The athletes from Lanzarote had an outstanding performance in the XXVI Canary Islands Cross Country Championship, held this past weekend in the Gran Canaria town of Valsequillo. Summer Leigh was the winner of the women's youth category, with Aroa Merino and Francisco José García Viñoly completing the good results with second place in the absolute category.
The Gran Canaria town of Valsequillo hosted the twenty-sixth edition of the Canary Islands Cross Country Championship on Sunday morning, both individually and as a team. A test that included the participation of four athletes from the island of Lanzarote, although this season they play in teams from the island of Tenerife.
Summer Leigh from Lanzarote once again demonstrated her supremacy in this modality and won the gold medal in the women's youth category. In a 4,500-meter circuit, the athlete from the Tenerife CajaCanarias team crossed the finish line in first place with a time of 19 minutes and 37 seconds. She was 35 seconds ahead of Zuleica Calderín and 42 seconds ahead of Claudia Rodríguez, who were second and third, respectively, at the finish line.
The men's absolute category also had a Lanzarote color, with the second place achieved by Francisco José García Viñoly. In a 10-kilometer circuit, he starred in a one-on-one with Miguel Ángel Vaquero, who finally took the victory. The conejero athlete, a member of the CEAT Tenerife CajaCanarias team, invested a time of 36 minutes and 55 seconds to complete the ten kilometers of the course. The third place on the podium went to Agoney Díaz.
The good performance of the conejero athletes was completed with the second place won by Aroa Merino in the women's absolute category. The Lanzarote native was coming off winning the Gran Canaria Marathon, so she may have felt the effort made just a week ago. The circuit of the women's absolute test was 7,500 meters, in which Aroa Merino, an athlete from the Tasaigo team, invested a time of 31 minutes and 13 seconds. The winner of the test was Cristina Del Val (30:99) and third would be Amada Sánchez (32:19).
The XXVI Canary Islands Cross Country Championship also included the participation of Elisa Guadalupe from Lanzarote in the women's junior category. The athlete who this year plays for the Tenerife CajaCanarias team was unable to complete the 4,500 meters of the test and due to physical problems was forced to abandon.
