Chiltern Cross Country League - Match 5 at Campbell Park

Chiltern Harriers rounded off the Chiltern Cross Country League season on a high with a match win at Campbell Park, Milton Keynes on Saturday. On tough, but surprisingly firm, hilly courses, Chiltern runners across the age groups ran very well to secure a rare match win. Several junior age groups ended up team winners and the club ended the season in a strong third place.

The inexperienced Under 11s have done well this season and both boys and girls teams were second on the day and second overall to good Milton Keynes teams. On Saturday the girls’ scorers were Ellie Danner (6th), Marlie Nkoane (8th) and Katie Allsop (13th). Also running well from a field of 71, were Charlotte Grosse (21st) and Evelyn Wildman (23rd). In overall league standings Ellie was 7th, Marlie 11th and Charlotte 15th.
 
The boys tried hard to catch MK but ended up second, 984 to 971 points. Scorers on Saturday were Tom Ford 3rd, Felix Danielli 4th and Zach Cleary 11th. Also running well were Charlie Quantrill 14th, Kody Gilbody 15th, Jack Salter 16th, Jacob Strutton-Smith 18th, Charlie De Sousa 19th, and George Mawby 32nd from a total of 65. Overall Tom Ford was 4th, Zach Cleary 5th, Charlie Quantrill 9th, Felix Danielli 10th, Kody Gilbody 11th, Jacob Strutton-Smith 13th and Hugo Mundy 14th.
 
The U13 Girls have been strong all season and a pretty much full-strength team was dominant on Saturday. Zoe Gilbody took the win to secure overall league victory. Frankie Baxter was second, Lesedi Nkoane third and Lily Jessop-Tranter sixth to clinch a convincing win on the day and overall. Also running well were Marea Logan 7th, Emily Ford 17th, Lucy Wilkinson 23rd, Olivia Clarke 24th, Savarnah Pandya 27th, Izzy Martin 28th, Rebecca Lawson 45th, and Elizabeth Nickless 53rd. Overall, in addition to Zoe’s win, Lucy Wilkinson was 7th, Olivia Clarke 11th, Emily Ford 15th, Izzy Martin 17th, Beth Togneri 18th and Savarnah Pandya 19th.
 
Alden Collier continued his great season, wrapping up a four-win league victory in the U13 Boys race. The boys won team gold convincingly. On Saturday Euan Pinder was second, Archie Pinder third, and Max Baxter fourth to log a big win. Also well up were Isaac Jessop-Tranter 6th, Alex Hughes 9th, Rowan Gawne 10th, Ethan McCall 12th, Callum Powell 18th, Gabriel Strutton-Smith 19th, Freddie Emery 25th, Frazer Paterson 30th, Rory Hilton 32nd, Danny Carruthers 34th, Issa Phillips-Pope 48th, and Alfie Clifford 54th. The team won by nearly 300 points.
See video of the start of the U13 boys race
 
Overall Alden won league gold, Rowan Gawne won bronze, Gabriel Strutton-Smith was fifth, Rory Hilton 14th and Alfie Clifford 18th.
 
The Under 15 Girls were adversely affected by the ESAA Schools Cup which took away very nearly the whole team for two matches. However the girls battled back to win overall silver after wins in matches four and five. On Saturday Abbie Henderson won, Holly Henderson was second, Alice Brown sixth and Maddie Hughes ninth. Packing well were Ellie Shield 13th, Charlotte Docwra 14th, and Hannah Ashby 15th. The only girl who completed four matches was Charlotte Docwra who ended up eighth overall.
 
The Under 15 Boys were also hit by ESAA Schools Cup at matches two and three but a bigger squad was able to cope and the boys overhauled Bedford’s lead with a massive win on Saturday. Thomas Askey won, Thomas Redmond was second, Mac Nisbet 5th and Angus Stoneham 6th. Others well up were Teague Eaton 7th, Oakley Denson 12th, Laurie Gawne 18th, Sammy Bennetts 21st, Zak Fisher 31st, and Jerry Anderson 34th. Overall, Angus was 5th, Laurie 11th, Sammy 15th, and Jerry 20th.
 
For the Junior Women, there was a team win for the first time in memory, all down to good participation and hard work. On Saturday Katie Repper was 5th, Alicia Bushell 6th and Soraya Lockwood 13th to do enough to secure an overall win, just seven points ahead of Bedford. Also doing well were Millie Hughes 19th, Jinaan Lockwood 23rd, and Ella Watson 25th. Overall in the U17 section Alicia was 4th, Katie 5th, Millie 12th, Jinaan 15th and Ella 20th. In the U20 section Soraya was a well-deserved silver medallist.
 
The U17 Men have worked well as a team this year and Saturday was no different. There was a team win on the day and also an overall league win. Max McGarvie continued his good form to be 4th, James Palmer was 7th, Ben Hunter 8th, Ben Jackson 9th, Luke Martin 10th, and Louis Peterson 12th. Overall Alex Aldred was fourth, James Palmer 7th and Luke Martin 8th.
 
So in the eight junior categories there were five wins and three second places.
 
The Seniors also had a good day. The Senior Women had one of their best ever teams out and duly won the match on the day and were second overall. Ellie Bates blasted to a superb 6th, Louise Fry was 9th, Bex Nkoane 10th, Natalie Hallas 16th, Hannah Wardley 17th, and Lean Ni Chobhain 24th. In the huge and well-supported team the following all did well – Sue Elliott (36th), Cathy Holloway (42nd), Christine Burroughs (45th), Katie Royals (57th), Abigail Askey (62nd), Sylvia Moss (64th), Tessa Passey (65th), Caroline Stephens (74th), Rashila Wanninayake (89th), Miriam Kempson (91st), Harriet Lemon (94th), Fiona Williams (95th), Katherine Day (102nd), Ruth Holroyd (108th), Tamsin Finch (115th), Laura Gardner (118th), and Fiona Calder (136th). The vets foursome of Bex, Natalie, Sue and Cathy were second on the day and the team were second overall.
 
In the Senior Women’s standings overall, Ellie was fourth, Hannah sixth, and Katie 11th. In the Vet 45 category Bex Nkoane won gold, with Sue Elliott 4th, Christine Burroughs 5th, Cathy Holloway 7th and Caroline Stephens 10th.
 
The Senior Men were a very good fifth led home by the ever-improving Richard Slade in second place. With this, Richard secured individual silver, the first time a Chiltern Harriers Senior Man has won a league medal for some
 
 
time. After five matches the team was seventh. Also scoring were Aran Davidson (14th), Nick Hughes (25th), Tommy Davies (41st), Neil Turner (59th), Tom Dixon (63rd), Pablo Fuentes (67th), Alex Paul (83rd), Shaun Fry (97th), and Andrew Wiseall (108th). In a good turnout they were joined by Ian Lawson (109th), Neil Bates (112th), Jon Taylor (113th), Andy Hickman (119th), Matt Hipgrave (123rd), Nathan Taylor (124th), Richard Moss (127th), Cory Dyck (130th), Stuart Real-Slavicky (164th), Glen Martin (172nd), Tim Higrave (174th), and Trevor Brawn (216th).
 
Overall in the Senior Men listings, Aran was a very good ninth. Neil Tuner was highest overall Vet 40 in ninth, and Andy Hickman best placed Vet 50 in seventh.