17 March 2018
- English Schools Cross Country Championships Leeds 2018
Yasmin in the senior girls race
This years English Schools’ Cross Country Championships
was held within the historic estate of Temple Newsam, Leeds, West Yorkshire,
against the backdrop of the magnificent Tudor - Jacobean mansion, in grounds
landscaped by Capability Brown in the 18th century.
With the
weather taking another turn for the worse it was looking likely that the
Championships may have been called off but then a refreshing message
appeared on the English schools website:
“The
weather forecast is brrr... with strong cold winds bringing maybe only
about 20mm of snow...perhaps...no more. This is normal cross country
weather in England and the Championships will go ahead as planned. This
is your chance to decry the common perception that kids nowadays are
deemed to be 'snowflakes'! Turn up. Run. Get cold. Get muddy. Enjoy
getting warm again! This is proper cross country.”
A brave and
ultimately correct decision. The weather was bitterly cold with snow
showers, strong winds and the odd spell of wintery sun but the course was
great and well marked out. The tough hilly course wound around the grounds
taking in sections that were wet and muddy under foot and finished in the
shadow of the imposing Temple Newsam mansion. The course was perfect for
spectators who could watch all of the races unfold from the high ground.
All
forty-six English Counties select their best eight athletes for the honour
of being the best in the Country, so the competition is always fierce and
the fields large. An impressive twenty-eight Blackheath and Bromley Harriers
were selected for their counties and another seven selected as reserves.
First up
were the Inter girls (school years 10 and 11), running a 3.8k route.
Sophie
Hoare set off hard and was rewarded with a fantastic 17th followed by Ava
White running well in 37th just in front of Lucrezia Polloni having a great
run crossing the line in an impressive 39th. Next, followed four Andy
Frankish coached girls and good to see Morgan Squibb back running again
after a short lay off placing 82nd. Zoe White in her first English schools
was a fine 115th with Jess Neal a good 171st. Bethany Panton in her first
English schools was 212th and Sabrina Mannes finished in 219th.
The Junior
boys (school years 8 and 9) ran over a 4.1k course and Sam Reardon (coach
Mick Jones) making his English schools debut was BB’s only representative
and was a respectable 114th. Tom Brash had also been selected but
unfortunately had to withdraw a week before the champs having picked up a
leg injury.
The Junior
girls were up next running 3.1k and BBHAC were well represented having
athletes competing for four different counties. Three Phil Kissi girls all
competing for London included Naomi Toft who started well and finished a
fantastic 14th,. Lara Mannes in her English schools debut had a solid run in
50th followed by Anwen Thomas finishing 64th. Kent’s Ellie Dolby in her 2nd
ESAA Champs was 69th with Hannah Clark and Lily Meers both a year young
making their ESAA debuts placing 122nd and 245th respectively. Zakia Mossi
representing Middlesex continued her fine English schools career with a
great 79th place finish to add to her track and field 800m bronze win in
2017.
Imogen
Hadley completed the age group running for Surrey and finishing 254th.
The Inter
boys running 5.2k were next to feature and with no Kent based BB athletes it
was down to the Nigel Sticking coached trio of London boys Oliver Bright,
Matthew Francis and Peter Guy, along with Middlesex Carlos Ohler to fly the
flag.
Oliver, no
stranger to the English schools having represented them last year when
placing 7th earning him his England vest, went off with the pack and ran
superbly considering he is a year young in this age group and finishing high
up in 16th. Matthew Francis is in great shape and started well but was
hampered by a shoe problem only to find out later that he had been badly
spiked, ruining a new pair of spikes and drawing blood! Despite this Matthew
still finished a respectable 109th. Peter Guy ran in a typically determined
fashion placing a very good 131st. Carlos has made great strides having only
started his running career a few short months ago and should be pleased with
his first English Schools experience, placing 274th.
