Chiltern League - Match 3 at Luton

Chiltern Harriers had by far their best match of the Chiltern League season on Saturday at Stopsley Park, Luton. A slightly increased turnout of 78 saw stronger teams in Senior Men’s and Women’s races which made a big difference to points. The club jumped from fifth overall to second overall in a close contest for league-to-date positions.
 
It was a grey but mild day and the mostly flat course was fairly soft and contained a few muddy patches. There were a number of team and individual wins.

Several Under 11s made their debut. In the girls race Rita-May Jones was 18th and Marni Ison-Stierer 23rd, very good efforts in a field of over 50. In the boys race Jonathan Kallibala was 7th, Jack Dalton 17th, Oliver Harrison 27th and Oliver Vandenbrekel 28th. The girls were 8th and the boys 5th in the team standings.
 
The Under 13 Girls had a strong team out and sealed a third team win. Juliette MacDougall scored her third consecutive individual win and the other scorers were involved in a big sprint finish ending with Loren Gerber 6th, Holly Knott 7th and Bea Robinson 8th. Also running well were Emilia Ingham in 11th and Lottie Monnington in 17th.
 
A good U13 boys team packed well with Jack Rogers 9th, Harrison Lawrence 10th, Isaac Brown 12th, and Toby Reynolds 14th being the team that finished second. Completing the team were Zac Taylor 17th, Hector Gamblen 18th, Oliver Atkinson 24th, Thomas Cooper 28th, and Josh Woodward 29th.
 
The U15s was one area where teams were a little light with a few usual scorers away. The four U15s girls worked hard and were fourth on the day, dropping to third in a very tight team contest. Maya Davis was 3rd, Evelyn Wildman 8th, Carys Jones 20th and Lauren Dwyer 38th.
 
On the boys side Tom Ford took another excellent win and he was backed up by Ben Reeder in 13th, James Henderson in 24th, and Felix Danielli in 28th. Kit Dixon 34th and Isaac McCall 35th completed the team. The team was fourth and drop a place to third overall.
 
A good U17/20 Women’s team were second thanks to Emily Ford 6th, Frankie Baxter 8th and Issy Robinson 15th. Completing a big team were Jo Snelling 27th, Jocelyn Davies 30th, Lydia Cross 43rd, Lara Milburn 45th and Ellie Gowers 48th. The team is third overall.
 
Edward Johnson scored his second win of the season in the U17 Men’s race and the team was second with James Holdsworth 4th, Callum Powell 6th and Zach Cleary 20th scoring. Also doing well were James Malin 28th, Charlie De Sousa 33rd and Mattie Gemmell 39th. Aidan Suleyman had to drop out.
 
A much-improved Senior Women’s team were fourth and featured thirteen runners, compared to six and seven at the first two matches. Bex Nkoane was back in action leading the team home in 18th. Completing the scorers were Roxie Jones 33rd, Katie Royals 35th, Jess Orr 47th, Ellie Bates 52nd, and Carys Evans 54th. Also involved were Jenny Bizley 57th, Lauren Mayot 63rd, Abi Askey 64th, Sylvia Moss 72nd, Sue Slade 82nd, Tamsin Finch 109th, and Fiona Calder 128th. The team are now up to 9th. The Vet quartet of Bex, Ellie, Jenny and Lauren were third and move up to 12th.
 
There was a big jump in the fortunes of the Senior Men with eight scorers within the top 40. Richard Slade took a second individual win leading home the Green Arrows, and there was great back-up from Simon Bossi 6th, Angus Williams 11th, Aran Davidson 12th, Adam Shute 22nd, Cam Reid 23rd, Tim Lawrence 25th, Nick Hughes 36th, Mike Turney 96th and Neil Turner 99th. An 18-strong team also featured Tom Robinson 129th, Ben Hannen 130th, Alan Crozier 133rd, Toby Radbourne 160th, David Reynolds 166th, Frank Gaymond 181st, David De Sousa 189th, Max Baxter 210th and Trevor Brawn 219th. Leon Doran was well placed but fell on a knee already bruised from a training run fall and dropped out. The team was a strong second on the day and move up to fourth overall.
 
The Vet quartet of Adam, Tim, Nick and Mike won and extend their lead. The U20s were eighth thanks to Toby and Max. In the Vet 40 contest Adam was third and Tim fourth, Nick was first Vet 50, and Mike first Vet 60.
 
The fourth match is at Cassiobury Park, Watford on January 11th where Chiltern are slated to provide marshalling assistance to hosts Watford Harriers. Anyone interested in helping please contact Trevor Brawn or Sue Slade.