South of England Inter-Counties

Biggleswade - 31st January 2009

Essex female athletes were in terrific form at the Southern Inter Counties Championships held at Biggleswade on Saturday. The icy cold winter conditions did not deter the Red Vests as they swept to three glorious individual wins:-

        Senior Ladies:  Lauren Deadman
        U17 Ladies:      Gemma Kersey
        U15 Girls:         Jessica Judd

Essex also won four team Golds, 8 Silver and 4 Bronze. A glorious achievement indeed.

With team spirit high in all age groups, no more in evidence than in the Senior Ladies, who rose to the occasion to win the team Gold Medals led by the in-form Lauren Deadman who stormed to victory in majestic style to take the Inter Counties title, there was excellent team packing from Harriet Scott - 4th (2nd U23), Clare Conway 10th and Danielle Tatum 12th.(3rd U23).

In the U20's the team won excellent Silver Medal led by Danielle Hurley 5th, Katherine Sefton 7th, Kerry Holland 8th, Laura Condron 11th and Jessica Docking 14th.

The U17 Women saw Gemma Kersey have her best run of the season, her determination was there for all to see as she crossed the line lst over the moon with her victory to lead the Essex Team into Silver Medal Team position with good support coming from Sophie Carroll - 8th , Ella Neale - 13th, Emily Burgess - 14th , Claudia Conway - 17th, Charlotte Bishop - 18th and Zoey Littlechild was 30th.

In the U15 Girls it was another triumph for Jessica Judd. Hungry for success she swept to victory in fine fashion to gain her title in Gold Medal position, followed by Eleanor Bounds 5th, Aimee Garnett 13th, Camilla Smee 25th, Doja Atanda 33rd, Georgina Ferrari 37th and Jessica Mead 38th. the team won Bronze Medal. Unfortunately Hannah McGowan Jones just missed the race by 5 minutes after being held up in traffic but her time will come again soon.

In the U13 Girls good performances came from Kaylee Dodd 18th, Maddie Gough 20th, Millie Smith 2lst, Emily Bullis 28th, Marleen Avontour 3lst, Ellie Foster 36th and Avril Loynes 37th.

Team Manager John Hyland said that there were some truly great performances and the athletes and Coaches involved must take credit, we look forward now to the Inter Counties at Nottingham on 7th March.

Essex Senior Ladies Team
Left to right: Harriet Scott, Danielle Tatum, Lauren Deadman and Clare Conway

Essex U17 Silver Medal Winning Team
Left to Right: Ella Neale, Emily Burgess, Sophie Carroll and Gemma Kersey.