More great performances by the club’s middle distance runners in December 2022 and January 2023

Following on from the excellent results achieved in the autumn relays at the end of last year, the club’s middle distance runners have achieved more success during the cross country season.

British Athletics Cross Challenge Milton Keynes

The first major race for most of our runners was the British Athletics Cross Challenge combined with the Chiltern League held at Teardrop Lakes Milton Keynes on Saturday 12^th November. With races for all ages including Under 11s, it was an opportunity for some of our youngest members to compete.

In the U11 Girls’ race, Betty Kellerman and Katie Muir had excellent runs to come 2^nd and 3^rd in the Cross Challenge category (15^th and 19^th overall) with Georgina Bedford finishing 34^th.

We had more success in the U11 Boys’ race where Barney Hilliar was 2^nd, Ted Bainbridge 3^rd, Joshua Smith 11^th and Harrison Stachowiak 24^th.  Barney, Ted and Joshua were 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd in the Cross Challenge category.

Running for the South of England in the U20 Men’s inter area match, Luke Birdseye was a clear winner with Sam Hodgson, recovering from illness in 18^th. William Goddard was 49^th, Jordi Evans Rodriguez 50^th and Satvik Nath 51^st.

In a high-quality combined U20/U17 Women’s race, U20 Jemima Ridley, running for the South of England was a fine 11^th and U17s Rachel Clutterbuck, Ella Davey and Milie Murphy were 24^th, 31^st and 64^th respectively.

Zara Davey was 12^th in the U13 Girls’ race with Zlata Osipava 32nd and Ellouise James 35^th.

Stephanie Massie came 8^th in the U15 Girls’ race with Abigail Farley 25^th and Ana Passos 27^th.

George Thomas was our 1^st finisher in 24^th place in the U17 Men’s race. He was closely followed by Ben Dewar in 32^nd with Sohan Nath 58^th. Sam Thuo, Oli Bedford and Ben Young ran in the U15 Boys’ race and finished 40^th, 45^th and 78^th whilst Axel Norlin was 40^th in the U13 Boys’ race with Euan Totays 58^th and Harry Welch 61^st.

Senior Man Alex Tovey finished 56th and Simon Millett finished 77^th and Charlotte Firth was 45^th in the Senior Women’s race.

Full results here.

European Cross Country Championships

After coming 3^rd in the U20 Men’s race in the British Athletics Cross Challenge selection race in Liverpool on 26^th November, Luke Birdseye represented Great Britain in the European Cross Country Championships in Turin, Italy on 11^th December 2022. The race was won by Will Barnicoat of GB and Luke finished a brilliant 5th helping the GB team to the gold medals. Full results here.

Berkshire Road Running Championships

Ben Rowe won the Berkshire Road Running Championships for 2022. To qualify for the championships, runners had to complete 4 out of 5 races (a local 10K, 10 mile and half marathon race with an option to run any Spring marathon) during 2022 with points awarded for finishing positions. Ben finished 1^st Berkshire runner in 2 of the races and 2^nd in 2, giving him a total of 38 points to take the title by a clear 10 points. Full results here.

Berkshire County Cross Country Championships

The Berkshire County Cross Country Championships were held at Coppas Farm, Cookham on Sunday 18^th December 2022. The 1^st 8 finishers in each race will have the opportunity to represent Berkshire in the Inter Counties Championships to be held in Loughborough on 11^th March 2023.

The club had a 1, 2, 3 in the U20 Men’s race which was won by Sam Hodgson with Frank McGrath 2^nd and Will Goddard 3^rd. Also running were Jack Campbell (6^th), Jordi Evans-Rodriguez (9^th), Ross Van Heerde (10^th) and Satvik Nath (11^th) and the club were 1st and 3rd in the team competition.

Jemima Ridley was a runaway winner in the U20 Women’s race and with Jessica Hatch 3^rd and Keshni Manek 4^th, the club also won the team prize. Cara Terry finished 7^th.

We had a 1, 2, 3 and 4 in the U13 Girls race. Zoe Allan was 1^st, closely followed by Tara Ferguson (2^nd) and Eva Dias (3^rd) to take the team win. With Quinn Bookless in 4^th and Zara Davey 8^th, the club will have 5 of the 8 county places in the inter county championships for that age group.  In addition, Zlata Osipova was 13^th, Ellouise James 15^th, 16 Roxie Heffer 16^th and Nihaal Rasheed 19^th.

Guy Branston took his 1^st county title in the U15 Boys’ race with Tedy Silvey 5^th, Toby Holmes 14^th and Ollie Bedford 18^th.

Abigail Farley was another winner in the U15 Girls’ race with Ana Passos 8^th, Maizie Tearle 13^th and Sofia Sabbah 18^th.

Club representatives also placed 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th and took team gold in the U17 Men’s race with Josh Mingoia 1^st, George Thomas 2^nd, Callum Welch 3^rd (winning team) and Ben Dewar 4^th. Dylan Bavazzano was 7^th and Sohan Nath 9^th.

