WSEH 2024/25 winter season report part 2 – WSEH middle distance athletes excel in cross country and road racing to start 2025 with a bang!

Following on from the end of 2024 where we had outstanding results in the county cross country championships – see here – 2025 saw WSEH athletes continue to enjoy great winter season success.

On 12^th January, Kara Gorman travelled up to Glasgow for round 3 of the UK Athletics Cross Challenge. The Cross Challenge is a five-event series of cross country races across the UK. Kara came 2^nd in the U15 Girls’ race in freezing conditions and maintained her lead in the competition with only 2 of the 5 races in the series left. Kara went on to win the overall U15 Girls’ Cross Challenge title when she finished 7^th at the UK Inter Counties Championships incorporating the UK Cross Challenge Final in Nottingham on 8^th March.

Lucy Wilkinson and Alden Collier also ran in the U20’s races at the Leeds round of the Cross Challenge on 8th February, both representing the South of England in the Athletics Home Countries International match. Running as an U20 athlete, despite being in the U17 age group, Lucy finished an excellent 3rd with Alden finishing 12th in the U20 Men’s race.

Lucy Wilkinson (end left) represented the SEAA at the UK Athletics Home Countries International in Leeds

Medals galore in South of England Cross Country Championships

The first big event of the year for the majority of our athletes was the South of England (SEAA) Cross Country Championships, held on 25^th January 2025 at Beckenham Palace Park.

Frank McGrath was an outstanding winner with a dominant performance in the U20 men’s race, followed by Alden Collier in 3^rd. With Dylan Bavazzano finishing 24^th and Sam Colley 44^th, the team won well-deserved silver medals. In addition, Sohan Nath was 58^th.

Kara Gorman won the club’s 2^nd bronze medal in the U15 Girls’ race and with Tara Ferguson 9^th, Zoe Allan (who bravely finished despite tearing a hamstring on one of the steep downhills) 17^th and with Riona Street in 23^rd, the team won silver medals. In addition, Roxy Heffer came 93^rd and Lola Williamson 158^th.

Kara Gorman 3rd U15 Girls SEAA Cross Country. Photo Mark Hookway.

Jemima Ridley had a fine run in the U20 Women’s race to come 5^th and with Rachel Clutterbuck 7^th, Jaq Heller 9^th and Ella Davey 17^th, they easily won the team race. In addition, Aashni Manek was 24^th and Simran Dhillon 29^th.

Not to be outdone, our U17 Women also achieved an emphatic win with Lucy Wilkinson 2^nd, Marnie Fieldsend 5^th, Yasmin Grant 18^th and Ana Passos 24^th. Luhanne Smith finished 33^rd.

Ted Bainbridge took a fantastic individual bronze in the U13 Boys’ race, followed closely by Arthur (AJ) Evans in 7^th. With Frankie Fraser 33^rd and Fraser Grehan 121^st (plus Charlie Orywal-Sykes 153^rd and Austin Couper 155^th), the team was 7^th.

Our U15 Boys’ team of Joe Brooker (36^th), Thomas Fay, 66^th, Jacob Hourd 154^th and Euan Totays (173^rd) backed up by Harry Welch (175^th), Mark Bourne (180^th) and Toby Hirst (188^th) came 15^th.

Unusually for WSEH, we only had 3 runners in the U13 Girls’ race, so could not complete a team. However, Mia Lennox-Imbastari excelled in 12^th place and was supported by Betty Kellerman in 121^st and Maia Davey in 165^th.

Mia Lennox-Imbastari SEAA Cross Country Beckenham 25th Jan 2025. Photo Mark Hookway

Alex Wilson (29^th), Teddy Silvey (51^st), Warren Wilson (57^th) and Sam Thuo (95^th) were the 8^th team in the U17 Men’s race with Miko Santavirta finishing 145^th.

Our Senior Women’s team finished 7^th, with Nina Griffith our best finisher in an excellent 10^th, Charlotte Firth 46^th, Katie Clutterbuck 59^th and Charlotte Adamo 101^st.

Full results here: https://results.sporthive.com/events/7288169290648256512

More medals galore at the English National Cross Country Parliament Hill 22^nd February 2025

The final major club event of the cross country season was the English National held on the traditional Parliament Hill course in London. The testing, hilly course was also very muddy which made for a great day of cross country racing!

In the U17 Women’s race Lucy Wilkinson ran brilliantly to take the title and lead the team to gold medals with Marnie Fieldsend 8^th, Yasmin Grant 17^th and Ana Passos 37^th. In addition, Grace Colley was 56^th, Honey Fitzgerald 120^th and Steph Massie 144^th.

Further success came in the U20 men’s race where Frank Mcgrath followed up his win in the South of England Cross Country with an excellent 2^nd place. In addition, Sam Colley came 102^nd and Sohan Nath 168^th.

Frank McGrath fights his way through the mud for 2nd place at the National Cross Country 2025

The club’s U13 Boys’ team were fantastic silver medalists with Ted Bainbridge 13^th, Ben Welch 22^nd, AJ Evans 47^th and Thomas Ling 54^th. They were backed up by Fraser Grehan in 154^th, Charlie Orywal-Sykes in 201^st and Matthew Winton in 284^th.

