AVIVA 47th WELSH SCHOOLS NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Welsh Schools' Athletic Association
Cymdeithas Athletau Ysgolion Cymru

AVIVA 47th WELSH SCHOOLS NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Saturday, February 28th 2009 Penlan, Brecon

For the top schools' cross-country runners in Wales, all roads lead to Brecon's Penlan Arena on Saturday for the 47th Welsh Schools' National cross-country championships.

Pupils, from years 7 to 13, have been selected to represent their schools' district at an event, which will be sponsored for the first time by Aviva.

Eight races will be held with athletes vying not only for individual and team medals but also for places in the Welsh Schools' teams to compete at Faenol, near Bangor in north Wales, on Saturday, March 28th in the SIAB u15 and u17 internationals and the Celtic Schools u20 match.

The afternoon starts at 1 pm with the event for senior girls. Clear favourite for the individual title is Leah Dixon (Glamorgan Valleys, 504). The year 13 student from St John Baptist in Aberdare, who won the middle girls title in 2006, has underlined her determination this winter by competing with great success in the senior women's section of the Gwent League and the Welsh Athletics championships at Builth. Her closest competition may come from Emily Downey (Dyfed, 304) and Gwenno Brown (Cardiff & the Vale, 201).

If Dewi Griffiths (Dyfed, 317) defends his senior boys title successfully, he will have created a little piece of history. The greatest number of Schools' National cross-country wins by a boy currently stands at four, a feat shared by Colin Jones (Gwynedd) and Tre-gib pupil Griffiths, who won the junior title in 2005, claimed middle victories in 2006 and 2007 and headed the senior section last year. A fifth win will be a new mark for boys – but will also equal the current girls' best, which is shared by Ceri Burnell (South Glamorgan) and, more recently, Non Stanford (Afan Nedd Tawe).

The senior boys race includes a number of experienced and talented athletes, many of whom, it will be hoped, will go on to make their mark at senior level for Wales GB junior international Griffiths will be aware of the threat from his Dyfed team mate Adam Bitchell (314), Jonathan Hopkins (Glamorgan Valleys, 513) and Rowan Axe (Cardiff & the Vale, 213) – all of whom are potential members of the Schools 15-17 squad at the 2009 adidas Mini London Marathon on April 26th.

Year 7 races are always difficult to predict because the distances are short and the athletes have been competing in secondary schools competitions for less than two terms and may only have taken part in a small number of significant races. One of the guides that may help is performances in the year 7 schools competitions at Cardiff X Challenge in January. On that evidence, the girls race may feature a close contest between Siwan Thomas-Howells (125) and her Afan Nedd Tawe team-mate, Olivia Gwyn (125), with Thomas-Howells looking to emulate the success of older sister Hywelis in 2007 with a first National win, while Christian Lovatt (338), the first ever Dyfed winner of the year 7 boys race at Cardiff X, looks to be the athlete to beat in the boys race.

Megan Withers (Dyfed, 353) will be hoping to win the junior girls race for years 8 &9 but the 2008 adidas Mini London Marathon u12 winner can expect a stiff test from Hywelis Thomas-Howells (Afan Nedd Tawe, 149). If Lauren Bell (Dyfed, 355) has recovered from her 800 metres victory in last Sunday's Celtic Schools u16 Indoor International, she could also be in contention for an individual medal.

For an athlete who looks on himself as an 800 metres runner, year 9 Matthew Antoniazzi

(Glamorgan Valleys, 561) has produced an impressive set of cross-country performances this winter both within Wales and at the West Midlands Schools Invitation Inter-Counties at Birmingham in November, and he will be the one to look out for in the junior boys race.

In the middle girls race, for pupils in years 10 & 11, Zoe Thomas (Glamorgan Valleys, 573) is the defending champion. Last year, she was in outstanding form and, although at the bottom end of the age group, thoroughly deserved her victory. Sadly, this winter has not gone to plan and performances have not been of the same quality. She would be the first to admit that 2008 junior winner Ffion Price (Powys, 773) has emerged as the potential winner on home soil, with Thomas likely to be battling with old rival Natasha Cockram (South East Wales, 873) for a top three placing.

Another former champion, 2007 junior winner Charlie Hulson (North East Wales, 695), will start as the leading contender for the middle boys title after his outstanding win in the Celtic u17 international held within Cardiff X. The main challengers are likely to be his three Welsh teammates at that fixture – Jamie Wright (North East Wales, 685), Alex Edwards (Glamorgan Valleys, 585) and 2008 junior champion Elliot Hardee (South East Wales, 888) – and Matthew O'Leary (Afan Nedd Tawe, 185).

With the abundance of club athletes available for the Dyfed team, district organiser Hedydd Davies will be looking to his youngsters to claim the lion's share of the team awards – and to retain the Overall Points trophy for another year.

The West Walians have strong squads in the three older girls' sections and at senior boys and will be looking for a successful defence of their titles. North East Wales were surprise winners of the middle boys section in 2008 but they may find that the title goes to South East Wales this time. Both of the year 7 sections and the junior boys contest are very open this year.

The districts taking part, the numbers their athletes will wear and their vest colour are:

Programmes

Six of the eight districts have pre-ordered event programmes for their pupils.

Programmes will also be on sale to the public from the pavilion.

Awards

The first thee individuals in each race and the three leading teams will receive awards.