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.

Emilia Ingham completed a hat-trick of individual wins in the Under 11 Girls race, but again was the only Chiltern girl competing. Thomas Living had another good run to be third in the Under 11 Boys race and was joined by Jack Dixon who was 32nd. The team are 11th after three matches.
 
The Under 13 Girls had a couple missing on Schools Cup action but had a great match to log a 1-2-3 courtesy of Kara Gorman, Juliette MacDougall and Nia Clarke. Soraya Roughton completed the scoring in 14th, and Carys Jones had a good run to be 18th. The girls have a convincing lead.
 
Logan Gaskell again led the Under 13 Boys home in fourth and was joined in the scorers by Zac Taylor (16th), Kit Dixon (19th), and Jack Rogers (22nd). Hector Gamblen was 24th, Jacob McCall 26th, Lenny Brooks-Klingenschmid 28th , Isaac McCall 29th, and Albert Rushton 50th. The boys were third on the day and are fourth overall.
 
The Schools Cup made a big dent in the Under 15 Girls team and just Evelyn Wildman and Lydia Cross faced the starter. Both ran well with Evelyn 9th and Lydia 22nd. This was enough for seventh on the day and the girls retain second spot.
 
The Under 15 Boys were also missing some big guns but the large squad still managed second place on the day and they keep their overall lead. Tom Ford had a great run to be second and Edward Johnson in fifth, James Holdsworth in 15th and Zach Cleary in 18th completed the scoring. Charlie De Sousa in 27th and James Malin in 37th on debut also ran well.
 
Emily Ford (6th), Frankie Baxter (7th) and Roxie Jones (10th) were second for the U17/20 Women and the team keep their overall lead. Also having good runs were Alice Peckham (11th), Lily Jessop-Tranter (14th), and Sofia Lomas (20th).
 
The Under 17 Men were missing several usual scorers but the quartet of Callum Powell (13th), Toby Radbourne (21st), Jack Tuner (22nd) and Hari Mistry (26th) kept the points ticking over to be fourth and the team are fourth overall.
A large Senior Women’s team packed well and the scorers were Katie Royals (25th), Fiona Kelleher (31st), Charlotte Docwra (36th), Abi Askey (40th) Jess Orr (44th) and Helen Chalawo (48th). Completing the healthy turnout were Sylvia Moss (53rd), Lindsay Turner (67th), Helen Hinde (85th), Miriam Kempson (88th), Fiona Williams (93rd), Harriet Lemon (104th), Kathy Jessop (105th), Tamsin Finch (106th), Laura Gardner (117th), and Fiona Calder (130th). The team was fourth on the day and are third overall. The Vets quartet of Abi, Helen, Sylvia and Lindsay were sixth and are sixth league-to-date. Mim was fifth Vet 55.
 
The Senior Men’s team was stronger than match 2 and were third, moving up to fifth overall. Richard Slade ran very well to record a second league win of the season. Completing the scoring were Matt Evans (19th), Aran Davidson (20th), Adam Shute (24th), Tom Dixon (43rd), James Turner (47th), James Repper (64th), Neil Turner (67th), Michael Turney (100th), and Jonny Slade (101st). Also running well were Alan Crozier (136th), Stuart Clarke (guest 155th), Ben Hannen (162nd), David De Sousa (182nd), Glen Martin (184th), Frank Gaymond (192nd), Clive Docwra (193rd), Ed Wright (194th), and Alan Cairns (200th).   The Vet foursome of Tom, James, James and Neil won on the day and are second after three matches. Tom Dixon and James Turner were 7th and 9th Vet 40 respectively, and James Repper was second Vet 50. Mike Turney recorded his third Vet 60 in a row. Matt Evans was fifth Under 20.
 
The fourth edition is on January 13th at Cassiobury Park, Watford where the club will hope to get closer to league leaders Milton Keynes.