Kara Gorman again had an excellent race, taking the bronze medal in the U15 Girls’ race and leading the team to bronze despite Zoe Allan not being able to run due to her hamstring injury. Along with Kara, the scoring team was Tara Ferguson 8^th, Riona Street 59^th and Quinn Bookless 84^th with Roxy Heffer 149^th.

While we only had 3 runners in the U20 Women’s race, only 3 score in the team competition, and Rachel Clutterbuck (22nd), Jaq Heller (23^rd) and Ella Davey (44^th) won team silver.

National Cross Country U20 Women’s winning team. L-R Jaq Heller, Rachel Clutterbuck, Ella Davey and coach Shireen Higgins.

Our U15 Boys’ team placed 21^st with Thomas Fay 70^th, Evan Mcgrail 121^st, Jacob Hourd 213^th, Tymon Zygmuntowicz 237^th, Seth Cooper 263^rd, Mark Bourne 270^th and Harry Welch 302^nd.

The U13 Girls’ team was 19^th with Mia Lennox-Imbastari 27^th, April Dodson 112^th, Betty Kellerman 178^th and Lyra Banham 240^th.

Alexander Wilson (19^th), Teddy Silvey (157^th), Warren Wilson (171^st) and Fabien Mormech (210^th) finished 20^th team in the U17 Men’s event.

The club’s senior women’s team finished in 16^th place, with Nina Griffiths our highest placer in 33^rd. Charlotte Firth was 118^th, Lois Bond 144^th, Charlotte Adamo 217^th and Alexandra Slotwinska 289^th.

With only 3 runners, we didn’t complete a Senior Men’s team. Ben Reynolds came 330^th, Simon Millett 419^th and Joseph Ioras 1,244^th.

Full results here: https://results.sporthive.com/events/7298289599397232640

South of England 5K Road Championships

The SEAA Young Athletes 5K road championships took place on 30^th March 2025 at Milton Keynes. Tara Ferguson won the U15 Girls’ race by over 40 seconds and Chloe Bullock took a fine 3^rd place in the same race. Our U17 Women’s team of Luhane Smith (4^th), Chloe Bavazzno 6^th and Honey Fitzgerald 9^th won the U17 Women’s gold medals.

Max Bullock was 29^th in the U15 Boys’ 5K, Archie Charles 31^st and Seth Cooper 35^th. Simone Ramos-Plewman came 7^th in the U13 Girls’ race.

International Representative Honours

European Cross Country Championships

The European cross country championships were held in Antalya, Turkey on 8^th December 2024. Both Frank McGrath and Eva Bartlett were selected to represent Ireland Athletics in the U20 races. Frank finished 62^nd in his race with the team finishing 9^th. Unfortunately, Eva suffered a nasty fall during the race and finished 86^th.

European U20 Road Race – Trofeo Opitergium

On the back of her excellent results over the winter season, Lucy Wilkinson was selected to represent England at the European Under 20 Road Race at the Trofeo Opitergium on 1 May. Racing against some of the best U20 women from across Europe, Lucy finished a fantastic 3^rd in a personal best time of 16:32, leading the England team to silver medals.

Lucy Wilkinson (F5 right) was 3rd in the European Under 20 Road Race at the Trofeo Opitergium on 1 May representing England.

Visit the race website to watch the race video here: https://www.atletica3comuni.it/oderzo-citta-archeologica/

Full results here: https://www.atletica3comuni.it/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/International-U20-F.pdf

Schools International

After their excellent runs at the English Schools Cross Country Championships in Ardingly West Sussex on 15^th March 2025, Kara Gorman (2^nd place representing Buckinghamshire Schools Junior Girls) and Tara Ferguson (10^th place representing Surrey Schools Intermediate Girls) were selected to represent England Schools at the Schools Internation Match in Falkirk, Scotland on 22^nd March.

Kara finished in 5^th place and was part of the winning England Junior Girls’ team and while Tara crossed the line 1^st for England in the U17 Mixed Relay, they were sadly disqualified on a technicality.

TCS London Mini Marathon

The TCS London Mini Marathon has become one of the most prestigious events for young athletes across with UK, with 11 regional and 32 London Borough teams of 6 athletes having the unique opportunity to run 2.6K of the iconic TCS London Marathon route and cross the marathon finish line. 

Given the strength and depth of athletics clubs across the South East, qualifying is particularly challenging but the club’s athletes excelled with a record 11 athletes selected. These were Mia Lennox-Imastari, Kara Gorman, Tara Ferguson, Marnie Fieldsend, AJ Evans, Ted Banbridge and Lucy Wilkinson all representing the South East, Alex and Warren Wilson and Frankie Fraser representing a London Borough and Harry Welch representing Edgbarrow School.

Full results here: https://www.londonmarathonevents.co.uk/mini-london-marathon/results

North West London Cross Country League

The club’s younger members also competed in the North West London League Cross Country throughout the season. You can read about it in Part 1 of our cross country report here.

Report by Marina Stedman