ATHLETICS: THURROCK’S seniors were again out in force again for second round of the Essex Cross Country League at Colchester on Saturday.

In spite of recent heavy rain the course provided good conditions. The senior men wo were not fielding the very strong team that featured in the first match did well to finish 5th.

Again they were led by Alex Houghton who this time finished 13th. A sore achilles tendon has restricted his training recently and this was reflected in his lower position than in the first match.

Steve Prosser was next to finish in 26th place. Another good run. Scott Rice can be delighted with his 29th spot. He was 2nd V40 veteran. He is renewing his battle with Colchester's Alan Smalls who won the V40 trophy last year with Scott in the second place.

Alex Finch, 18, battled through to finish 49th. Don Lawless showed excellent form to finish 62nd. The team was rounded off by Jon Metcalf whose 73rd spot gained him 3rd place in the V50 section.

Other eye catching performances came from Anthony Tobin who showed enormous improvement from the first match to finish 77th, from Mick Bumstead who won the V60 category in 91st position, from Nigel Instance whose 95th place was a 4 position improvement over the first match and Nick Trencher who also improved to 103rd. Other finishers were Eamonn Shelley 93rd, Rob Russell 111th, John Arthur 127th, Bernie Johnson 137th and Gary Rowlett 139th. 185 athletes finished the race.

The women finished in 6th place their best performance for some seasons. Toni Noble was 24th, Silvia Bognarova-Meredith was 38th, Victoria Peacock 49th, and newcomers Sam Tuck and Jodie Farrell were 51st and 52nd respectively. It was Victoria Peacocks best run over the country and the two newcomers performed outstandingly well.

For more see Friday's THURROCK GAZETTE