The last big national cross country event of the winter, the English Schools Cross Country Championships, took place at Pontefract on Saturday on the relatively dry and undulating grounds of the racecourse. It was a red letter day for two Chiltern athletes.
After good runs as first years in last week’s National Inter Counties at Nottingham, Tom Ford (in the Junior race) and Alex Hughes (in the Intermediates) ran brilliantly as second years at English Schools to gain selection to run for England Schools in next Saturday’s SIAB international in Dublin. Tom was running for Hertfordshire Schools in the Junior Boys race, second on the programme and at 3.2k quite short. Tom was always well placed and kept his form to finish fourth in 10.06, the same time as the third placed athlete. Tom’s Herts team won the silver team medal. There were several other Chiltern runners competing for Buckinghamshire Schools – Charlie Quantrill 81st, Logan Gaskell 269th and Eddie O’Brien 318th. Alex was in the fourth race, the Intermediate Boys, who ran 4.5k. Alex was at the head of the field, then fell back slightly before rallying for an excellent third place. Edward Johnson was second Bucks scorer in 119th place, Aidan Suleyman third scorer in 223rd, Callum Powell seventh Bucks in 304th. The Junior Girls race saw Kara Gorman make her debut at English Schools and finish a creditable 13th and first Bucks scorer. Maya Davis was fourth Bucks scorer in 144th, Evelyn Wildman fifth scorer in 124th, Nia Clarke sixth scorer in 140th, Megan Lockwood seventh Bucks in 218th. The Bucks team was a good seventh overall. In the Intermediate Girls, Emily Ford was 135th and third scorer for Herts Schools, with Marlie Nkoane seventh Bucks in 226th. Bucks’ Senior Girls also ran well for seventh team. Maddie Hughes was third scorer in 50th, Frankie Baxter fourth scorer in 75th, Ellie Shield fifth scorer in 137th, In the Senior Boys race over a gruelling 6k, Archie Pinder was fourth Bucks scorer in 150th, Euan Pinder was fifth scorer in 154th, and Isaac Jessop-Tranter sixth scorer in 175th. There was good representation in the Bucks Swans teams at the Primary Schools and Year 7 Cross Country Championships at Prestwold Hall on Saturday.
The highlight was a win in the Year 7 Girls race for Juliette MacDougall, who has a great record in this competition. Also featuring in a strong Swans team performance were Bea Robinson (17th), Loren Gerber (38th), Holly Knott (42nd) and Soraya Roughton (96th). In the Year 7 Boys team Toby Reynolds did well for 38th and Zac Taylor was 61st. Emilia Ingham ran well for 16th in the Year 6 Girls race and Ingrid Bellwood (40th) and Elodie Bellwood (57th) did well in the Year 5 Girls event. Although it was a mild and sunny day, the underfoot conditions were extremely muddy at Oxford Horspath on Saturday for the final Chiltern League match of the season. Many described it as the muddiest race they had ever done and conditions got progressively trickier as the course cut up. Chiltern Harriers went into the match 550 points behind Milton Keynes and, although the club took the win on the day, it wasn’t enough to close the gap and it ended up 17102 points to 16881 with Wycombe Phoenix 1000 points further back in third. Eighty-one club runners took part. Emilia Ingham won the Under 11 Girls race to clinch the title for the season. The team ended up in sixth with Emilia often the only Chiltern competitor.