The senior
girls (school years 12-13) ran 4.1k and Yasmin Austridge in her sixth and
final schools cross country race produced her highest ever finish battling
well for a superb top ten finish placing 9th. Lottie Weitzel continued her
great season for Kent crossing the line in 112th while Eloise O’Shaughnessy
running for London placed 156th.
Coach David
Liston had three athletes running in the senior boys 6.8k race. Lewis Mills
racing for Kent was just inside the top 100 in 98th. Then Theo Wood, making
his schools debut having only just started racing competitively this winter
finishing 141st with Callum Myatt also making his schools debut just behind
in 167th.
Two second
claim senior boys also had great runs in the form of Ricky Lutakome placing
a solid 54th and Aaron Enser 78th.
Full
results here
http://esaa.net/v2/2018/xc/xc18intro.php
To view all
of the races see the Vinco link
http://vinco.elasticbeanstalk.com/videos/23647
Paul
28 January 2017 - SW Vets X/C Sidford
Full
results here...
Photos from
Chris Woodcock
Peter
Hamilton was 22nd
27 January
2018 - South of
England Championships - Brighton
Mud, Rain, Hills, Wind. What is not to love.
Yesterday due to the whole fiasco in the organisation
and travel arrangements a smaller than usual team of dedicated Heathens
traveled down to Stanmer park in Brighton for the 2018 South of England
Cross Country champs.
With the weather deteriorating the nearer to race time
it got and with all other races having happened before hand it was always
going to be a tough day at the office for the 7 that were brave enough to
turn up.
First home for the team in probably one of his best
senior performances in a Blackheath vest and considering this time last year
he was barely running Ross Braden finished in 24th place in some fairly
respectable company.
Next home and again having a strong run and ever
improving was the second team manager Dan Kennedy in 117th. A few minutes
further back to complete the team management representation was Chris Tuck
in 168th.
Following up with some solid running was Jon Vintner
in 240th. 40th places back was Rich Hall in 280th. The last finisher on the
day was the ever more regularly attending Graham Hollingdale in 347th.
The course did claim one casualty as Tim Ayres
suffered a twisted ankle and was unable to complete, declaring that it is
still better to have DNF'd than DNS'd. A message that we hope everyone might
embrace for the final home Kent league race at Sparrows Den on the 10th Feb.
A the time of writing the team scores are showing on
SEAA as 4 to score and we were 19th in this.
Well done everyone that braved the conditions and
turned out. A few more events coming up with the club 10 mile next Sunday,
final Kent League on the 10th, Ranelagh mob Match on the 17th @ Richmond
Park. Then the big one THE NATIONAL at Parliament hill on the 24th.
Up the Heath
Ross, Chris and Dan
6 January 2018 - KCAA Cross-Country Championships -
Brands Hatch
Full results here...
Kent
Cross Country Champs Senior Women
Amber Reed
and Kate Curran did us extremely proud, producing outstanding runs at the
Kent Cross Country Champs. Originally we had 8 senior women down to run, but
due to illness and injuries, it was unfortunate that sadly that most had to
pull out. Despite this, Amber and Kate still ran and Amber came in a very
impressive 13th place in 35:03 and Kate was hot on her heels in 18th place
and a time of 35:38. Who knows how we would have done with a third team
member.
Hopefully
we can have a full team for the National Cross Country Championships at
Parliament Hill.
Well done
ladies.
Jen Neal
Blackheath and Bromley HAC young athletes got 2018 off
to a winning start, collecting an impressive medal haul at a very cold
Brands Hatch, in the Kent County Cross Country Championships. Over 50 BB’s
youngsters braved the bitter cold, but dry conditions and finished the day
winning two team trophies, two individual golds, one individual bronze and
winning team medals in all but one age group.
Our most successful age group was the U15’s where we
secured comfortable individual victories in both the boys and girls races.
Morgan Squibb looked superb winning her 4.1k race with a 14 second cushion
over second place and Oliver Bright won the boys 4.4k race with a more
modest 5 second gap.
