WSEH 2024/25 cross country season starts in fine style

English National Cross Country Championships 14^th September 2024, Weston Park Staffordshire

Unusually, the Autumn/Winter season started with the English National Cross Country Championships which were cancelled in February 2024 due to the course parking area being flooded. Athletes were therefore eligible to race in their previous years’ cross country age groups, despite many having gone up an age group for the track season that had just finished.

Congratulations to everyone who took part in a successful day out, including the WSEH athletes who contributed to our winning 4 medals:

1. Kara Gorman 1^st U13 Girls
2. U13 Girls 3^rd team
3. U13 Boys 2^nd team
4. U17 Women 1^st team.

Some of our National Cross Country medallists with coach Shireen Higgins

Kara Gorman took the lead early-on in the U13 girls’ competition to take an emphatic 11 second win, closely followed by Zoe Allan in 6^th. With Mia Lennox-Imbastari 60^th and Lyra Banham 86^th, they took the bronze team medals. Zlata Osipova came in 98^th, Olivia Watson 112^th, Roxy Heffer 151^st and Freya Wouters 161^st.

In the U13 Boys’ race, Joe Brooker was 27^th, Ted Bainbridge 32^nd, AJ Evans 53^rd and Thomas Fay 58^th. After initially being left off the team results due to a counting error, they were awarded their well-deserved 2^nd place team medals. In addition, Frankie Fraser was 123^rd, Mark Bourne 166^th, Toby Hirst 182^nd and Harry Welch 192^nd.

Joe Brooker, Thomas Fay and AJ Evans (plus Ted Bainbridge) U13 Boys silver medallists at the postponed National Cross Country 2024.

In the U17 Women’s race Jaq Heller was a brilliant 6^th, followed by Marnie Fieldsend in 11^th, Ella Davey in 13^th and Eva Bartlett in 15^th. Their great packing gave them the overall team win. Close behind were Yasmin Grant in 21^st, Ana Passos 30^th, Aashni Maney 37^th and Jenna Bailey 64^th.

Start of the U17 Women’s Race at the 2024 National Cross Country Championships. Marine Fieldsend, Ella Davey (124) and Eva Bartlett (123). Photo Mark Hookway.

In the U15 boys, Isaac Collier was our 1^st finisher in 99^th, Evan McGrail 118^th and Ben Young 212^th.

We only had 1 representative in the U17 Men’s race where Callum Welch was 55^th.

Callum Welch (1415) U17 Men National Cross Country 2024. Photo Mark Hookway

Tara Ferguson was an excellent 10^th in the U15 Girls’ race, followed by Grace Colley 49^th, Riona Street 60^th and Chloe Bavazzano 140^th. The team was 8^th.

Jemima Ridley was our 1^st finisher in the U20 Women’s race coming a fantastic 10^th. Rachel Clutterbuck was not far behind in 12^th with Simran Dhillon, managing a short break from her army training, coming 34^th and Mille Murphy 44^th. With only 3 to score in this race, the team came 5th.

We had a good result in the U20 Men’s race with Will Goddard finishing a great 20^th, George Thomas 27^th, Jack Campbell 30^th and Luke Hynes 56^th. The team was 4^th, only 9 points behind 3^rd placed Cambridge and Coleridge.

We only had 2 Senior Women running with Lily Rolfe finishing 58^th and Charlotte Adams 80^th.

Charlotte Adams (3268) National Cross Country 2024 Senior Women Photo Mark Hookway.

With only 5 runners in the Senior Men’s race, we didn’t have a complete team of 6 but Alex Tovey was 58^th, Alex Gladley 65^th, Simon Millett 134^th, Tom Bains 156^th and Ranulf Green 249^th.

Senior men Alex Gladley National Cross Country 2024. Photo Mark Hookway.

Full ERRA National Cross Country results can be found here.

North West London League

This year we are competing in the North West London League. It has races for all ages starting at U11 and is a great way for some of our younger athletes to get cross-country racing experience.

