CompassSport Trophy
Big event of the weekend for SELOC was Sunday’s bid to qualify for the Finals of this year’s CompassSport Trophy, the major annual competition for smaller UK clubs. Cath Wilson stepped up to the role of team captain and organised our squad for the NW qualifying round, staged by Border Liners on a brand new moorland area in the NE Lakes. Unfortunately, injuries, pressures of work and a popular fell race nearer home depleted the team on the day and we finished 7th out of the 8 teams competing. The scoring system is complex but requires a good turnout across a range of age classes so even a poor run can produce a good points haul in some classes. Few clubs managed a full squad but SELOC’s team of just 17 had no runners in 4 of the 10 age classes so were up against it.
Bright sunshine had replaced the foul weather of Saturday but a cold wind meant it wasn’t a day for hanging around. Captain Cath was our only competitor to score top marks with 100 points, but Matt Driver scored 97, Theo Middleton 96, Steve Wilson 94 and Mark Seddon 93. A few more scores like that would have seen SELOC better placed, but several found it hard going into a strong head wind on barren hills, causing a few retirements. So despite the best efforts of our gallant team, there’ll be no place in the Final for SELOC in 2019.
SELOC Successes
We reported last week on Matt Driver’s runaway win in the winter’s SROC Street League, but had to wait until Wednesday night’s prize-giving event to hear about other winners. Matt wasn’t just crowned Men’s Champion but also won the prestigious Guild Trophy but the age-based handicapping system pushed him down severely, making Paul Turner our best runner on handicap, in 5th place. Josie Greenhalgh, running with Darren Baker of DEE, came out a Pairs Champion just ahead of Ed Mellor and Anne Speakman who were joint 2nd, just 3 points behind. Anne was also adjudged the best female newcomer of the season. Then to round it all off, Oliver Sammon came away as under-21 Champion – the first of many, we hope. Congratulations to all.
In the one-off race held in conjunction with the prize-giving we had 12 runners out. Matt proved his strength with another clear win, followed by an excellent 4th place for Steve Wilson then Josie and Darren in 7th as our other top 10 finishers.
We had fewer SELOC members competing in MDOC’s very-similar Street League, where the final league table has also been published. Matt Driver was again our best runner in 3rd place on gross scores, but a gentler handicapping system only dropped him down to 5th and still top SELOC. Paul Turner was 13th on gross scores, climbing to 8th on handicap. MDOC also had a one-off prize-giving event at Urmston on Tuesday night, and as mentioned last week they tried out a smartphone based system to record control visits. By all accounts this was very successful. Competitors didn’t have to stop to write down answers on paper, which suited the faster, fitter people at least, and speeded up results processing no end so that live scores were shown on a big screen in the pub.
Upcoming Events
DEE have a Night Street event at Northwich on Tuesday 19 March while there’s a very attractive package of Lake District events at the weekend from LOC and SROC. Alternatively, DVO have an East Midland League event on Sunday on the tricky wooded slopes of Crich Chase, near Matlock or there’s an EPOC urban event closer to home in Elland, as part of the Yorkshire Urban League. That Sunday, 24 March, is also the closing date for entries to Easter’s JK weekend in Hampshire.
The following weekend, 30th March, sees the next event in SELOC’s popular Saturday series at Chesham Woods, Bury, followed on Sunday 31 March by a PFO event in Peel Park, Accrington.