The U15 girls squad have been strong all winter and so
winning the team trophy was no surprise. Following Morgan home was Ellie
Dolby in a fine 4th place with Zoe White also having a great race, finishing
5th. Showing our strength in depth Jess Neal was a strong 8th, Bethany
Panton an impressive 10th and then in close proximity were Ellie Osmond
13th, Olivia Berry 14th, Kelsey Pullin 15th, followed by Ruby Dunkley 20th
and Emily Davis 24th.
In the boys race Oliver Bright went two places better
than in his only other previous Kent Championships, winning his first Kent
County title. Oliver led a big BB squad home and their collective efforts
were good enough to secure team bronze. An impressive run from Pablo Seema
Roca in 14th, Sam Reardon, only just back to training, a solid 18th and a
fast finishing Freddy Georgiou in 24th completed the scoring four. Jake Leng
was a good 31st, Bailey Marks in his first County Championship was 39th,
Will Andrews 42nd, Jean Sammutt 47th and Nick Paddington 50th.
The U13 boys have a full strength squad but were up
against other strong clubs. Towards the end of an exciting race it was clear
the team title was being fought between two clubs, as Invicta East Kent AC
and BBHAC held all the top 6 places , three a piece Two Invicta lads were
pulling clear and BB’s young George Shaw pushed on trying to break Invicta’s
monopoly but the Invicta lads were too strong and crossed the line in 1st,
2nd and 3rd. George’s great effort guaranteed him 4th place just ahead of
Max Gregson and Ben Campbell finishing strongly in 5th and 6th. So with
Invicta 1,2,3 and BB,4, 5, 6 the fourth runner was all important and how
pleased were we to see sprint hurdler Oliver Robertson sprinting for the
line, crossing in an impressive 12th place. We had yet to see the fouth
Invicta athlete but the BB boys kept coming in, with Jamie Sears having a
great run in 25th and Sam Stuart having a strong race placing 34th. Ted
Marston looked strong finishing 39th and Jake Anthony did well to finish
57th despite having very sore heels. Oles Chaban was 70th and great to have
Matt Smith back in the team after a couple of major set backs and he can now
build on this with confidence going forward. In the excitement of the race
no one had seen the all important fourth Invicta lad cross the line, so a
tense wait until the official results were announced. Blackheath U13 boys
team had won and comfortably by over 20 points. This just goes to show what
strength in depth means and Blackheath boy s U13 squad were more than worthy
winners, a fantastic gold effort.
Nine U13 girls toed the line for their 3k race and it
was Lily Meers first BB home in a fine 5th place, with Hanna Clark in a
strong 9th and Amelia Middleton just behind in a great 10th, completing the
three to score team that would later collect their team silver medals.
Cameron Kelly Gordon had a fine run in 16th place, Isabella Louth was a
strong 27th, Amelie Willars 31st, Gabby Buddle Smith 33rd, Katie Brash, 36th
and Sian Smith 43rd.
U17 boys age group is very competitive and the BB boys
will be delighted with their team silver medals especially as we only had a
squad of four running on the day. With four to score in U17 race all our
boys efforts were rewarded with County silver medals. Matthew Francis led
the BB charge placing a fantastic 3rd and also picking up the individual
bronze to add to his team medal. Peter Guy ran in his normal determined
fashion and placed an impressive 8th whilst Callum Myatt looked good
finishing 12th and Theo Wood running in his first County Championship placed
32nd and made a massive contribution to the teams effort, helping secure
silver.
The U20 women also secured team silver medals with all
three of our girls tightly bunched with Jess Keene in 5th, Lottie Weitzel
6th, and Lucy Elms in 7th.
The U20 men matched the girls also winning team silver
for their efforts. Lewis Mills brought the team home in 5th, with Charlie
Davis 12th, Joss Barber 13th and Oscar Hussey 14th.
Only two U17 girls racing meant no team prize
contested but a great run from Mille Smith placing 7th and Charlotte Faries
in 29th.
The Kent County Cross Country Championships is a well
run event with an excellent results service. Our very own Past President
Dave Cordell was race referee and great to have current President Nick
Brooks in attendance, supporting all our athletes, along with Past President
Mike Peel supporting and taking the great photos we see on our website.