Fixture 1 was held at Berkeley Fields, Greenford on Saturday 28th September 2024

U11 Girls: 2nd Jemima Watson, 8^th Freya Wright, 9^th Ellie Smith, 11^th Olivia Greaves, 23^rd Alice Vernon, 26^th Lily Bainbridge and 27^th Lily Murphy. Team 1^st.

U13 Girls: 9^th Megan Bond, 14^th Simone Plewman, 23^rd April Dodson, 30^th Yashini Thirakaluthy, 31^st Maia Davey. Team 5^th.

U15 Girls: 3^rd Chloe Bullock, 7^th Olivia Watson. Team 5^th.

U17 Women: 7^th Honey Fitzgerald.

U11 Boys: 9^th Harvey Cartledge, 12^th Oliver Tarbuck, 21^st Eddie Evans, 28^th Theodore Mattey, 34^th Harry Howard, 39^th Alex Peet, 46^th James Dodson. Team 4^th.

U13 Boys: 2^nd Frankie Fraser, 8^th Thomas Ling, 10^th Leo Spencer, 24^th Ethan Barry, 28^th Charlie Orwel-Sykes, 31^st Hayden Pearce. Team 1^st.

Frankie Fraser was 2nd in the U13 Boy’s NW London League race at Greenford.

U15 Boys: 17^th Archie Charles, 19^th Tymon Zygmuntowicz, 25^th Toby Hirst, 29^th Euan Totays, 32^nd Seth Cooper. Team 6^th.

U17 Men: 5^th Fabien Mormech, 18^th Henry Keen.

Fixture 2 was held at Fryent Park, Kingsbury November 2nd 2024

U11 Boys: 21^st Eddie Evans, 25^th Theodore Mattey, 26^th Etien Hoyes, 46^th Kiaan Hanspal.

U11 Girls: 2^nd Jemina Watson, 3^rd Elouise Wouters, 4^th Teddy Molnar, 5^th Ellie Smith, 7^th Freya Hall, 11^th Freya Wright, 12^th Gabriella Stachowiak, 18^th Rose Harris, 21^st Matilda Buckley, 40^th Lily Murphy.

U13 Boys: 22^nd Austin Coupar.

U 13 Girls: 29^th Yashini Thirakaluthy.

U15 Boys: 14^th Jacob Houard, 16^th Euan Totays.

U 15 Girls: 5^th Olivia Watson, 17^th Maia Santavirta, 23^rd Sophia Metnaoui, 25^th G Lewis, 26^th Ellouise James.

U17 Men: 3^rd Fabien Mormech, 7^th Miko Santavirta.

Fixture 3 was held at Trent Park, Cockfosters on 23^rd November 2024

U11 Girls: 4thElouise Wouters, 24th Alice Vernon, 35th Imogen Peach, 38th L Groh. 1^st team.

U 13 Girls: 5th April Dodson, 7th Megan Bond, 20th Ela Osbaldeston, 36th Yashini Thirakaluthy.

U 15 Girls: 6th Oliva Watson.

U17 Women: 6th Honey Fitzgerald.

U11 Boys: 5th Harvey Cartledge, 28th M Leddington-Wright, 49th H Ferriman.

U13 Boys: 19th Matthew Winton, 21st Ethan Barry.

U17 Men: 3rd Teddy Silvey, 7th Fabien Mormench.

Berks, Bucks and Oxon (BB&O) Cross Country, Broughton Castle, Hungerford, Saturday 17^th November

The Berks, Bucks and Oxon Cross Country Championships were held over a challenging course at the historic Broughton Castle (home of the Fiennes family) on Sunday, 17th November 2024. The event, one of the oldest championships on the British cross-country calendar, was 1^st held in January 1911 and was for many years open only to men. Today’s championships now include races for everyone from U11 to Masters who belong to a club in the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire or Oxfordshire.

In the U11 Girls race, WSEH took a 1,2 and 5 via Jemima Watson, Eloise Wouters and Teddy Molnar. In addition Hollie Crehan was 6^th, Olivia Greaves 7^th, Gabriella Stachowiak 8^th, Elin Perera 9^th, Matilda Buckley 13^th, Lily Murphy 24^th and Lily Bainbridge 20^th. WSEH also won all 3 team medals!