There was a full team however in the Under 11 Boys race and newcomers Thomas Cooper and Jonathan Kalibbala had good runs to be 12th and 21st. Jack Dixon was 23rd and the team was fourth. The team was eighth overall and Thomas Living, who didn’t run on Saturday, had already clinched third spot in the league. The Under 13 Girls have been dominant this season and had another great match to secure the overall league win. Kara Gorman secured her fourth win, ensuring the individual title. Juliette MacDougall was second to confirm league silver and the other scorers were Nia Clarke in fourth and Maya Davis in sixth. Also running well were Annie-Rose Quantrill in ninth, Soraya Roughton tenth, Holly Knott 13th and Carys Jones 18th. Unfortunately Bea Robinson had to drop out. Nia and Maya ended up fourth and fifth overall. The Under 13 Boys had a good match and did enough to move up a place into bronze medal spot. Logan Gaskell was seventh, newcomer Toby Reynolds an excellent 13th, Kit Dixon 19th and Jacob McCall 23rd to score as third team. They were well backed up by Isaac McCall 28th, Harrison Lawrence 31st, and Albert Rushton 41st. Logan ended the league season in fifth place with Zac Taylor 16th and Kit Dixon 18th. Good packing has been the key to Chiltern’s U15 Girls keeping in silver medal place behind the MK juggernaut, and Saturday saw good runs by Megan Lockwood 10th, Evelyn Wildman 12th, Issy Robinson 13th, and Katie Allsop 16th, confirming second on the day and second overall. Lydia Cross was 26th and Mimi Daley 41st on debut. End of season league standings saw Issy ninth, Evelyn 12th and Megan 13th. The other team apart from the U13 Girls to excel in the league were the Under 15 Boys, and a fifth consecutive win saw them clinch the league title. Tom Ford had a great run to win on the day and Edward Johnson (third), James Holdsworth (fifth) and Charlie Quantrill (sixth) completed the winning team. Also running well were Thomas Reynolds (eighth), Eddie O’Brien (13th), Dylan Rossi (25th), Charlie De Sousa (28th) and James Malin (32nd). In the final individual standings Tom was second, James fourth, Edward fifth, Thomas sixth and Charlie seventh. The Junior Women have had a tough battle this campaign but won on the day to ensure the league victory. Frankie Baxter was fourth, Emily Ford sixth, and Maddie Rae 14th to score and they were backed up by Jo Snelling 18th, Lily Jessop-Tranter 23rd, Jocelyn Davies 31st, and Rebecca Lawson 32nd. Emily ended up fourth overall with Lily ninth, Roxie Jones 11th, and Rebecca 15th. With fourth place on the day the Under 17 Men confirmed fourth spot overall. Jack Turner had a very good run to lead the team home in ninth and he was followed by Daniel Munn (12th), Callum Powell (16th), Rory Hilton (23rd) and Hari Mistry (26th). Overall Jack was 12th and Hari 18th. By the time the senior women ran at 2.35pm the course was a swamp and even the leading runners were finding it a struggle. The Chiltern team were third on the day and second overall. Jessie Keighley led the team home in 21st with Charlotte Docwra (24th), Fiona Kelleher (25th), Orla Williams (32nd), Katie Royals (35th), and Jess Orr (38th) packing well to complete the scoring. Also flying the green flag on Saturday were Jenny Bizley 50th, Abi Askey 52nd, Sylvia Moss 59th, Claire Mistry 67th, Miriam Kempson 92nd, Harriet Lemon 93rd, Kathy Jessop 114th, Tamsin Finch 115th, and Fiona Calder 121st. The vets were eighth on the day courtesy of Jenny, Abi, Sylvia and Claire, finishing seventh in the league overall. In the final league senior standings Katie was eighth, Fiona ninth and Charlote 11th. Abi and Sylvia were 10th and 11th in the Vet 45 category and Mim fourth in the Vet 55s. The Senior Men were bolstered by cameos from Harry Cox and Angus Wiliams, and Richard Slade recovered from his 5k PB at Armagh to win the race and secure the individual title after four wins in a row. Harry was third, Ash Finch tenth, Adam Shute 18th, Angus 19th, James Turner 34th, Tom Dixon 56th, Jonny Slade 58th, Neil Turner 60th, and Aran Davidson 84th after suffering with a stitch. Those scorers secured second place on the day and the seniors were fourth overall. Other good efforts on the day came from Mike Turney 94th, Ben Hannen 112th, Alan Crozier 124th, Richard Moss 139th, Ed Wright 168th, Frank Gaymond 179th, Glen Martin 180th, Neil Bates 186th, Clive Docwra 188th, and David De Sousa 192nd. Ash was first Under 20 on the day and the vets foursome of James, Tom, Neil and Mike were fifth. The U20s ended up fourth but the vets secured bronze medals for the season. And in the individual vets standings Adam Shute was third in the Vet 40 category, James Turner 7th. In the Vet 50s Neil Turner was second and Mike Turney was a convincing winner of the Vet 60 competition. Chiltern won three of the five matches and completed another very strong Chiltern League season. There was a good turnout of Chiltern athletes running for their schools at the Bucks Schools Cross Country Champs at Stowe School on Wednesday. There were a number of individual wins and several runners gained automatic selection for the Bucks Schools team for the English Schools Champs in Yorkshire in March. Many others put themselves in the frame as squad members. The Year 5/6 girls race was won by Emilia Ingham who won the race overall and the year 6 component. Ingrid Bellwood was 12th overall and 3rd Year 5 and Elodie Bellwood was 18th overall and fifth Year 5. Thomas Cooper ran very well to be 14th in the Year 5/6 Boys race, 12th Year 6.