Paul Austridge
Despite it being the beginning of January, the wind
being brutal and the distance daunting, we once again got a strong team out
for the Kent XC Championships at Brands Hatch and distinguished ourselves in
both the 6 and 12 to score categories.
Team manager Ross Braden set the tone brilliantly with
a well judged race to come 6th overall and surely secure a place in the
Inter-Counties. He was backed up ably by Will Ruiz, fresh from the
apparently ultra high altitude English city of Birmingham, who had one of
his best races for the club to come 12th and also interest the county
selectors. This was followed by excellent packing from the remaining
two-thirds of the 6 to score led by part-time Scot Peter Tucker, somehow
rejuvinated by Irn-Bru and deep-fried Mars Bars, in 26th, Dan Kennedy in
28th, the eternal drama queen Danny Brewer in 29th, and Chris Tuck in 34th-
a significant improvement on his 72nd from last year.
Luca Ercolani built on his fine run at the Kent
Masters XC to come 66th, followed by Tom Desborough in 87th, who celebrated
being a senior athlete by competing under his own name. Paul Sharpe ditched
his smart shirt and trousers for proper running gear to sneak into the top
100 in 96th. Dan Marks continued his renaissance with an impressive 135th,
backed up by Richard Byford in a strong return from injury in 151st and
Blackheath's joker in the pack Tim Ayres in 159th to complete the scoring
and the line-up for the club.
Blackheath were 4th in the 6 to score (out of 16) and
4th in the 12 to score in what seems to be a recurring position for us this
season.
Well done to everyone who ran!
Up the Heath!
Ross, Dan and Chris
25 November
2017 - Inter Area C-C Challenge Bournemouth
Full results here...
Photos from
Chris Woodcock
Peter Hamilton
25 November
2017 - South of Thames Champs - Beckenham Place Park
So on Saturday a small but select team of runners made
their way to Beckenham Place Park to take part in the South of the Thames
5mile cross country race.
Due to other commitments, continuing injuries and the
number of races in November we were only able to field the bare minimum 4 to
score.
First hone and showing his decision to miss last weeks
London XC champs was a good move was Alex Gibbins coming home in a strong
15. Alex looked to be running well ahead of next weeks Kent masters.
Following up further behind and feeling the effects of
his third race in 7 days was Chris Tuck in 30th.
Tim Ayres was next home and valiantly showed his
clubmanship by competing having suffered all week from man flu but knowing
his participation was required to complete the team. Tim still managed to
get round in 164th.
Completing the team fresh from the the evenings before
club dinner and accompanying liquid refreshments was Rod Harrington in
219th.
This is a good event and hopefully over the next few
years we can start to increase our participation numbers.
As a team we finished 19th. One place behind Croydon
and 2 ahead of Beckenham.
Full results here...
A mention to team manger Dan Kennedy who chose to team
manage and spectator a decision that looked well made as he came third on
Sunday at the Battersea 10k in a new PB of 33:19.
Also a mention for Phil, Will F and Joss all who
represented the club colours at the Euro Cross XC trial in Liverpool.
Up the Heath
Ross, Dan, Chris
18 November
2017 - England Masters in the British & Irish Masters International XC,
Derry
Peter
Tucker and Alan Camp were both selected to represent England Masters in the
British & Irish Masters International XC, Derry on 18/11/17.
Peter
Tucker 21st M35 & team bronze.
Alan Camp
3rd (bronze) M60 & team bronze.
Here's a
link to results
http://bmaf.org.uk/british-and-irish-masters-cross-country-international/
Paul Ross-Davies ran for Wales
11 November
2017 - Bromley Borough Primary Schools’
Cross Country Competition
The start of the Yr 6 Boys Race.
