Simone leads Striders to second place at Lloyd Park

Striders of Croydon produced an excellent team performance to place second of the nine clubs in the final Surrey Cross-Country League Division Two match of the season, at Lloyd Park on Saturday. Division Two champions Clapham gained an emphatic victory with 150 points, but Striders’ total of 352 placed them ahead of Walton (361), Guildford (413), Ful-on Triathlon (437), Epsom (453), Dulwich (574), Stragglers (601) and Wimbledon (754). Striders finished third in the final Division Two table. They were led by Simone Luciani who ran very well to place ninth of the 157 finishers, covering the very muddy five-mile course in 31 minutes 25 seconds. Matt Morgan also ran well to place 17th (32.04) with Bill Makuwa 26th (32.25), Ernie Hann 33rd (33.05), Krzysztof Klidzia 36th (33.13) and Lee Flanagan 37th (33.19). Steve Starvis was 41st (33.24) with Justin Macenhill 42nd (33.26), Damian Macenhill 57th (34.29) and Simon Ambrosi completing the scoring team in 71st (35.20). Striders also had six non-scorers.

Earlier in the day Striders’ women were competing in their Division Two match at Farthing Downs, Coulsdon. Their A team did well to place sixth out of the 35 teams, while their B team were 23rd. The A team were led by Steph Upton who ran well to place 29th of the 159 finishers, covering the five-mile course in 39 minutes 35 seconds. Alice Ewen was 38th (40.51), Josephine Thompson 39th (40.54), Becky Laurence 41st (41.11) and Debra Bourne completed the team in 46th (41.49). For the B team, Selena Wong was 65th (45.23), Adele Boesinger 100th (49.01), Linda Daniel 116th (51.29), Michelle Clarke 117th (51.37) and Victoria Legge 157th (68.25).