Priest stays out in front
JAMES PRIEST only had himself for company as he floated along to his most convincing victory yet at a damp Home Farm.
There were several key absences in race three of the FNB Cross Country Series as much of Division One juggled other priorities, and Priest went largely unpressured to win the rugged six-miler in 34min. 42sec.
But Chris Gillman held the gap to just a minute on the line – a true sign of progress after an injury-hindered summer – as series contender Carl Holden was returning from his own setback and completed the podium in 37-20.
Priest exerted himself over 10km the previous weekend and hinted at his third cross-country win being a more composed effort.
‘Really enjoyed the race today, especially after last week,’ he said afterwards.
‘I wasn’t sure how I was going to cope as I haven’t been able to get much training in the past week, but as soon as I got going I felt fine and it wasn’t as muddy as everyone was expecting it to be. The support from everyone today was again fantastic.’
Sarah Mercier chose to keep her feet up after her recent Liverpool excellence and Louise Perrio dropped out mid-race, but Jenny James’ quality performance over four miles was deserving of women’s honours nonetheless.
She ran 24-53 for third in Division Two, not far adrift of division-topping U17 Isaac Powers, while Emily Squire and Mel Nicolle took the remaining women’s positions.
Gian-Luca Robilliard and Summer Woodhead won their respective kids’ races by large margins.