The iconic surroundings of Crystal Palace Park played
host once again to the Bromley Borough Primary Schools’ Cross Country
Competition that on this occasion fielded more than 50 schools. Due to the
growing popularity of the event that had previously attracted a
record-breaking attendance of 2200 competitors, organisers have this year
decided to separate the biannual competition into race meetings for Year 5 &
6 (9-11 yrs old) pupils in November and Yrs 3 & 4 (7-9 years old) pupils in
March.
The recent November race meeting drew a field of 995
pupils who were not disheartened by the challenging muddy terrain caused by
the early morning’s inclement conditions. Buoyed on by supportive teachers
and parents, the children participating all attained successful finishes in
the presence of VIP guest, Deputy Mayor of Bromley, Cllr Kevin Brooks who
commendably started each of the four races.
On hand to assist with each of the races were ‘hares’
from The Bees Academy (junior wing of ‘Blackheath and Bromley Harriers AC)
who expertly led the runners around the 1800m course.
Parish CE Primary School scooped the honours in both
Year 5 and 6 Girls Team Awards. Balgowan Primary School and Crofton Junior
School ran out victorious with the Yr 5 and Yr 6 Boys Teams categories
respectively.
Volunteer co-senior organiser, Richard Coe (PE subject
leader from Parish CE Primary School, Bromley) commented, ‘ It is always
heartening to see so many schools enter and so many children compete in this
event that is reputedly the largest of its kind nationally’.
Regional Primary PE & PSHE advisor and fellow
volunteer organiser, Giles Platt added, ‘This event has always provided the
WOW factor as anybody would gauge from attending. It is a wonderful
advertisement for Crystal Palace Park in terms of its ability to host high
quality borough-wide sporting initiatives.’
For further details of the event, members of the
public are welcome to refer to:
http://www.bpscca.co.uk/
4 November
2017 - National Cross Country Relays at
Mansfield
The National cross country relays were once again held
in Berry Hill Park, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, on the superb course that
offers everything needed for a great Championships - tough hills, woodlands,
mud, grass, fast sections and all this easily accessed by the large numbers
of spectators in attendance.
Dave Cordell temporarily came out of retirement to
transport the tent up North before securing prime location just down the
hill from the start. Fortunately a few of our keen members were also on site
early and able to help put the tent up. Many thanks to Dave and all who
helped with the tent.
At these Championships we are restricted to only three
teams per age group. This probably affects our U15 girls most, due to the
large number of U15 athletes we have but this makes competition for the team
slots harder but ultimately increases standards as was proved by their
unprecedented results. The A team were emphatic winners and the B team were
equally impressive coming a very strong 2nd while the C team placed a very
creditable 15th. Incredible results. The A team of Ava White, Morgan Squibb
and Naomi Toft and the B team of Zakia Mossi, Annie Thomas and Ellie Dolby
unsurprisingly all feature high up in the fastest times posted on the day.
The U20 women also enjoyed medal success winning a
fine team silver with their B team finishing a good 14th. The A were led out
by Birmingham University student Jess Keene (4th fastest leg), Katie Anne
McDonald on leg 2 (fastest leg of the day) and Cambridge University student
Niamh Bridson Hubbard (4th fastest leg).
The U13 girls teams placed 13th and 32nd.
Twenty one BBHAC boys descended on Mansfield from
various locations across the country including Birmingham, Durham, West
London, South London and Hayes!
The U20 men were the most successful male age group of
the day combining well to recorded a fantastic 12th place finish. Joss
Barber, running the 10th fastest leg of the day, got the team off to a great
start. Lewis Mills continued the great work recording his fastest time at
Mansfield, passing over to Charlie Davis, who despite being a fresher at
Birmingham University ran a superb leg consolidating 12th. Great to have
Marco Arcuri back in the fold as he made the long trip down from Durham
University to lead off the incomplete B team posting a very quick time. It's
impressive to see the uni boys all fit and well and putting in some terrific
performances.
