Medals galore for Cambridge athletes in cross country and on the track

Medals galore were won by Cambridge athletes in a dominant weekend on the track and cross country.

Ben Snaith, Holly Archer, Isaac Morris, Louise Shanahan and Shannon Flockhart all claimed individual accolades, while they were team gongs for the Cambridge & Coleridge senior men and under-15 boys.

Bottisham-based Snaith was in action at the UK Athletics Indoor Championships at the Utilita Arena Birmingham.

In the 200m, the sprinter, who competes for Newham & Essex Beagles, won his heat and semi-final to progress to the final.

In a pulsating race, Snaith was pipped on the line, taking the silver medal in a personal best 21.01sec as Brighton Phoenix’s Toby Harries won in 20.99.

Cambridge & Coleridge AC’s Archer, the European indoor silver medallist, was racing in the 1,500m.

She took a front-running approach and led with around 300m to go, when she was passed by Giffnock North’s Erin Wallace, who had Adelle Tracey on her shoulder. Tracey went on to win in 4min 13.14sec, Wallace was second in 4.14.72, while Archer took bronze in 4.18.36.

C&C’s Morris was part of a large team from C&C at the National Cross Country Championships at Parliament Hill.

He was competing in the under-17 boys’ race and won the silver medal in 21.33, just 19sec behind the winner, Exeter’s Sam Mills. The C&C team were sixth overall, just 16 points off the bronze medal.

C&C’s senior men’s team sealed their first medals at the National Cross Country Championships since the 1970s.

They scored 270 to take third place, and were just five off Leeds City. Southampton won with 209.

It was a 14-strong team, and the finishers that contributed to the team score were Jack Gray (14th), James Edgerton (15th), Michael Bartram (34th), James Teagle (42nd), Thomas Keen (47th) and James Reed (118th).

C&C’s under-15 boys’ team earned the bronze medal.

They scored 243, as Chiltern Harriers won with 157 and Tonbridge AC were second with 225.

Liam Conway earned a top 10 spot, finishing 10th in 15.02, while Matt Smith (57th), George Christmas (67th) and Ewan Taylor (109th) completed the scorers, with team-mates Marcus Wentzell (121st) George Jennings (134th) and Leo Rothwell (361st) helping make it a great winter season with a host of top-five performances.

C&C had other teams in the top 10 and they were the under-17 girls (8th), under-13 girls (7th), under-15 girls (8th), under-20 women (9th) and the junior men (7th).

At the Irish Life Health National Senior Indoor Championships, Cambridge University student Shanahan won her first national indoor title by taking victory in the 800m in 2.06.72.

In the US, C&C’s Flockhart won the Big East Conference Mile title racing for Providence College, clocking 4.46.71 in the event in Chicago.