The Minor Girls (Year 7) race saw an emphatic win for Juliette MacDougall. Also well up in the field of 93 were Bea Robinson (5th), Holly Knott (8th), Soraya Roughton (9th), Annie-Rose Quantrill (12th) and Mala Bahia (17th). The Minor Boys race saw the best run of the season for Zac Taylor who took an impressive win. Two newcomers ran well: Toby Reynolds was third and Harris Lawrence 13th. Kara Gorman won the Junior Girls race and there was good packing from Maya Davis (4th), Nia Clarke (5th), Megan Lockwood (6th) and Evelyn Wildman (7th). Carys Jones was 26th from a field of 122. The Junior Boys race was billed as 4k but strava revealed a circuit around 4.8k, so a tough ask for younger runners. There were many very good Chiltern performances on this tough course. Thomas Reynolds led the way in second and was followed by Charlie Quantrill (3rd), Logan Gaskell (5th), Eddie O’Brien (6th), Felix Danielli (9th), Hugo Mundy (13th), George Mawby (14th), Jacob McCall (24th), Kit Dixon (30th), Isaac McCall (32nd), and Theo Roughton (34th) from another field of 122. The Intermediate and Senior Girls ran together on the same 4.8k route. The seniors tended to be towards the front of the race and there were 16 in total. Maddie Hughes (3rd), Frankie Baxter (4th), Ellie Shield (5th), Maddie Rae (9th) and Jo Snelling (10th) all did well. There were 55 Intermediates running and the highest placed Chiltern athlete was Marlie Nkoane in 9th. Also competing were Katie Allsop (11th), Lily Jessop-Tranter (22nd), Ffion Harman (24th), Lydia Cross (27th), Issy Robinson who had a rare off day with breathing difficulties (28th), Abi Masters (29th), Rebecca Lawson (40th) and Isla Dalby (50th). Intermediate Boys and Senior Boys also ran together, this time on a 5.6k route, testing for year 10s not used to the distance. Twenty-one seniors battled hard and Archie Pinder (4th), Isaac Jessop-Tranter (5th) and Euan Pinder (7th) all ran well. Chiltern had a strong presence in the Inters and Alex Hughes took a good win, Aidan Suleyman was third, Edward Johnson fifth, Callum Powell seventh, Daniel Munn 11th, Rory Hilton 12th, Jack Turner 15th, Dylan Rossi 25th, Zach Cleary 27th, and James Malin 46th. There were several Chiltern athletes taking part in the Herts Schools XC Champs at Verulamiam Park, St Albans on Saturday.