The U17 boys were best represented and the A team
finished a high 16th. They were led out by Peter Guy running hard in his
usual fashion, handing over to Callum Myatt who negotiated the tough 3k
course well, before handing over to Matthew Francis who stormed around the
course being rewarded with the 6th fastest time of the day. A great team
effort. The B team saw Ben Gardiner continue his fine form on leg 1,
finishing high up the field passing to Charlie Andrews who kept the pressure
on leaving Cameron Swatton to bring the team home crossing the line in 41st.
Theo Wood and Carlos Ohler had strong runs for the C team but unfortunately
we had no third leg runner to complete the team.
The U13 boys finished a creditable 30th with Ben
Campbell running a great opening leg passing to Max Gregson who held his own
on U13 2k lap, handing to Jamie Sears who ran a good leg for his first run
in these championships. Oliver Robertson was our only B team runner but his
performance puts him among the U13’s best.
Tom Brash ran hard and fast on leg one in the U15 boys
race passing to Will Andrews, who ran well posting a time 25 seconds quicker
than last year. Will handed to Oliver Bright making his full club debut and
Oliver made light work of the course powering around in the second fastest
time of the day, with the team finishing 33rd. Bailey Marks and Harvey
Blanden both ran well but without a third runner were unable to complete a
team.
A great championship and great venue but still at
least three hours away on a good journey. So many thanks must go to all the
parents who made the huge effort to get our athletes to Berry Hill in plenty
of time to prepare and warm up. Special thanks to Sarah Gardiner who had a
people carrier full, coach Nigel Stickings, Paul Brash (who even managed a
leg in the senior team) and Dan Marks (who also managed a leg in the senior
team) who took over 6 hours negotiating Friday evening traffic!
It was also fabulous to have club President Nick
Brooks there supporting all of our athletes and many thanks to Nick’s mum
for bringing him up (to Mansfield)! Great also to have immediate Past
President Bill Foster at the club tent, in his capacity as a club ambassador
and the endurance coach at Loughborough University.
Next fixture is the Kent League at Footscray on
Saturday 11th November 2017
Paul
Another Weekend another cross country as they continue
to come thick and fast through November.
The original aspiration of two complete teams took a
bit of a hit during the week with a few injuries and unavailability.
None the less a number of Heathens took the trip north
to participate in this great event.
Arriving to news that the U20 Girls had got silver
medal, the U20 boys of Joss, Lewis an Charlie had run strongly for 11th and
the U15 girls had won Gold and Silver there was plenty of positive vibes in
the tent.
First off was the young pretender Will Fuller stepping
up to his first go at two laps of this course as a full blown senior.
In some great company and this usual flying fast first
leg Will rang strongly as has come to be expected holding the leaders in his
sight and finishing in 15th in 15:57.
He then handed over to Ross Braden who is only
recently returning from having incurred an injury sustained from going blow
for blow with Will in training. He has also pleasing in that time gained
some black shorts (Tom Desborough take note) Despite the unenviable task
Ross put in his all and ran strongly coming back in 17:14 and placing the
team in 27th.
Dan Kennedy was next up putting in a strong leg and
managing to get in some good battles with those around him and pipping is
former University of Nottingham team on the line for a 17:51 clocking and a
33rd overall team position.
Chris Tuck was then left with the last leg having
stepped up from the B team in the week, when Pete Tucker discovered that
Scotland and Mansfield are more than 5 minutes from each other. Chris
managed to overtake as many as overtook him and in particular was able to
pass fellow London club TVH for Southern League bragging rights. Bringing
the overall finish position for the A team in 33rd. 11 places further a
drift than last year.
Mentions also go to those who still turned up in the B
team to represent the club. Dan Marks got stuck in to the first leg in 20:38
for 162nd and Nic 'Paul' Corry completed the team on the second leg in 23:32
for 168th when they had to drop out.
Well done to everybody that ran and great to have a
team at another national event even with a lot of unavailability.
Also a mention to Phil Seseman for an awesome run
today in the Leeds Abbey Dash 10k finishing 7th in 29:40 even beating last
years winner Jonny Mellor.
Up The Heath
Ross, Chris and Dan
