Sixteen Chiltern youngsters took part for their county schools associations at the last big national cross country of the season, the English Schools Championships.  The venue was Wollaton Hall in Nottingham and the going was a mixture of mud and good ground at the undulating parkland course.
 
First race up was the Intermediate Girls and Emily Ford completed her excellent season with 22nd place, leading in the Hertfordshire Schools team that came 29th. In the Buckinghamshire Schools team that came 13th, Lucy Wilkinson had another good run to be second scorer in 46th, Frankie Baxter was third scorer in 64th, and Lesedi Nkoane was fifth scorer in 195th.
 
The Junior Boys saw Tom Ford 35th for Herts Schools and there were good runs in the Junior Girls race from Marlie Nkoane, fourth Bucks scorer in 129th, Issy Robinson 177th and fifth scorer, and Evelyn Wildman 273rd and seventh finisher. The girls were 12th.
 
In the Intermediate Boys, Archie Pinder lead in the Bucks Schools team in 60th.  Isaac Jessop-Tranter was fourth scorer in 188th and Euan Pinder 311th and fifth scorer. The team was 33rd.
 
Maddie Hughes ran well to be the leading Bucks runner in the Senior Girls race, coming 20th. Ellie Shield was fourth scorer in 64th and Maddie Rae sixth scorer in 202nd. Bucks Girls were 10th.
 
In the Senior Boys race Tom Emery had a good run for Middlesex Schools to be 56th and Ash Finch was 86th for Hertfordshire Schools.

This year's competition is confirmed as part of the Wycombe Phoenix meeting on 22nd April 2023 at Stoke Mandeville. It is now live on Roster and open for entries. Here is the link:

https://meets.rosterathletics.com/public/competitions/details/about?id=13932

 

The National Inter Counties were held as usual at Prestwold Hall near Loughborough on Saturday.
 
On a grey, mild day, the tented area became very muddy very quickly but the course wasn’t too bad –some areas however becoming more treacherous as the day wore on.
 
Kara Gorman topped off a great season with her best ever result, winning the Under 13 Girls race after two bronzes at the Southern and National Championships.

There were over thirty Chiltern athletes taking part for Buckinghamshire or Hertfordshire and first up were the U20 Men. There were three Chiltern runners in the Bucks team of five and James Palmer was the first placed in 59th. Laurie Gawne was 135th and Henry Webb 158th. The Bucks team was 20th.
 
Next up were the Under 13 Girls and on a long tough course with plenty of mud, Kara was a convincing winner and the only Buckinghamshire medallist of the day. Second Bucks scorer was Maya Davis in 56th, Megan Lockwood fourth scorer in 101st, Evelyn Wildman fifth Bucks finisher in 114th, and Nia Clarke sixth finisher in 153rd. The Bucks team was 14th.
 
The Under 15 Boys Bucks team was led in by Alex Hughes in 28th. James Holdsworth was fourth scorer in 156th, Aidan Suleyman fifth finisher in 160th, and Dylan Rossi eight finisher in 301st. The Bucks team was 21st and Callum Powell had a good run for Hertfordshire to be 145th.
 
The U17 Women had a strong Chiltern presence and were led home by Maddie Hughes in 17th.  Ellie Shield was fourth scorer in 81st, Frankie Baxter fifth finisher in 100th, Lesedi Nkoane sixth finisher in 167th, and Maddie Rae seventh finisher in 182nd. The team was seventh.
 
The U17 Men also saw good Chiltern representation with Thomas Remond leading Bucks finisher in 26th. Matt Evans made a good county debut as fourth scorer in 154th and Sammy Bennetts was sixth finisher in 215th. The team was 15th. For Herts Ash Finch was 91st and Archie Pinder 122nd. Leon Doran had to drop out mid race. The Herts team was 16th.
 
Tom Ford had a great run for Herts Under 13 Boys to be tenth. Charlie Quantrill was second Bucks runner home in 45th, Felix Danielli fourth scorer in 111th, Isaac McCall seventh finisher in 226th and Jacob McCall eighth in 244th. The Bucks team was 15th but Tom’s Herts were team gold medallists.
 
The penultimate race saw Bucks Under 15 Girls team seventh but the leading Chiltern runner was Emily Ford in an excellent 14th for Herts. For Bucks Lucy Wilkinson was second scorer in 28th, Marlie Nkoane fifth finisher in 123rd, and Issy Robinson eighth finisher in 207th.
 
There were four Chiltern men in the Bucks Senior Men’s team. Richard Slade achieved his best ever Inter Counties finish to be leading Bucks runner in 23rd and Will Brown had an excellent run to be second Bucks scorer in 45th. Aran Davidson made his way through the field to be third Bucks scorer in 139th. George Brown was well placed early on but, suffering with a cold all week, had to drop out. The team was 17th.