Chiltern Cross Country League - Match 5 at Horspath, Oxford

Chiltern Harriers had another good match at Oxford on Saturday, annoyingly second by just one point to Wycombe Phoenix (2497 to 2496).
 
This was enough to secure second place overall behind Bedford. There were individual wins for Juliette MacDougall (U13 Girls), Tom Ford (U15 Boys) and Michael Turney (Vet 60 Men). There were further medals for Emily Ford (U17 Women, bronze), Edward Johnson (U17 Men, silver). and Adam Shute (Vet 40 Men, bronze). Team wins came from the U13 Girls, U15 Girls, U15 Boys and Veteran Men, and there were further medals for Junior Women (bronze), U17 Men (silver), and U13 Boys (silver). Sixty-eight Chiltern athletes braved tough conditions.
 
Although underfoot conditions were better than the mudbath at Horspath in 2024, it was still very soft and wet, with the course cutting up badly through the day.

For the U11 Girls, Rita-May Jones was 41st, and the U11 Boys had a complete team, Jack Dalton 12th, Freddy Higgins 17th, and Oliver Harrison 22nd with Charlie Yeoh in 29th. This was enough for fourth on the day, and the team ended up seventh overall.
 
The U13 Girls completed a dominant win and were led home by Juliette MacDougall, who made it five wins from five. Also scoring were Bea Robinson in third, Loren Gerber fourth, and Holly Knott fifth. Great back-up came from Emilia Ingham seventh, Annie-Rose Quantrill ninth, Lottie Monnington 11th and Mala Bahia 18th. The girls won their division by over 50 points and the final league positions saw Holly fifth, Emilia eighth, and Lottie 14th.
 
There was a win on the day from the U13 Boys who ended up second overall. There was great packing as usual and the scorers this time were Harrison Lawrence fifth, Zac Taylor eighth, Josh Woodward ninth, and John Rooney 14th. Also running well were Hector Gamblen 16th, Oliver Atkinson 19th, Isaac Brown 20th, Thomas Cooper 21st, and Jack Dixon 39th. In the individual season-end standings Harrison was seventh, Zac  11th, Isaac 14th, Hector 15th.
 
A small group of U15 Girls have worked hard all season, often pitching up when not feeling 100%, and their reward was a team win on the day, enough to take the overall team title by just eight points from Watford. Maya Davis was fifth, Evelyn Wildman sixth, Megan Lockwood seventh, and Carys Jones 12th. Overall Maya was fourth, Evelyn sixth, Megan ninth and Carys 17th.
 
U15 Tom Ford completed another win having already clinched the league title at the previous match. He was supported in the scoring by Charlie Quantrill fifth, James Henderson 12th, and Kit Dixon 26th. Isaac McCall was 29th and Jacob McCall 34th. Charlie Quantrill was sixth overall, Ben Reeder 15th, James Henderson 17th.
 
Second place on the day was enough to confirm the Junior Women as silver medallists overall. Emily Ford ran well to be second, Alice Peckham was eighth, and Issy Robinson 12th. Support came from Jocelyn Davies 16th, Jo Snelling 18th, Lydia Cross 29th and Lara Milburn 30th. Emily secured the overall bronze medal. Issy Robinson was sixth overall with Jocelyn Davies 15th.
 
After a great run on Wednesday to win Bucks Schools, Edward Johnson had to accept second in the U17 men’s race and ended as silver medallist overall. He was backed up on the day by Daniel Munn 17th, Zach Cleary 18th, and Jack Turner 22nd. Rory Hilton was 27th and Charlie De Sousa 30th. The team were second on the day and were comfortably second overall. James Holdsworth completed the season in eighth place, Daniel Munn 18th.
 
The Senior Women had a solid team out and were led home by Emily Alderson, running her first cross country for several years, in ninth place. Also scoring were Katie Royals 19th, Roxie Jones 28th, Jess Orr 32nd, Ellie Bates 35th, and Jenny Bizley 52nd. Carys Evans was 56th, Sue Slade 69th, Lyndsey Bill 72nd, and Fiona Calder 122nd. The vet quartet of Ellie, Jenny, Sue and Lyndsey were 6th, Overall the seniors were fifth, the vets sixth. In the final Senior Women’s standings Katie Royals was 14th, Roxie Jones 16th and Jess Orr 17th. Sue Slade was fourth Vet 55.
 
A relatively small senior men’s race saw the Chiltern team sixth. The scorers were Aran Davidson ninth, Tim Lawrence 12th, Daire Stack 21st, Adam Shute 25th, Jonny Slade 75th, Tom Robinson 96th, Mike Turney 100th, Ben Hannen 114th, Alan Crozier 121st, and Amit Dixit 158th. Glen Martin was 161st, Mark Johnson 168th, and Tony Dawson 175th. Chiltern’s vets completed an overall win, narrowly second on the day to Wycombe. The scorers were Tim, Adam, Tom and Mike. Adam completed the season as bronze medallist in the Vet 40 category with Tim Lawrence fourth. Mike Turney won the Vet 60 age group for a second year and Aran Davidson was fourth Senior Man.