Three Chiltern athletes made the trip to Cardiff for the first Cross Challenge race of the season, added on to the Gwent League match taking place that day. There were sunny conditions but a wet and increasingly muddy course.
 
Kara Gorman had a good run to be third in the Under 13 Girls race which was relatively short so not ideal for her, just pipped on the line for second.
 
In the Senior Men’s race Richard Slade and Simon Bossi were in action. Richard had another cracking run in what is becoming his best ever cross country season, coming 17th overall and eighth Brit in a star studded international field. Richard ran 30.11 on the boggy 9.6k course. Simon was also in good form finishing 43rd in 32.19.

Several Chiltern youngsters took part for their schools in the Regional Final of the Cross Country Cup at a sunny but cold Stowe School on Friday. The following local schools qualified for the National Final at Woodbridge School in Suffolk in three weeks time: Junior Girls – DCHS; Inter Girls – Chesham Grammar; Senior Girls – DCHS, Wycombe High;  Inter Boys – DCGS; Senior Boys – DCGS.
 
Junior Girls
1st           Maya Davis                        DCHS
5th          Nia Clarke                          Chesham Grammar
8th          Bea Robinson                     Chesham Grammar
19th        Annie-Rose Quantrill       DCHS
Inter Girls
7th          Issy Robinson                     Chesham Grammar
8th          Megan Lockwood             Chesham Grammar
9th          Evelyn Wildman                DCHS
Senior Girls
2nd          Maddie Hughes                 DCHS
4th          Ellie Shield                          DCHS
16th        Maddie Rae                       Pipers Corner
19th        Ffion Harman                    Wycombe High
22nd        Hannah Ashby                   DCHS
24th        Alice Peckham                   Chesham Grammar
30th        Jo Snelling                          Wycombe High
31st        Lesedi Nkoane                  Chesham Grammar         
33rd        Florence Lee-Rubis          Wycombe High
42nd       Rebecca Lawson               DCHS
 
Junior Boys
2nd          Logan Gaskell                    The Beacon
30th         Isaac McCall                      DCGS
33rd         Zac Taylor                           DCGS
Inter Boys
2nd          Aidan Suleyman                DCGS
3rd          Thomas Reynolds             DCGS
4th          Charlie Quantrill               DCGS
5th          Edward Johnson                Aylesbury Grammar
15th        Felix Danielli                      DCGS
16th        Eddie O’Brien                    DCGS
25th        Zach Cleary                        Aylesbury Grammar
39th        Mattie Gemmell                DCGS
Senior Boys
2nd          Alex Hughes                       DCGS
6th          Euan Pinder                       Chesham Grammar
9th          Isaac Jessop-Tranter        DCGS
18th        Daniel Munn                      DCGS
21st        Callum Powell                   Chesham Grammar
25th        Rory Hilton                         DCGS
30th        John Nickless                     DCGS
54th        Toby Radbourne                Lord Williams School, Oxon
66th        Sam Attia                            Sir William Borlase

Emilia Ingham repeated her win from the first round in the Under 11 Girls race with a strong run but there were no other U11s taking part. Thomas Living was also a solo Chiltern presence in the Under 11 Boys race and ran hard for third place.
 
The Under 13 Girls were missing Kara Gorman, who was in action at the UKA Cross Challenge meeting in Cardiff, but the strong squad still came away with a convincing win. Juliet MacDougall won the race with Maya Davis third, Nia Clarke fourth and Bea Robinson eighth. Maya, Nia and Bea did especially well having run for their schools the day before. The team was completed by Soraya Roughton (14th), Carys Jones (18th), Holly Knott (21st), Annie-Rose Quantrill (30th) and Mala Bahia (32nd). The girls top the league after two matches.
 
Logan Gaskell again ran strongly to lead in the Under 13 Boys team with a spirited second place. Also scoring were Zac Taylor (19th), Kit Dixon (20th) and Jacob McCall (23rd). They were backed-up by Jack Rogers (26th), Isaac McCall (27th), Lenny Brooks-Klingenschmid (29th) and Albert Rushton (50th). The boys were third on the day and lie fourth overall.
 
