Chiltern Cross Country League – Match 4 at Watford

It was a cold and bright day at Cassiobury Park on Saturday for the fourth fixture in the Chiltern League series. The club had another good match, finished second overall on the day, and lie second overall with one match left. There were individual wins for Juliette MacDougall (U13 Girls) and Tom Ford (U15 Boys) and team wins for the Veteran Men and U15 Boys. All junior teams are in the top three going into the final match. It was the best turnout so far with 88 Chiltern runners braving the cold.

Marni Ison-Stierer was the sole U11 Girl racing, finishing well in 22nd. The U11 Boys were fifth on the day and move up to seventh overall. Jack Dalton was 12th, Jonathan Kaliballa 13th and Oliver Harrison 27th to score, and there was good back-up from Oliver Vandenbrekel (29th), Freddy Higgins (31st), and Charlie Yeoh (43rd).
 
U13 Juliette MacDougall completed her fourth league victory, thereby securing the individual league title. She was supported by Loren Gerber (fifth), Emilia Ingham (tenth) and Annie-Rose Quantrill (16th). Also running well were Holly Knott (17th), Lottie Monnington (20th), Mala Bahia (36th) and Phoebe Gorman (52nd). The team were second by one point to St Albans but have a 25 point lead going into the final match.
 
A good turnout from the U13 Boys saw the team finish fourth and they lie second overall. Harrison Lawrence continued his good form to be sixth; Josh Woodward (12th), Zac Taylor (13th) and newcomer John Rooney (17th) completing the scoring. Good back-up came from Hector Gamblen (18th), Harry Reeder (24th), Oliver Atkinson (26th), Thomas Cooper (36th) and Jack Dixon (50th).
 
Just three U15 Girls faced the starter and Evelyn Wildman (third), Megan Lockwood (tenth) and Maya Davis, bravely battling a painful ankle in 14th, scored enough for third team and they are second with one match left, just 25 points covering the top four teams in this exciting division.
 
Tom Ford led home the winning U15 Boys team and his third victory clinched the individual league title. Tom was given great support by Thomas Reynolds (sixth), Charlie Quantrill (eighth), and Ben Reeder (16th). The large team also featured good efforts from James Henderson (26th), Colin Miles (28th), Raphael Tsolaki (38th), Kit Dixon (39th), Isaac McCall (41st) and Jacob McCall (45th). The boys take a narrow lead into the last match.
 
The Junior (U17/U20) women kept their podium hopes strong with a good third place courtesy of Emily Ford (eighth), Alice Peckham (11th) and Issy Robinson (13th). Another large team saw good runs from Jo Snelling (27th), Lara Milburn (45th), Lydia Cross (48th), Rebecca Lawson (51st) and Ellie Gowers (53rd). The team lie a comfortable third prior to match 5.
 
Chiltern’s U17 Men again worked hard to keep in the team medal mix. Edward Johnson (fourth), Callum Powell (seventh), James Holdsworth (ninth) and Daniel Munn (22nd ) were the scoring four that finished third. Solid back-up came from Rory Hilton (27th), Zach Cleary (29th), Jack Turner (31st), Charlie De Sousa (40th) and Mattie Gemmell (42nd). The team lie a strong second overall.
 
Newcomer Beverley Whitfield led home the Chiltern women who had their best turnout of the season. The team were fifth, moving up to sixth overall. Also scoring were Roxie Jones (28th), Katie Royals (29th), Jess Orr (50th), Ellie Bates (52nd) and Cath Holloway (58th). Also contributing in a large team were Jenny Bizley (59th), Lauren Mayot (69th), Abi Askey (70th), Helen Chalawo (76th), Sylvia Moss (80th), Lyndsey Bill (90th), Sue Slade (100th), and Fiona Calder (170th). The Vets quartet of Beverley, Ellie, Cath and Jenny were second and move up to ninth overall.
 
For various reasons several usual scorers weren’t running but an influx of strong newcomers helped the Senior Men to a solid performance. The seniors were seventh, and the vets won and hold a decent lead going into Match 5. Leading the scoring on debut was Matt Whitfield in 17th and he was backed up by Aran Davidson (22nd), Charlie Ogilvie (24th), Tim Lawrence (31st), Daire Stack (32nd), Adam Shute (40th), Neil Turner (88th), Russell Vandenbrekel (117th), Ben Hannen (104th) and Tom Wright (106th).  Also running were Toby Radbourne (165th), Richard Moss (169th), Frank Gaymond (170th), Ian Lawson (175th), Amit Dixit (176th), David De Sousa (198th), Ed Wright (201st), Glen Martin (205th), Allan Cairns (208th), and Tony Dawson (217th). In the Vet 40 race Matt was third, Tim fourth and Adam sixth. Neil was fifth Vet 50. The vets foursome of Matt, Tim, Adam and Neil scored another win and another good effort at Match 5 could clinch the team title.
 
The final match is at Oxford Horspath on February 8th where all positions will be decided. Another good turnout will help to maximise the medal count.