More County Champions Crowned

Athletes from the Harriers Middle Distance Squad won four further Gold medals at the County Schools Cross County to bring the new year’s tally to eight. The event was held at the traditional setting of Abington Park in Northampton, with the hilly course giving a true test for the 20+ athletes competing. With 16 athletes progressing to the Anglian Trophy in 2 weeks were English Schools places will be up for grabs, there was plenty to run for.

 

One of the days outstanding races was with the Junior Boys U15 age group where Ben Scott produced a performance of outstanding quality to take his first County Title in real style. Scott, who has only been training with the Harriers MD squad from late summer, is making great progress, and he set off in a determined mood to try to upgrade his Silver medal from the NAA XC Championships 2 weeks earlier. Taking the race out hard, Scott had opened up a gap on all but Daventry’s Cruz Confue on the opening small lap, and he continued to push hard into the larger lap, eventually dropping Confue after 2.5km. Scott looked majestic as he strode home for a well-deserved victory over the 4.1km course to win by 150m. Oliver Smith also ran a superb race, having lost a lot of training recently due to growth related niggle, Smith shook off the cobwebs to finish is a terrific 5th place, with Max Ablett also running a fine race to finish in 9th place to secure the team victory for North Northants.

 

Ben Scott with an outstsnding run to take the U15B Gold

 

Not to be outdone, the Junior U15 Girls also secured a County Title, with Marianna Owen winning her second Championship in 2weeks, producing another fabulous front running performance to take the Gold. Owen who went out hard from the start and quickly opened up a gap on the rest of the field, and she never looked troubled cruising home for another impressive XC victory over the 3.3km course. Owen was well supported with Amelie Heron having a terrific run to finish just out of the medals in 4th place, with Sabina Lawton and Elsie Bennett also having fine runs to finish in 6th & 7th respectively, with Darcey Taplin finishing in 16th place hoping she will make the final team of 16 for the Anglian Trophy.

 

Marianna Owen with her 2nd county title in 2 weeks winning the U15G race

 

The previous weeks Cambridgeshire Schools XC also saw success for the Junior U15 Girls in the race with Clara Booth cruising to a superb win over 3.3km course for her first XC Championship win. Held in freezing conditions at Kings Ely School Booth led from the start to comfortably cruise to victory and take the Gold. Tiggy Guthrie-Brown raced well to finish just out of the medals in 4th place. Also competing at the Camb Schools XC were bottom year U15 athletes Joshua Spavins & Raffery Davey, who both raced well to finish in 5th & 7th respectively. All 4 athletes progress to the Anglian Trophy in 2 weeks and will be competing against their Northants schools counterparts which should make for interesting racing.

 

Clara Booth with her first XC County title in the Cambs U15G race

 

Dylan Ransom was the 4th Harrier to take Gold, with a brilliant run in the senior boys Race (U19’s) over the 6.6km course. Ransom sat in on the lead pack from the start, which was quickly whittled down to two with Northampton district’s Nathan Lamb keeping in tow. As before in the NAA county Champs, Ransom stretched away from Lamb on the final lap to take a well-deserved victory and his first County XC title. Also running a fine race was Joseph Pickering, who qualified in 6th place.   

 

Dylan Ransom storms away to an impressive victory in the U19B race

 

In the combined Intermediate (U17) / Senior (U19) girls’s race over 4.1km, there was considerable success for the harriers, with Peyton Almond in a rare XC appearance running a superb race to take the U17W Silver medal, with Iona Ellwood just out of the medals finishing in 4th place also running a fine race, with Freya Allitt running well for 10th place. New MD recruit Esther Champman ran well to finish in the final qualifying place in only her 2nd ever XC race, with Elenore Jackson finishing in 17th place, and first reseve spot also running well.. In the U19W race Evie Brooker, enjoying her 2nd spell with the Harriers, ran a terrific race to grab a Bronze medal, with Charlotte Jackson running well for a 7th place finish.

 

Rare XC appearance for Peyton Almond, with a superb run to take the Silver medal 

In the Intermediate boys (U17) race George Sharp enjoyed a much better race than the NAA Counties to finish in 8th place, a position he will look to better or match in 2 weeks to gain selection for English Schools, with Thomas Williams securing a reserve spot for the Anglian Trophy in 17th place, and Finn Brooker, on the comeback trail after a number growth related niggles, running well for 20th place.

 

In the Minor boys & girls (U13) races, there was success for Callum Johnson who ran well to finish in 8th place and qualify for the Anglian Trophy. Amelie Chymcakova also grabbed the final qualifying spot in 16th place with a good run, and club colleague Olivia Henderson secured first reserve spot in 17th place, with Senudi Wanshannatha running well for 25th place.

 

Well done to evryone who ran.