There were good runs in the Under 15 Girls race from Issy Robinson (9th), Megan Lockwood (10th), Evelyn Wildman (18th), Katie Allsop (24th) and Izzy McFetrich (28th). Again Issy, Megan and Evelyn ran the previous day. The girls were second and hold second place going into match 3.
 
The Under 15 Boys have a great squad and packed very well to achieve a second league win. Scoring were Isaac Collier in third, Tom Ford fourth, James Holdsworth sixth and Thomas Reynolds seventh. Also well up were Aidan Suleyman (9th), Charlie Quantrill (11th) and Edward Johnson (13th). The great squad showing was completed by Felix Danielli (23rd), Dylan Rossi (27th), and George Mawby (29th).
 
Lucy Wilkinson in fourth, Emily Ford in fifth and Lily Jessop-Tranter 13th scored in the Junior Women’s team that were second. Also running well were Roxie Jones (15th), Jocelyn Davies (25th) and Rebecca Lawson (27th). The team are leading after two matches.
 
It was a very small turnout from the Under 17 men with several of the squad having completed a tough 5k cross country in the Schools Cup at Stowe School the day before. However, Jack Turner in 17th and Hari Mistry in 27th ran well to be sixth team on the day and the team is fourth overall.
 
The Senior Women had a good team out and Under 20 Ellie Shield led the team home in 15th place. Completing the scoring were Katie Repper (20th), Ellie Bates (25th), Orla Williams (30th), Fiona Kelleher (31st), and Sarah Quantrill (36th). They were well backed up by Jessie Keighley (37th), Katie Royals (49th), Charlotte Docwra (52nd), Helen Chalawo (56th), Abi Askey (60th), Jess Orr (65th), Sylvia Moss (74th), Lyndsey Bill (11th), Fiona Williams (121st), Miriam Kempson (122nd), Kathy Jessop (135th), Harriet Lemon (145th), Tamsin Finch (147th), and Fiona Calder (172nd). The team were second on the day and are second overall. The Vets quartet of Sarah, Helen, Abi and Sylvia were fifth and are eighth overall.
 
The leading two Senior Men scorers from match 1, Richard Slade and Simon Bossi, were in action at the Cardiff Cross Challenge which left the team a little light on points. However, everyone ran well and the team were seventh on the day and are sixth overall. Ash Finch made his league debut as a Senior Man and led the team home in tenth place and was third Under 20. Also scoring were Adam Shute (26th), Tom Dixon (48th), James Turner (51st), Neil Turner (89th), Michael Turney (90th), Chris Gloster (115th), Jonny Slade (125th), Aran Davidson (137th) and Ben Hannen (167th). Completing the team were Paul McCarthy (186th), Tony Dawson (216th), Ed Wright (218th), Clive Docwra (223rd), Neil Bates (224th), John Coutts (232nd), David Howells (246th) and Trevor Brawn (255th). The Vets team of Tom, James, Neil and Michael were third and the team are second after two matches.
 
Match 3 at Luton is just three weeks away and the club will hope to remain competitive in the defence of their league title.

Two Chiltern teams made the trip up to Mansfield’s Berry Hill Park for one of the most prestigious events of the winter, the national Cross Country Relay Championships. Conditions were grim with very heavy rain making the course increasingly boggy.
 
An U17 Men’s team ran well for 11th place from 88 and featured good runs from Alex Hughes, Isaac Jessop-Tranter, and Euan Pinder on the undulating 3k circuit. Alex was ninth on the first leg in 9.27, which ended up as 12th fastest leg of the whole race. Isaac ran 10.00 and Euan 9.55 to keep the team competitive throughout.
 
