Chiltern Cross Country League – Match 2 at Teardrop Lakes

There were some good results from Chiltern Harriers at the second match of the season at Teardrop Lakes, Milton Keynes on Saturday. The club were fourth on the day and are in third place overall after two matches.
 
It was a mild, sunny day at Teardrop but the recent rain ensured the course cut up heavily towards the end of the meeting with several treacherous patches.
 
Turnout was affected by several youngsters running in the Schools Cup Regional Round at Stowe the day before and there were a few key senior men missing.

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.