After a start delayed by extensive renovations, Halesowen’s Friday Night Track League enjoyed a successful season with over 90 riders registered to participate
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News – Halesowen Friday Night Track League
After a start delayed by six weeks due to extensive renovations to the facility, part-funded by British Cycling, Halesowen’s Friday Night Track League enjoyed a successful season with over 90 riders registered to participate, hotly contested standings for all six leagues, and relatively few evenings lost to the rain.
The A league saw second-year junior Charles Walker dominate the standings after he brushed off an early challenge from elite Jacob Tipper of Neon Velo. Tipper was rampant on the four evenings when he turned up, but Walker ended up with twice the points after being equally dominant, while Luke Hardman of Bicicielo ended up pipping Tipper for the runner-up slot. Just behind Tipper, under-16 Olly Dighton raced strongly to claim fourth, winning the final A-cat scratch of the league on September 4.
While Walker’s victory was assured mathematically several evenings out, the B categories went down to the wire, with Nick Cruchley and league evergreen Adrian Ravenscroft (Birmingham CC) swapping the lead throughout the season. Ravenscroft made the fatal error of going on holiday for the penultimate round, enabling Cruchley to build a lead big enough to keep him afloat on the final evening. Not far adrift of the pair was vet Matt Harris, with under-14 Jamieson Blain scoring well on his four outings to clinch a promising fourth.
Both the Youth groups, one and two, saw dominant victories, with Massimo di Vito looking the probable winner of Youth One from four weeks in, while behind him Liam Allen held off a late challenge from Ryan Brookes to clinch the runner’s up slot. In Youth Two, Alex Barker scored close to maximum points in the opening five weeks to make his intentions clear from the off, while a close fought battle for second place was contested between Nathan Burns, Joseph Brookes and Joshua Mitchell, with Burns landing second by 11 points.
The freewheelers league was the most hotly contested of all, with Alexander Brown, Ellie Swingell, and Harry Sharples all looking possible winners in the opening five weeks, with Brown pulling clear in the final few rounds, while Tomos Pattinson scored well in the final three weeks to move into third overall. The vets and women’s league, meanwhile, went down to the wire, with William Fotheringham taking second in the last evening’s points race to hang on to the lead from sprinter Martin Pockett, who won four of the five rounds he started.
A Category: Charles Walker 145 points; 2, Luke Hardman 92; 3, Jacob Tipper 76; 4, Oliver Dighton 73; 5, Nicholas Clayton 39; 6, William Fotheringham, 30; 7, Brad Simkin 29; 8, Sam Dighton 26; 9, Patrick Fotheringham 24; 10, Martin Pockett 23; 11, Jason Duckworth 10; 12, Harvey Jackson 9; 13, Alex Cogswell 7; 14, Ethan Davies 6; 15, Tim Allen 3; 16, Tom Gregory 2.
B Category: Nick Cruchley 67 points; 2, Adrian Ravenscroft 59; 3, Matthew Harris 49; 4, Jamieson Blain 41; 5, Jack Hibberd 33; 6, Harvey Jackson 27; 7, David Wrottesley, Gary Cann 21; 9, Nigel Albutt 20; 10, Steve Croggon, George Cann 19; 12, Lee Gardner 18; 13, Nick Clayton, Andrew Lloyd-Langston 17; 15, Emma Grayson 15; 16, Philip Farley 11; 17, Alexander Billington 9; 18, Doug McClellan 8; 19, Andrew Burns 7; 20, Isobel Whiteley 5; 21, Fraser Blain 3; 22, Matthew Mannings, Mark Clayton 1.
Women and Vets: William Fotheringham 25 points; 2, Martin Pockett 23; 3, Matthew Harris, 4, Adrian Ravenscroft and Harvey Jackson; 6, Steve Croggan; 7, Nigel Albutt, Gary Cann, Emma Grayson 6; 10, Lee Gardner, Francis Longworth, Tim Allen 5; 13, Matthew Mannings 4; 14, Andrew Lloyd Langston 2; 15, Fraser Blain, Jim Varnish 1.
Youth Group 1: Massimo Di Vito 143 points; 2, Liam Allen 99; 3, Ryan Brookes 97; 4, Owen Mitchell 73; 5, Josh Field 45; 6, William Gorner 35; 7, Henry Lloyd-Langston 33; 8, Harrison Bryan 26; 9, Annie Lindsay 18; 10, Lorna Sharples 13; 11, Hollie Owens 10; 12, Simon Wyllie 5; 13, Harry Bates, Jonathan Cull, Jenny Kendall 0.
Youth Group 2: Alex Barker 174 points; 2, Nathan Burns 84; 3, Joseph Brookes 73; 4, Joshua Mitchell 68; 5, Sullivan Berry 47; 6, Luke Harris 38; 7, Molly Lewis 34; 8, Hannah Turnbull 24; 9, Isla Blain 22; 10, Joe Horner 6; 11, Oliver Cooke, Ryan Brookes 5; 13, Isla Mason 2; 14, Charlotte Johnson 1; 15, Milly Baggott, Matthew Lowe 0.
Freewheelers: Alexander Brown 77 points; 2, Ellie Swingell 65; 3, Tomos Pattinson 63; 4, Harry Sharples 59; 5, Luke Mannings 41; 6, George Lewis 37; 7, Alexander Sharpe 33; 8, Ollie Cramp 29; 9, Joseph Turnbull 28; 10, Thomas Brookes 24; 11, Will Lewis 21; 12, Matteo Di Vito and Kian Phillips 18; 14, Leah Brookes 15; 15, Ryan Oldfield 13; 16, Katie Irons 12; 17, Danielle Barker 11; 18, Ellie Harris 9; 19, Charlie Reynolds 6; 20, Joshua Harffey 5; 21, Joe Lorenz 0.
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