Chiltern Cross Country League - Match 4 at Watford

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.