U20's Fynn Batkin & Emily Williams were the two standout performances for the Harriers at the penultimate Cross Country Championship which see all of the best athletes from the 48 English Counties, and the Counties from Scotland/ Wales competing for their County Teams. The course was set up at the now traditional Prestwold Hall, which has seen races in previous years turn into a complete mud bath. Fortunately, with little rainfall for the week leading up to the race, and a drying wind, the conditions were much better than expected, although there were sections of the course that had real heavy mud to test the athletes.
Fynn Batkin enjoyed a brilliant race to finish in 19th place in 32:53 over the 8km course. This was Batkin, a GB triathlete based at Loughborough, best ever performance in a National Championship, and shows that his training for the upcoming triathlon competitions in the summer are going well. Also competing for the Northants team was Josh Cannell who finished in 149th place (39:36) with a solid run, with jack Watson also running well for 161st (41:29), helping the team to a respectable 24th place.
Fynn Batkin with his best ever performance in a National Champs in 19th place
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Emily Williams also ran a terrific race, opting to go out slightly slower over the first few km’s this worked well, with a strong performance over the final km giving her best ever placing at the Inter-Counties competition. Williams completed the 6km course in 26:41 and sadly with just two representing the County Team there was no team position. Williams will take heart from this performance for her final English Schools XC race in the coming weekend which will suit her being slightly shorter at 4400m.
Emily Williams terrific run for 23rd place her best showing at Inter-Counties
Josh Cara competing for the Senior Men also enjoyed a superb race to finish just out of the top 50 in 55th place, completing the 12km course in 41:40. The Cambridge medical student has enjoyed a terrific cross country season and will hope to take the fitness into the track/ road season in the summer. Other Harriers helping the SM County team to a respectable 23rd place were Jonathan Goringe with a terrific performance for 71st (42:03) as second scorer & Luke Myers in 22nd (46:32) third scorer.
Josh Cara superb performance for 55th place in the Senior Mens race
U13 Dylan White continued his consistent season with a terrific race to finish the 3km course in 114th place in 14:50 which was a 110 place improvement from 2019. White was second finisher for the County team helping them to a fine 31st place in the team event. Nathan Lamb recovered well from an unfortunate start which saw him tripped, losing one of his spikes in the process, resulting in him at the back of the 293 strong field as they emerged from the opening 500m loop. Lamb battled hard with one spike to make up places and finish in 192nd, and final scorer for the Northants team.
Dylan White a terrific race for 114th, a 110 place improvement from 2019
Rio Carr enjoyed a fine race in the U15B race with his best performance at a National Championship finishing the 4km course in 144th place in 16:35 and third scorer for the County team helping them to 32nd place. Luke Cole got storming start, leading the U15B race at the start and getting drawn into the fast early pace he paid the price he faded to finish in 248th place in 18:08 and would have learned vital lessons on pacing.
Josh Geddess had a fine run in the U17M race over 6km to finish in 205th place in 25:20, his best ever finish in a National event and second scorer for the County team which finished in 38th place. Josh Clutton ran well for 250th place which is also his best performance in this event.
Freya Baktin also produced her best ever performance in a National event finishing the 5km course in 194th place (26:31), and second scorer for the county team which finished in xx place. Toni Robinson ran well in her first National event representing her county to finish in 267th (6th County finisher).
Ellie Separovic suffered from a late change to her start time which meant she had no time to complete a warm up, so performed well in the U13G race in her first outing competing for the county team to finish in 303rd.
In the senior Women's race Elana Albery performed very well in her first ever 10k XC championship to score in second place for Northants in 201st in 56:16, helping the County team to 27th place.
Well done to everyone who competed, representing KTH & Northamptonshire AA with distinction.
The final XC outing for school age athletes takes place in Liverpool at the season finale English Schools, with a strong squad from the Harriers all looking to cap the long XC season with a strong performance.