We had more success in the U11 Boys race with Eddie Evans 3^rd, Theodore Mattey 6^th and Albert Romero 9^th taking the gold team medals.

Eddie Evans was 3rd U11 Boy and part of the BB&O winning U11 team

In the U13 Girls race Mia Lennox-Imbastari battled it out all the way with Hannah Lucas from Bracknell AC before finishing a close 2^nd. Megan Bond was 18^th and Maia Davey 25^th.

Mia Lennox Lamastari 2nd U13 Girl BB&O Cross Country.

Our U13 Boys were led home by Ted Bainbridge in 4^th followed by Frankie Fraser 11^th, Ben Welch 15^th and Charlie Orywal-Sykes 24^th, taking the bronze team medal.

Frankie Fraser and Ted Bainbridge team bronze medal BB&O (with Ben Welch).

Our U15 Boys team took the silver medals with Joe Brooker 4^th, Evan McPhail 6^th and Thomas Fay 8^th. In addition, Jacob Hourd was 15th, Tymon Zygmuntowicz 16^th, Euan Totays 18^th, Archie Charles 24^thand Harry Welch 27^th.

In the U15 Girls’ race, Zoe Allan led from the start to take the win, and Riona Street came through with a strong finish to finish 2^nd. With Chloe Bullock in 6^th, they easily won team gold. In addition with Quinn Bookless 10^th, Olivia Watson 11^th and Freya Wouters 18^th, we also won the team silver medals. Zlata Osipova finished 19^th,Maia Santavirta 21^st, Sophia Metnaoui 26^th and Ellouise James 27^th.

The club had more success in the U17 Women’s race which was run in conjunction with the U17 Men. Yasmin Grant was 1^st U17 Woman, with Steph Massie 2^nd and Grace Colley 3^rd, giving them team gold. Our B team won team bronze medals with Ana Passos 4^th, Honey Fitzgerald 10^th and Chloe Bavazzano 11^th.

While the U20 Women ran with the Senior Women and Vets, they also had a separate U20 competition. Jemima Ridley came 2^nd in the U20 Women’s race and was also 3^rd in the Senior Women’s race which was won by Reading’s Jess Gibbon (who went on to represent Great Britain in the European Cross Country Championships in Anatlya, Turkey on 8^th December).

WSEH took bronze team medals in the overall Senior Women’s race, with Jemima Ridley 3^rd, Nina Griffith 10^th (winner of the Vets race) and Natalie Thompson 18^th. In addition, Charlotte Firth was 23^rd and Charlotte Adams 32^nd.

The same rules applied in the Senior Men’s and U20 Men’s races. In the overall race, Dylan Bavazzano was 25^th but 5^th U20, Sam Colley was 34^th and 7^th U20 and Sohan Nath was 67^th overall and 10^th U20. Ben Reynolds was 33^rd Senior Man and Jack Campbell 35^th.

Full results are available here. https://bbocca.uk/files/results/2000-2049/2024-BBO_Champs-Final-sml.pdf

County Cross Country Championships, 14^th December 2024

On Saturday 14^th December we had a number of athletes running in the Berkshire Cross Country Championships in Hungerford and a few running in the Buckinghamshire County Cross Country Championships.

Athletes are eligible to race in the championships of the county of their birth, the county where they have lived continuously for at least the past 9 months or where they have served in a Unit of HM Forces stationed in the County for nine months immediately prior to the date of the competition. Athletes finishing in the top 8 in their age groups have a chance to be selected to represent their county at the prestigious inter-county championships at Wollaton Park, Nottingham on Saturday 8th March 2025.

Berkshire County Cross Country Championships

Running in his 1^st Senior Men’s race, Sam Hodgson was a fine 3^rd, followed closely by Alex Tovey in 4^th. With Will Goddard and Jack Campbell finishing in 8^th and 9^th positions, WSEH easily won the team competition. In addition, Ben Reynolds was 11^th and Luke Hynes 14^th.

Senior men Will Goddard (8th) Jack Campbell (9th) Luke Hynes (14th) Jordi Evans Rodriguez (12th) Sam Hodgson (3rd) Berkshire County Cross Country 2024.