The route moved from its usual part of the main park to an area around the golf course which gave the races a slightly different character. Ash Finch was 11th in the Senior Boys race, after a break. James Holdsworth was 13th in the Intermediate Boys event, and there were three Chiltern runners involved in the Junior Boys race – Tom Ford was the winner with Max King 15th and Jack Martin 21st. Hector Gamblen was 14th in the Pre-Junior Boys event. On the girls side Roxie Jones was 13th in the Senior Girls race, and Emily Ford (2nd) and Izzy Martin (7th) both had good runs in the Intermediate Girls race. SEAA XC Champs Kara Gorman gained yet another medal, placing third in the Under 13 Girls race at the Southern Cross Country Championships in Beckenham Kent. Kara will hope for more at the National and Inter Counties, and will be making her debut as a first-year Junior in the English Schools in mid-March. New Year Open U15 Owen Dersley opened his account with 44.72 in 300m indoors at Lee Valley. U20 John Nickless ran 53.43 for 400m and Isaac Jessop-Tranter 2.02.46 for 800m. Brunel Opens U17 Florence Lee-Rubis competed in the new Bunel Indoor Open on Jan 10th and jumped 4.72m in long jump and 9.81 in triple jump. SEAA Indoor U13/15/17 Champs U17 Abi Masters made a good start to her season by running 8.47 in 60m and 28.47 in 200m at the Southern Indoors at Lee Valley on Jan 13/14th. Ffion Harman ran 2.39.12 in 800m. Florence Lee-Rubis did a 4.85m long jump. London Games, Lee Valley On Jan 20/21st In the U20/Senior indoor meeting John Nickless and Toby Radbourne ran 800m. John ran 2.06.88 and Toby, making his debut, 2.27.12. In the U13/15/17 meeting on the 27/28th Juliette MacDougall ran 2.37.24 for U13 Girls 800m on debut and Holly Knott won her heat in 2.40.06. The girls did further events, and Bronwen Harman and Bethan Lloyd also competed, but results are sketchy currently. Several Chiltern Harriers took part in the highly anticipated London International Cross Country event at Parliament Hill Fields on Saturday. The meeting incorporated the fourth leg of the national Cross Challenge series and was based on a spectator friendly 2k loop just above the track on Hampstead Heath. On a grey day the ground softened rapidly after the recent cold snap, and tight bends made some sections tricky to negotiate in the increasing mud. A strong wind added to the challenge. Kara Gorman was third in her U13 Girls race, meaning a medal in the series is likely. Also running very well in this high class field was Maya Davis who was an excellent seventh. U11 Emilia Ingham also tackled this one and did well to be 19th.
Kit Dixon was the Chiltern presence in the U13 Boy’s race and had a good run to be 19th. Issy Robinson ran in the U15 Girls race and was 24th, whilst James Holdsworth tackled the U15 Boys event and was 20th. There was a good Chiltern representation in the U17/U20 Women’s race. Maddie Hughes was running for the South East regional team and was 19th with Ellie Shield 28th. In the U17 section Frankie Baxter was 16th. Alex Hughes had another good run to be 13th in the U17 Boys race. In the Senior Men’s race Richard Slade continued his great season to be 14th in a top quality field. Tom Dixon also ran and was 98th. Simon Bossi started but felt ill so had to retire. The Chiltern League returned to Cassiobury Park, Watford for the first time in nine years on Saturday for round 4 of this winter’s series. There was a good performance from the club to record the first overall win since round 1. The club won by 300 points and are 450 behind Milton Keynes going into the last match. Eighty-seven harriers took part. Underfoot conditions were predominantly dry after several days of cold weather with some opting to run in trainers. The weather was cool, still and dry. Emilia Ingham was fifth in the Under 11 Girls race, and Thomas Living in third and Jack Dixon in 28th ran well in the U11 Boys event.