Our U17 Women also won the team gold with Ella Davey 2^nd, Jacqueline Heller 4^th and Eva Bartlett 5^th.  Aashni Manek was 9^th and Millie Murphy 10^th.

In the U13 Boys’ race, our 1^st finisher was George Hilliar in 5^th, Archie Charles was 7^th, Joseph Brooker 9^th, Euan Totays 11^th and Harry Welch 12^th.

Matthew Clutterbuck finished 10^th in the Senior Men’s race with coach and parent Phil Branston finishing a fine 34^th.  Charlotte Firth was 2^nd in the Senior Women’s race supported by Amber Clarke in 6^th, Katie Clutterbuck 8^th, Izzy Rayner 9th and Amy Young 10^th. The team was 2^nd. Full results here: http://www.berkshireathletics.org.uk/content/berkshire-xc-champs

Not to be left out, our U11 runners also had their own race at the County Championships. Ted Bainbridge and Barney Hilliar were 1^st and 2^nd and Luke Brooker 11^th in the boys’ race and Emma Casasus Vie was 1^st U11 girl with Lyra Banham 2^nd, Florrie Morgan 3^rd and Betty Kellerman 4^th.

Buckinghamshire County Cross Country Championships

The club also had a few athletes running in the Buckinghamshire County Championships at Ampthill on 7^th January. Henry Johnston won the U17 Men’s race and Sam Colley was 6th. Grace Colley was 5^th in the U15 Girls’ race and Honey Fitzgerald was 18^th. William Howes was 12^th in the U15 Boys’ race.

Surrey County Cross Country Championships

The Surrey Cross County Championships were held in Croydon on 7^th January 2023. Jake Meyburgh was 2^nd in the U15 Boy’s race and Stephanie Massie 7^th in the U15 Girls’ event.

Yorkshire County Cross Country Championships

Also on 7^th January but much further afield, William Hapgood was 7th in the Yorkshire County Cross Country Championships U13 Boys race.

CrossCup Hannut, Belgium

Luke Birdseye (England) and Frank McGrath (Ireland) ran in the CrossCup Hannut in Belgium on 22^nd January.

Luke ran a canny, tactical race to win by 5 seconds and Frank was 11^th.

South of England Cross Country Championships

The South of England AA Cross Country Championships were held in Beckenham on Saturday 29^th January and were the club’s most successful ever.

Jake Meyburgh led from gun to tape in the first race of the day, the U15 Boys to take the win by just 2 seconds. Thibault Mingret was 42^nd, Teddy Silvey 76^th, James Mcsharry 79^th, Sam Thuo 90th, Harry Roberts 106^th and Toby Holmes 146th.

Our 2^nd winner of the day was Sam Hodgson in the U20 Men’s event where he broke clear in the 2^nd half of the race to win by 16 seconds. After coming into the finishing straight in 4^th, Luke Birdseye sprinted up the climb to take 3^rd place. With Frank Mcgrath 21^st and Will Goddard 23^rd, the team won gold by 2 points from Tonbridge. In addition, Jordi Evans-Rodriguez was 46^th, Satvik Nath 53^rd and Ben Rowe 76^th.

Our U17 Women were at the front right from the gun and Rachel Clutterbuck finished a well-deserved 3^rd. With Ella Davey 5^th, Eva Bartlett 12^th and Aashni Manek 30^th the team won gold by a clear 31 points. Millie Murphy finished 64^th.

Good packing by our U17 Men gave them the team silver medal. Henry Johnston was 10^th, George Thomas 19^th, Josh Mingoia 36^th and Sam Colley 49^th. Also running were Callum Welch 118^th, Sohan Nath 121^st and Dylan Bavazzano 126^th.

The U13 Girls’ won a team bronze medal with Zoe Allan achieving a great 4^the place. Tara Ferguson was not far behind in 9^th, Eva Dias 26^th and Quinn Bookless 54^th. Zara Davey finished 73^rd, Roxie Heffer 116^th, Lola Williamson 160^th and Nihaal Rasheed 169^th.

Stephanie Massie was an excellent 8^th in the U15 Girls’ race with Abigail Farley 20^th, Ana Passos 39^th, Grace Colley 94^th and Honey Fitzgerald 123^rd.

Our U13 Boys’ team finished just outside the medals in 4^th place. William Hapgood was 12^th, George Hilliar 26^th and Joseph Brooker 38^th. In addition James Hughes was 87^th, Harry Welch 149^th, Archie Charles 158^th and Euan Totays 176^th.

In the Senior Women’s race Natalie Thompson (coached by Con Milton) was 49^th.

Full results here: https://results.sporthive.com/events/7024716460568384256

Congratulations to all the junior athletes and their coaches Shireen Higgins and Paddy McGrath.