Our U13 Boys featured strongly at the front of the race and with Ted Bainbridge winning, AJ Evans 3^rd and Ben Welch 5^th, they also won the team competition. In addition, Frankie Fraser was 11^th, Fraser Grehan 15^th, Matthew Winton 17^th, Charles Orywal-Sykes 18^th and Austin Coupar 23^rd.

L-R Fraser Crehan 15th, Frankie Fraser 11th, AJ Evans 3rd, Ted Bainbridge 1st, Austin Coupar 23rd.

Silver for Mia Lennox-Imbastari, 9^th for Simone Ramos Plewman and 11^th for Lyra Banham won them team bronze medals. Other finishers were April Dodson 14^th, Betty Kellerman 15^th and Nicole Jarzyna-Arrioja 18^th.

Mia Lennox-Imbastari (2nd) and Lyra Banham (11th) part of the bronze medal winning U13 girls team along with Simone Ramos Plewman (9th).

4th for Joe Brooker, 6th for Thomas Fay and 8th for Tymon Zygmuntowicz in the U15 Boys’ race gave them the silver team medals. With Euan Totays 9th, Harry Welch 10^th and Mark Bourne 12^th our B team won their 1^st county medals as third team.  Seth Cooper finished 15^th.

A clean sweep for Zoe Allan (1^st), Tara Ferguson (2^nd) and Riona Street (3^rd) meant that they also won the team competition in the U15 Girls event. In addition, The B team won bronze medals with Chloe Bullock 6^th, Quinn Bookless 11^th and Lola Williamson 16^th. Ellouise James was 18^th.

Riona Street (3rd), Tara Ferguson 2nd and Zoe Allan 1st plus winning team U15 Girls Berkshire cross country 2024.

In the U17 Men’s race, Sarim Toqeer was our 1^st scorer in 3^rd. Teddy Silvey was 6^th and Sam Thuo 12^th which gave them bronze team medals Toby Holmes came 16^th.

1st, 2nd and 4th respectively for Marnie Fieldsend, Yasmin Grant and Ana Passos in the U17 Women’s race made them easily the team county champions.

1st, 2nd and 4th for Marnie Fieldsend, Yasmin Grant and Ana Passos in the U17 Women Berkshire team county champions 2024.

Our U20 men Dylan Bavazzano and Callum Welch were 1^st and 2^nd in the race but unfortunately didn’t have a 3^rd scorer for the team.

Callum Welch was 2nd U20 Man at the Berkshire County Cross Country.

Jacqueline Heller was 2^nd in the U20 Women’s race and took team gold supported by Ella Davey in 4^th and Aashni Manek in 5^th. Jenna Bailey also made the county team in 6^th place.

Jaq Heller, 2nd U20 Woman.

We had 2 runners in the Senior Women’s race with Katie Clutterbuck coming an excellent 2^nd and Lily Rolfe 4^th. Nina Griffith was over 2 minutes clear of the field in the W35 and over Masters race with Charlotte Firth 2^nd. They were also the 1^st 2 finishers in the combined Senior Women and Masters race but team medals are allocated separately in the 2 age groups so again, WSEH did not finish a complete team.

Katie Clutterbuck 2nd Senior Woman at the Berkshire Country cross country 2024.

Full 2024 Berkshire County Cross Country Results here.

Buckinghamshire County Championships, Milton Keynes, 14^th December 2024

A few of our middle distance runners either live or were born in Buckinghamshire and therefore competed in the Buckinghamshire County Championships in Milton Keynes. Kara Gorman was a runaway winner in the U15 Girls’ race, winning by over a minute. More success came in the U20 Men’s race, where Sam Colley won by 59 seconds.

Kara Gorman won the U15 Girls’ Buckinghamshire County Championship.

Sam’s sister Grace came 10^th in the U17 Women’s race and Henry Keen was 17^th in the U17 Men’s race.

Full results for the Buckinghamshire County Cross Country Championships 2024 are available here.

Read our 2024 Road and Cross Country Relays report here.