The Chiltern U13 Girls had another great match, securing a fourth win. Kara Gorman was the individual winner with Juliette MacDougall second, Maya Davis fourth and Nia Clarke fifth. Bea Robinson was 11th, Soraya Roughton 13th, Annie-Rose Quantrill 16th, Holly Knott 23rd, Aiyla Haigh 36th and Mala Bahia 38th. The U13 Boys were fourth with scorers being Zac Taylor 13th, Kit Dixon 21st, Jacob McCall 22nd, and Isaac McCall 24th. Hector Gamblen was 27th, Lenny Brooks-Klingenschmid was 33rd, and Luke Coultate 27th. Issy Robinson (10th), Marlie Nkoane (16th), Evelyn Wildman (19th), Megan Lockwood (24th) and Lydia Cross (35th) put in a good showing in the Under 15 Girls race to be second for a fourth time behind the very powerful MK team. Along with the U13 Girls, the U15 Boys are the amongst the best teams in the south this winter and they recorded a fourth win with great packing in the top ten. Scorers were Tom Ford (second), James Holdsworth (third), Thomas Reynolds (fifth) and Edward Johnson (sixth). Great back-up came from Charlie Quantrill (7th), Felix Danielli (17th), Eddie O’Brien (21st), Dylan Rossi (25th), Charlie De Sousa (29th), George Mawby (30th), Zach Cleary (32nd), and James Malin (40th). A very close match in the U17/20 women’s race saw Chiltern’s team third but just a point behind second and a further point behind first. The team remain in the lead going into the final match. Frankie Baxter was fifth, Emily Ford sixth and Alice Peckham 15th to score and were well supported by Roxie Jones (20th), Lily Jessop-Tranter (29th), Jocelyn Davies (31st), and Rebecca Lawson (34th). The U17 Men were second and are fourth league-to-date. Alex Hughes was the individual winner and the other scorers were Daniel Munn (11th), Rory Hilton (17th), and Jack Turner (18th). Toby Radbourne was 24th and Hari Mistry 25th. A great performance from the Senior Women saw a team win and a move up to second place overall. Maddie Hughes had a strong run for second and the other scorers were Katie Repper (18th), Katie Royals (23rd), Charlotte Docwra (25th), Fiona Kelleher (30th) and Mairead O’Rourke (33rd). Also featuring in a great turnout were Sarah Quantrill (44th), Jenny Bizley (45th), Helen Chalawo (48th), Abi Askey (58th), Claire Mistry (65th), Sylvia Moss (68th), Lauren Mayot (77th), Lyndsey Bill (97th), Miriam Kempson (119th), Tamsin Finch (121st), Harriet Lemon (123rd), Jennifer Webb (126th), Kathy Jessop (129th), and Fiona Calder (153rd). The vet quartet of Mairead, Sarah, Jenny And Helen were fifth and the vets are fifth overall. The Senior Men had some high scorers running and Richard Slade led the way with a third win of the season. Also scoring were Simon Bossi (4th), Ash Finch (11th), Aran Davidson (16th), Adam Shute (17th), James Turner (57th), Neil Turner (67th), Michael Turney (87th), Jonny Slade (103rd), and Pablo Fuentes (117th). Also running well were Ben Hannen (147th), David De Sousa (188th), Ed Wright (192nd), Glen Martin (194th), Clive Docwra (198th), Neil Bates (206th), Allan Cairns (214th) and John Coutts (216th). The men were fifth and are fifth overall. Neil Turner was second Vet 50 and Ash Finch was second U20. So with one match remaining it’s all to play for. A good turnout could see Chiltern threaten to complete a hat-trick of overall wins. After recent rain it was good to have a dry day at the 2024 Bucks Cross Country at the new venue of Southill Park in Bedfordshire. Chiltern Harriers had some very good results across the age groups with several team and individual medals and plenty of athletes securing places for the Bucks teams at March’s National Inter Counties Championships in Nottingham. The course provided a fairly flat surface but with mixed terrain, some dry areas but some extremely muddy sections. Conditions were clear, still and cold. The course allowed good viewing for spectators. Bucks AA Results Herts AAA Results Buckinghamshire Cross Country Championships
