thomas Cowbridge U17 23:27; 46 Einan Scott Bro Morgannwg U17 23:27; 49 Jonathan Esquirol Cowbridge U17 23:43; 54 Richard Pilcher Bro Morgannwg U17 23:59; 56 Luke Hudson Bro Morgannwg U17 24:09; 57 Iwan Britton Bro Morgannwg U17 24:19; 63 Nathan Hopkins Bro Morgannwg U17 24:35; 67 George Connolly Bro Morgannwg U17 24:55; 75 Dillon Morgan Cowbridge U17 25:36; 76 Arron Goodfellow Llantwit U17 25:47; 80 Jake Connolly Bro Morgannwg U17 26:37; 82 Kyle Garrison Llantwit U20 26:55; 90 Sumi Khan St Cyres U17 28:26

Team:

4 Bro Morgannwg 64; 6 Cowbridge 76; 8 Llantwit 111; 9 Bro Morgannwg B 138; 13 St Cyres 177; 14 Bro Morgannwg C 187

Years 8 & 9 (U15) Boys ­ 4.1 km ­ 99 finishers

2 Rory Heslop Bro Morgannwg 16:42; 4 Dan Owen Llantwit 17:08; 7 Matthew Edwards Barry 17:26; 8 Huw Evans Stanwell 17:29; 10 Callam Barrie Barry 17:30; 13 Rhys James Barry 17:50; 14 Richard Lewis Barry 17:57; 15 Harri Williams Bro Morgannwg 17:59; 22 Wesley Burns Bro Morgannwg 18:16; 25 Morgan Preece Bro Morgannwg 18:33; 26 Sam Peterken St Cyres 18:36; 32 Jacob Briscombe Bro Morgannwg 19:05; 34 Tom Morgan Cowbridge 19:12; 42 Rhys Geischeimer Barry 19:42; 45 Lloyd Creed Barry 19:54; 49 Rowan Miller Llantwit 20:02; 55 David Sami Cowbridge 20:20; 57 Jason Sami Cowbridge 20:24; 61 Connor Ogden Barry 20:42; 62 Tom Parker Llantwit 20:44; 63 Davy Davies Bro Morgannwg 20:47; 64 Luke Aspinall Cowbridge 20:48; 65 Ieuan Orton Bro Morgannwg 20:52; 69 Gareth Pilcher Bro Morgannwg 21:06; 71 Damian Robinson Barry 21:16; 86 Joel Reeves Bro Morgannwg 22:16; 89 Simon ??? Bro Morgannwg 22:40

Team:

1 Barry Comp 44; 4 Bro Morgannwg 64; 11 Barry Comp B 177; 13 Cowbridge 210; 14 Llantwit 212; 16 Bro Morgannwg B 229

Year 7 (U13) Boys ­ 3 km ­ 112 finishers

3 Josh Kirk Barry 12:58; 5 Dafydd George Bro Morgannwg 13:08; 6 Ben Owen Llantwit 13:17; 7 Rhys Schuster St Cyres 13:25; 10 Tim Harry Stanwell 13:48; 12 Arran Bright Llantwit 13:52; 16 Daniel Cranston Stanwell 14:12; 18 Connor Beattie Llantwit 14:19; 19 Ben Murphy Llantwit 14:20; 23 Gareth Hurman Barry 14:25; 28 Nathan Stephens Cowbridge 14:37; 30 Iwan Meopham Bro Morgannwg 14:42; 33 Tom Harvard St Cyres 14:46; 35 Tom Johnson Cowbridge 14:54; 36 Iwan Thomas Bro Morgannwg 14:58; 37 Callum Smith St Cyres 15:04; 40 Tom Owen Cowbridge 15:12; 44 Steffan Cowdrey Barry 15:27;47 Will Parker Llantwit 15:30; 54 James Humpage Stanwell 15:41; 55 Tom Geen Stanwell 15:44; 56 Jacob Frost Stanwell 15:45; 57 Taylor Harris Bro Morgannwg 15:46; 60 Nicky Griffiths Cowbridge 15:55; 61 Oscar Kempton Bro Morgannwg 15:56; 69 Joe Solomon Llantwit; 70 Corey Rowlands Bro Morgannwg; 71 Ethan Benskin Llantwit; 72 Mark Williams Barry 16:10; 77 Joseff Richards Bro Morgannwg; 78 Alex Guard Cowbridge; 82 Matthew Broderick Bro Morgannwg 16:31; 86 Joel Lapton Stanwell; 87 Sion Amos Bro Morgannwg 16:51; 88 Adam Konatas Bro Morgannwg; 89 Jamie Hitchen Stanwell; 90 Sam Boulaiche St Cyres; 93 Lewis Lovell Bro Morgannwg 17:02; 95 Curtis James Bro Morgannwg; 96 Matthew Moore Barry; 97 Ben Brown Llantwit; 109 Teifion Osbourne Bro Morgannwg; 111 Matthew Horne Bro Morgannwg; 112 Morgan Rees Bro Morgannwg

Team:

3 Llantwit 55; 5 Bro Morgannwg 128; 7 Stanwell 135; 8 Cowbridge 135; 10 Barry 139; 11 St Cyres 167; 18 Llantwit B 284; 19 Bro Morgannwg B 290; 22 Bro Morgannwg C 363