Marianna Owen spearheaded a great day for Kettering Town Harriers at the English Schools' Cross Country Championship with a magnificent performance to finish in 8th place and earn selection to represent England at the Home Countries SIAB International in Falkirk in a weeks’ time. The wider squad were also on fire in the last XC race of the season with three top 50 finishes, and 8 athletes securing their best ever finish in the ES national Championships which is the most prestigious and hotly contest event of the season.
Marianna Owen 8th place finish and automatic selection to represent England
The English Schools' Cross Country Championship held in the picturesque grounds of Ardingly, was a splendid demonstration of the most talented young runners from schools across England, in the traditional season XC finale. The south of England showground hosted the event, located in the heart of Sussex, and this proved to be a great setting for the championship with rolling hills and a highly challenging course, which was very uneven with dry conditions under foot. The narrow and twisty course provided a significant challenge to the tactics employed on the day, athletes not able to get a clean start could easily be held up on the tight course for a significant part of the shorter XC race distances, so a fast start off the line was critical.
Owen who only joined the Harriers in late August 2024, has adapted very well to her new club, and has been in hot form during the XC season, winning a North Midlands League fixture, two top 20 finishes at the Liverpool UK Cross and the English National, and she was crowned double Northants County Champion. Owen had decided to opt out of the previous weeks Inter-Counties championship to ensure she had the best chance to make a top 10 finish at English Schools which guarantees an International vest for the SAIB Home Countries International, and this seems to have been a wise decision.
The Junior Girls proved to be the days main highlight with Marianna Owen leading Northants Schools to one of the highest finishes in it’s history, finishing in 7th place as a minor County.
Walking the course before her race, and discussing tactics with coach Shane Smith, it was clear that with the short distance of 2.6km and a tight and twisty course it was imperative for Owen to get a fast start and get into the front pack and to hold this position throughout the race to stand a chance for a top 10 finish.
The plan worked to perfection, Owen who was at the front of the Northants County pen courtesy of her county schools win, shot off the line over the opening 200m ensuring she was firmly placed in the top 5 before a series of sharp right turns to double back on the course. Owen worked hard to stay in the pack despite 4 athletes opening up a small gap after the first 2k, and she stuck to the pre-race plan to keep herself in contention as long as she could and hang on if needed at the end. Into the closing 600m Owen was still in 8th place, but with a number of athletes working hard to close her down in a bid to claim the prized England vest, she had to work increadibly hard to maintain the small gap she had built. Going into the final 100m Owen was dead on her legs but she still managed to dig a little deeper to hang onto a magnificent 8th place finish to make the England XC team for SIAB, finishing the 2.6k course in 9:30, with the race winner Gabrielle Pinder cutting the tape in 9:05.
Marianna Owen with a magnificent run to finish in 8th place, earning her first England call up
Owen was delighted with her run “It’s so surreal and I’m absolutely over the moon! I am very grateful to my coach, for all of his guidance and support since joining the club last summer.”
This is a breakthrough performance for Owen who showed no fear going into her first English Schools Championships and club coach Shane Smith was equally delighted with his young protégé
“Since joining the Harriers Marianna has really worked incredibly hard and has adjusted well to the new training regime, she is making excellent progress training with her new squad and is keen to learn, taking on board all the advise I give to her. Going into the race I felt she had a good chance to make the England Team, she is a very talented athlete”.
Owen will stay in training and will look to cap a fine winter with a strong performance in Venue Calendar Park in Falkirk which hosts the top quality Home Countries competition comprising of the best athletes from the four Nations involved, all having qualified for their teams via their Schools National Championships.
The Junior Girls race also saw some fantastic performances from the Harriers who form the heart of a very strong U15G's squad. Clara Booth ran a superb race representing Cambs with a brilliant top 50 finish. Booth also manged to get a fine start, producing a top quality performance to finish the 2.6k course in 10:06 to cap a superb winter which saw her claim a Bronze medal at the National U15 indoor 800m, with fellow Cambs athlete Tiggy Guthrie-Brown also running well for 287th. Helping Northants County to one of their best ever finishes in the Junior Girls competition was Amelie Heron who produced her best ever run in a National champs to finish in 111th place & 5th scorer for the team in 10:28, with just 3 seconds separating the 3rd-5th scoring Northants athletes. Sabina Lawton was the final 6th scorer for the team with another fine run to finish in 10:37, with Millie Sharp running well to improve on her 2024 finish in a very respectable 194th (10:52), and Elsie Bennet in 325th (12:08).
Clara Booth brilliant race to finish in 50th place
The other outstanding run on the day came from Junior Boys Ben Scott who enjoyed a magnificent race to finish in 37th place overall and top score for the County over the same 2.6km course as the Junior Girls. Scott joined the Harriers MD squad in the Autumn and has made remarkable progress in the short time with the squad. Scott who was also in the front of the pen, also managed to get a great start and he managed to stay in a prominent position throughout the race, powering to a top finish in 9:02 in a frantic finish which saw just 5 seconds seperating 26th to 38th, demonstrating the the closeness of the racing. Remarkably this was Scotts 4th ever XC race and caps a superb winter with a top 100 finish as a bottom year athlete the previous week at the Inter-Counties championship race. Scott looks to make his track debut in a few weeks’ time to see if he can make a similar impact in the summer. Also making a terrific impact in the Junior boys race after a series of growth related niggles over the winter was Oliver Smith who ran a superb race to finish in 184th (9:41), and 2nd finisher for the County team in what was also his English Schools debut. Competing for Cambs and also making his debut in this competition was Joshua Spavins who finished in 28th (10:07), with all three boys gaining valuable experience for future years.
Ben Scott outstanding running to finish in 37th place in the Junior Boys race
Inter Girls Peyton Almond and Iona Ellwood also make a great impact in their races, with both recording their best ever finish at English Schools. Almond enjoyed a terrific race and completed the 3.5km course to finish in 91st place in 14:03 and second scorer for the County, with Ellwood also having a fine race to finish in 173 (14:40) and third scorer for the county team which finished in 28th place.
Peyton Almond with a top 100 finish in 91st place in the Inter Girls race
The Harriers produced some further fine runs in the Senior girls & boys races, with Evie Brooker securing her best ever finish in the competition finishing the 4k course in 16:30 for 195th place, and Charlotte Jackson in 267th place (17:42), with both Brooker & Jackson scoring for the County team in 3rd & 6th place respectively. Joseph Pickering ran well in the senior boys race to finish in 282nd place, completing 6k course in 21:00, and scoring 5th place in the County Team.
Collectively this was one of the strongest performances from the Harriers in recent years in English Schools, and the squad will now look to have a short rest to recuperate before the 2025 track outdoor season starts in just weeks.
Congratulation to Marianna, and to the whole squad on an impressive finish to the winter season.