One of the set-piece events in the winter athletics calendar is the North Eastern Counties Cross Country Championships (NEXC). Sedgefield Harriers has hosted the event twice in the last decade, which always takes place in December. This year, the championships were held in Temple Park in South Shields, on a course that is used regularly for cross country events. On a chilly but bright day, several junior and senior Harriers made the journey up the A19 to take part.

In the U13 girls’ race, Jessica Davies ran brilliantly to finish tenth and in the boys’ event Matthew Graham also ran well to finish 28th. In the U15 category, Daisy Woodward was 27th girl, and in the U17 men’s category, Sonny Russell was 36th. In the senior women’s race, Sadie Abel once again excelled, claiming 20th overall in a really competitive field. Sue Dobson and Christine Hearmon completed strong runs on a course that presented the traditional cross country challenges of mud and hills. In the men’s race, Justin Cox was the first Harrier home, followed by Chris Lines.

On Sunday 12 January, Sedgefield Harriers will host the club’s winter handicap race for the Gerry Kearsley Memorial Trophy. Starting and finishing outside the village hall in Bishop Middleham, the race is about six miles long, on two laps of a multi-terrain route along trails and old railway lines. The handicapping system is based on each runner’s best 10K time from the last 12 months, with the slowest participants setting off first, and then the rest at one-minute intervals. The format means that most runners finish within a few minutes of each other, creating some exciting racing. There will be prizes in various categories.

The event is open to – and suitable for – all runners. It’s free to enter for members of affiliated clubs, and £2 for unaffiliated participants. You can find out more about Harriers’ events on the club website (sedgefieldharriers.co.uk) and Facebook page at facebook.com/sedgefieldharriers.

The Durham & Cleveland County Closed Championships were recently held at Nunthorpe Squash Club. Sedgefield Squash Club had several players competing in many of the categories. In the ‘A’ event, Oliver Walls reached the semi-final stage, and Rob Pearce the final, both being beaten by the eventual winner.

In the A plate, Colin Langley reached the final and was beaten 3-1 in a closely fought match. Four players entered the B event and Sedgefield was guaranteed a finalist as Nick Hill and Ben Storey met in the semi-final. Ben was ultimately beaten in the final. Craig Muller made the semi-final of the B plate, narrowly losing out 3-2. Four players entered the C event, with Jack Bonner reaching the final, losing 3-2.

Sedgefield Squash Club Captain Stephen Rowsby has recently completed 100 consecutive matches for the first team. Well done to Stephen for an incredible achievement, and he’s still going strong! Roll on the celebrations for 150 matches.

Over the festive period, club members will be involved in the internal leagues, and the individual handicap competition that runs through to February.

Merry Christmas from Sedgefield Squash Club to all readers of Sedgefield News.

If you would like to get involved in squash or racket ball, you can contact the club at info@sedgefieldsquashclub.co.uk.

On Saturday 14 December, Sedgefield Velo Cycling Club hosted the fifth round of the North East Cyclocross League in Hardwick East Park.

Cyclocross is a fast paced off road bicycle race over various terrains. There were two races at the event. 15 riders competed in a junior race in the U8, U10, U12, U14, U16 categories, and then 29 riders competed in a race of U18s, seniors, veterans, and ladies, which lasted about one hour, with riders completing as many laps of the course as they could in that time.

16 cycling clubs from around the North East were represented in the races.

I’ve reported on the progress of Sedgefield para cyclist Ben Hetherington before, and he continues to make good progress in the sport. After a poor performance in the British Para Track Championships in February, it was a time for Ben to refocus and get back to some hard training, ready for the road season.

So far, this has paid off, as he won the season’s first para road race in Nottingham at the end of April, followed up by a win at the time trial. This set him up for a trip to the World Cup races in Ostend, Belgium and Maniago, Italy, in May. The races were highly competitive, with riders and countries trying to stake their claim for Paralympic selection. Ben did well, finishing in the middle of the pack in both road races and in the top 20 in both time trials.

While on the continent, he also took part in a para race in De Panne, Belgium, which he won. More recently, Ben won a bronze medal in both a road race and time trial.

The rest of the British Para Series will be held around England, including at Middlesbrough Sports Village on Saturday 20 July. The event will be part of a day of paracycling, organised by British Cycling in conjunction with Limitless. Starting at 12 noon and aimed at people with disabilities, there will be 90 minutes of free opportunities to try out trikes, tandems, handcycles and pedal carts.

Then, from 2pm, there will be para cycle racing in a variety of categories, and Ben will be in action as he continues to try and improve his times and bike handling skills, in order to ensure a place in the development team for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

The event on 20 July will also raise money for the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS), which Ben and his family have been supporting since his accident in 2019. GNAAS came to Ben’s aid then and at Middlesbrough Sports Village, there will be fundraising to help the service run its two helicopters, The Guardian of the North II and the Pride of Cumbria II. The event will be a great chance for anyone to learn more about para cycling and see some great racing.

To find out more about it, contact Gary Hetherington on 07484 673796 or 01740 621214.

Sedgefield Cricket Club is mourning the very sad loss of John Walker who died on 31 October after a short illness.

John’s involvement with the club went back decades, from his sponsorship of a junior cup competition which went on to be adopted by the league as its main cup, to his many years on the committee, and long-standing support of the inter-pub ‘Captain’s Cup’ for non-regular cricketers.

John will be fondly remembered by everyone at the club. He was a true gentleman and stalwart of grassroots sport in Sedgefield, and his legacy will live long in the memory.

A minute’s silence for John was impeccably observed at the cricket club’s AGM on 4 November. RIP John.