Chiltern’s two Oxford-based Senior Men, Richard Slade and Simon Bossi, comprised an incomplete Senior team and both had very good runs. Richard had another great run to be fourth on leg 1 and his 15.10 on the 5k distance (2 x 2.5k laps) was the eighth fastest of the race and ahead of several notable names in UK cross country. Simon ran 16.37 on leg 2 to bring the team in 15th spot after the two legs.

Chiltern’s best result was in the first race of the day where the U17 Women had a great run to be convincing winners over the 3k course. Frankie Baxter set up the team well, finishing second on leg 1 with 11.15. Lucy Wilkinson looks to be heading towards top form and put the team into the lead with the fastest leg of the whole race to log 10.53, and Lily Jessop-Tranter ran a mature final leg of 11.31 to complete the win.
 
Not to be outdone the U17 Men also ran with composure to win bronze. In form Alex Hughes ran the second fastest lap of the race to be second on leg 1 in 9.23. Euan Pinder with 9.53 on leg 2 and Isaac Jessop-Tranter with 10.08 on leg 3, completed the podium place, comfortably ahead of fourth. The B team of Rory Hilton (10.49), Jack Turner (11.24) and Callum Powell (11.03) were 16th. Also running with the U17s were the U20s where an incomplete Chiltern team featured Ash Finch (9.48) and John Nickless (10.44). Ash was still feeling the effects of his 73 minute Oxford Half from last weekend.
 
The same U13 Girls trio that won silver at the Aldershot Road Relays in September, again took second spot thanks to great efforts from Kara Gorman (7.10), Nia Clarke (7.49) and Maya Davis (7.46) on the shorter 2k loop. Kara’s 7.10 was second fastest lap of the race. Millie Thompson ran in an incomplete B team.
 
The U13 Boys fielded two teams with the A team 14th and the B team 24th. The A’s were led off by Isaac Taylor who had a strong run to log 7.56 and Luke Coultate (7.53) and Jacob McCall (7.59) gradually moved the team up the field. The incomplete B team featured Jack Rogers in 8.09 and Hector Gamblen in 8.02.
 
The U15 Girls suffered from a couple of dropouts in the week and it was just Issy Robinson and Megan Lockwood that competed. Issy in 7.38 and Megan in 7.53 both had good runs.
 
The U15 Boys had won bronze at Aldershot but were one away this time with fourth place. Aidan Suleyman (6.47), James Holdsworth (6.34) and Isaac Collier (6.49) all ran well. There was also a complete B team that finished in 22nd - Tom Ford (6.42), Eddie O’Brien (7.17) and Massimo Schiavi (8.09). 

More Photos from Mark Easton
 
Chiltern had just three Under 11 Girls but all did well with Emilia Ingham running to an excellent victory. Twins Elodie and Ingrid Bellwood were 23rd and 24th on their club debut and the team were fourth. Thomas Living was the sole Under 11 boy and he had a good run to be second.
 
The Under 13 Girls look to be a strong team this year and took a convincing victory. Kara Gorman won from newcomer Juliette MacDougall in second. Maya Davis (fourth) and Bea Robinson (sixth) completed the scoring and there were also excellent efforts from Nia Clarke (seventh), Annie-Rose Quantrill (16th), Holly Knott (17th), Millie Thompson (18th), Carys Jones (25th), Mala Bahia (30th) and Bronwen Harman (38th).
 
Another newby Logan Gaskell led the U13 Boys team home in fourth and the other scorers were Zac Taylor (23rd), Luke Coultate (27th) and Jacob McCall (28th). Also running well were Kit Dixon (29th), Hector Gamblen (31st), Jack Rogers (33rd) and Kiash Kara (64th). The boys were a creditable fourth in the team standings.
 
The Under 15 Girls are a small but talented squad. On Saturday the team achieved a hard-fought second place behind a very strong Milton Keynes team. Issy Robinson (7th), Megan Lockwood (12th), Marlie Nkoane (15th) and Evelyn Wildman (16th) were the scorers and there were good runs from Lydia Cross (26th) and Keya Kara (55nd).
 