Emilia Ingham was the sole Chiltern runner in the opening Under 11 Girls race, coming second for the silver medal. Jack Dixon ran well for ninth in the U11 Boy’s race. The Chiltern U13s had a very strong day with team wins for boys and girls. The girls dominated, filling the first five places. Kara Gorman won, Juliette MacDougall was second, Maya Davis third, Bea Robinson fourth and Nia Clarke fifth. In addition Soraya Roughton was eighth, Annie-Rose Quantrill tenth and Holly Knott 15th. For the boys Logan Gaskell was the individual winner with Kit Dixon seventh, Isaac Taylor eighth, and Jacob McCall tenth being the other scorers. Good back up came from Isaac McCall in 11th. The Under 15 girls were silver medallists with Issy Robinson being the leading Chiltern girl in eighth. Katie Allsop was 11th, Megan Lockwood 12th, and Izzy McFetrich 16th. The Under 15 Boys packed very well to secure a good team win, the scorers being James Holdsworth in third, Thomas Reynolds fourth, Edward Johnson fifth, and Aidan Suleyman sixth. Great back up came from Charlie Quantrill in seventh, Eddie O’Brien (11th), Charlie De Sousa (15th), and Dylan Rossi (18th). Both U17 and U20 women ran together in the Junior Women’s race and Chiltern were well represented. The team were third with Frankie Baxter (fourth), Maddie Rae (eighth), and Alice Peckham (tenth) scoring. They were joined by Charlotte Docwra (11th), Jo Snelling (12th), Lily Jessop-Tranter (15th), and Rebecca Lawson (17th). The U17 Men’s race saw good runs from Jack Turner in fourth and Toby Radbourne in fifth. There were only seven Bucks competitors and no complete club teams. The Senior Women’s team were second with Katie Repper fourth, Katie Royals sixth and Tamsin Finch tenth. In the Senior Men’s race it was not to be a hat-trick of wins for the club after two strong years, but the six Chiltern runners competing all did well and were only twelve points behind team winners Vale of Aylesbury. Richard Slade ran a well controlled race to take a strong individual win. The remaining scorers were Aran Davidson (11th), Adam Shute (12th), Neil Turner (18th), James Repper (22nd) and Allan Cairns (38th). Neil was first Vet 50 with James Repper second Vet 50. Hertfordshire Cross Country Championships The Herts Champs this year were at Verulamiam Park, St Albans on Sunday 7th and as usual there was a small Chiltern presence. The course was tucked into a corner of the park but nevertheless provide a good cross country circuit. Hector Gamblen was 14th and Lenny Brooks-Klingenschmid 19th in the Under 13 Boys race. Tom Ford had a trip which cost him a place and finished in fourth place in the Under 15 Boys event whilst Jack Martin was 14th. Emily Ford gained the only Chiltern medal of the day, finishing in silver medal position in the Under 17 Women’s race. There were 20 Chiltern athletes taking part in the ESAA Cross Country Cup competition at Woodbridge School, Suffolk on Saturday. Twenty-Seven schools take part in each race, three from each of the nine regions.
Junior Girls The DCHS team featured Maya Davis as first scorer in 24th and Annie -Rose Quantrill second scorer in 86th. The team were 21st from the 26 total teams. Intermediate Boys All of the DCGS Inter Boys team are Chiltern Harriers and they recorded the best result of the South Bucks teams on show, coming tenth in a high-class competition. Aidan Suleyman was 27th, Thomas Reynolds 29th, Charlie Quantrill 36th, Felix Danielli 89th and Eddie O’Brien 117th. Intermediate Girls Issy Robinson and Megan Lockwood featured in the Chesham Grammar School team that came 20th in the Inter Girls race. Issy was 35th and Megan 51st, the first two Chesham scorers. The team win went to Buckinghamshire girls from Stowe School. Senior Boys The DCGS team were 16th and saw good efforts from Alex Hughes (18th), Isaac Jessop-Tranter (60th), Daniel Munn (67th), Rory Hilton (118th)and John Nickless (134th). Senior Girls There were two local schools taking part in the Senior Girls race with a total of six Chiltern girls running. Maddie Hughes had a great run to be fourth, Ellie Shield ran well for 17th and Rebecca Lawson was fourth scorer in 111th. The team was 12th. Wycombe High were 21st and featured good efforts from Ffion Harman (58th), Jo Snelling (87th) and Florence Lee-Rubis (102nd) - second, third and fourth scorers. |
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