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Chiltern Harriers had a great day at Keysoe in the fourth, and penultimate, match of the cross country league season.
On soft courses that got increasingly muddy as the day went on, the senior women and juniors scored great points to move up their respective divisions. The club were fourth on the day and retain third place overall with one match remaining. The match acted as Chiltern Harriers club championships for the juniors, so there was added spice to some of the contests. There was a good deal of success for Chiltern Harriers at the Buckinghamshire Cross Country Championships at Shuttleworth on Saturday. There were five team wins and four individual wins, and several athletes booked their places in the Buckinghamshire teams at the National Inter Counties in March.
The weather was kind with clear skies and reasonable temperatures. The underfoot conditions were surprisingly firm given the recent heavy rain. A small band of seven Chiltern Harriers braved grey and muddy conditions at Fairlands Valley Park in Stevenage on Sunday to contest the Herts Cross Country Championships.
Chiltern Harriers had another solid league match at Stopsley Park, Luton on Saturday. The club were fourth on the day and remain third overall after three matches.
There were team wins for the U13 Boys, U13 Girls, U17 Men and Junior Women, and an individual win for U13 Alden Collier. Across all age groups eighty-three harriers faced the starter. Twenty-three Chiltern Harriers U13s and U15s featured for their schools in the English Schools Cross Country Cup Final at Mount St Mary’s School, Spinkhill near Sheffield on Saturday.
Continuing a strong tradition of success in recent years, Dr Challoner’s Grammar School won the Junior Boys race and the Dr Challoner’s High School team won the Intermediate Girls competition. There were also good runs from other harriers in other races. Three Chiltern Harriers took part in the third round of the British Cross Challenge cross country series at Liverpool on Saturday.
Oakley Denson was 98th in a very high quality U15 Boys race and Alden Collier And Zoe Gilbody repeated their wins of Round Two in the U13 age groups with further victories. Both had convincing wins, finishing over ten seconds ahead of the second placed athletes. Both Zoe (having won all three rounds so far) and Alden (having won rounds two and three) are in a great position in the Challenge, with the fifth and final match being incorporated into the National Inter Counties event at Prestwold Hall in March. Thirty-one Chiltern U13s and U15s were competing for their schools at the ESAA Cross Country Cup Regional Rounds on Saturday.
Most Chiltern runners were at the East Central Regional Round at Sibford School near Banbury but a couple ran in the London North match at St Albans Chiltern Harriers made solid progress at the second Chiltern League match at Teardrop Lakes, Milton Keynes on Saturday. After an unexpected win at Match I, the club managed a creditable fourth place. The turnout of 79 was well down on the 119 of the previous meeting.
In increasingly wet conditions the Chiltern athletes across the age groups did a good job at the match which also included the second leg of the British Athletics Cross Challenge series, which features top class athletes from around the UK in all age groups. Chiltern Harriers had their best ever day at the Southern Cross Country Relay Championships at Wormwood Scrubs on Saturday.
There were four team wins – for the U13 Girls, U13 Boys, U15 Girls and U17 Men. The Senior Men took part for the first time and came an excellent fifth and there was an eighth place finish for the U15 Boys. Conditions were pleasant and sunny at the fast and flat course at the scrubs but recent rain made the woodland section fairly muddy. U13s and U15s ran a 2k circuit, U17s a 3.1k loop, and Seniors 4.4k. |
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