Chiltern’s Under 15 Boys are looking like our strongest in-depth team this winter and the lads scored a good win on Saturday. Tom Ford (fourth), James Holdsworth (fifth), Charlie Quantrill (sixth) and Thomas Reynolds (seventh) packed well to score and there were excellent efforts from Edward Johnson (ninth), Zach Cleary (19th), Eddie O’Brien (27th), Dylan Rossi (36th) and Charlie De Sousa (38th).
 
The U17/20 women carried on the good work with a narrow win thanks to Emily Ford (fourth), Lucy Wilkinson (fifth) and Lily Jessop-Tranter (11th). They were backed up by Maddie Rae (17th), Roxie Jones (18th), Izzy Martin (20th), Alice Peckham (27th), Rebecca Lawson (28th), and Ellie Gowers (40th).
 
Despite having some key athletes unavailable, the U17 Men had a good race to be second team. Alex Hughes continued his great recent form to record a big win and the scoring was completed by Isaac Jessop-Tranter (sixth) Daniel Munn (15th) and Rory Hilton (18th). Completing the Chiltern presence were Toby Radbourne (28th), Jack Turner (32nd) and Hari Mistry (34th).
 
The Senior Women were strengthened by the participation of four U20s. Maddie Hughes was fifth and Ellie Shield (11th), Katie Royals (22nd), Fiona Kelleher (23rd), Sarah Quantrill (31st) and Charlotte Docwra (35th) completed the scoring. The team were a good second. Also running well were Hannah Ashby (45th), Sylvia Moss (60th), Lindsay Turner (67th), Lyndsey Bill (86th), Miriam Kempson (89th), Fiona Williams (96th), Kathy Jessop (109th), Tamsin Finch (110th), and Fiona Calder (145th). The Veterans quartet of Sarah Quantrill, Sylvia Moss, Lindsay Turner and Lyndsey Bill were eighth. Sarah was sixth Vet 45 and Miriam fourth Vet 55.
 
Several of last year’s Senior Men’s team are not running this campaign but a good team achieved an excellent third place, led in by race winner Richard Slade. This was possibly Richard’s best-ever cross country beating internationals Zak Seddon and James McMurray to take the win. Also scoring were Simon Bossi (eighth), Matt Evans (18th), Nick Hughes (28th), Adam Shute (30th), Aran Davidson (32nd), James Turner (55th), Neil Turner (73rd), Chris Gloster (90th) and Michael Turney (96th). Completing the Chiltern team were Jonny Slade (105th), Alan Crozier (143rd), David De Sousa (164th), Ben Hannen (176th), Allan Cairns (198th), Neil Bates (203rd), Clive Docwra (214th), Jon Coutts (220th), and David Howells (228th).
 
The Veterans foursome of Nick Hughes, Adam Shute, James Turner and Neil Turner were second, and Matt Evans scored enough points to log as fifth U20 team. Matt was third U20 individual and amongst the vets Nick was leading Vet 50, Michael first Vet 60, and Adam fourth Vet 40.
 
The second match is at Teardrop Lakes, Milton Keynes on November 11th and a good turnout will be needed to keep competitive in what looks like being a closely fought league this season.

Kara Gorman maintained the winning habit at her final appearance at the National Year 5,6 and 7 Cross Country Championships at Prestwold Hall, Leicestershire on March 25th. Conditions were not great at Prestwold with mud, wind and rain to the fore.
 
Kara was the winner for the Bucks Swans team in the Girls Year 7 race which also featured a great run from Maya Davis in fourth. Carys Jones completed the Chiltern interest in 91st.
 
In the boys Year 7 race Luke Coultate was 58th, Isaac McCall 69th and Jacob McCall 82nd.
 
Soraya Roughton was 60th in the Year 6 Girls race and Jack Rogers was 114th in the Year 6 Boys race. Emilia Ingham was the sole Chiltern representative for Bucks Swans in the Year 5 Girls race, finishing  32nd.

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.