Iris Williams on her way to another win
The fourth Kent League fixture of the season was held at Footscray Meadows with all age groups except for the senior women in action. This was our home fixture and many thanks are due to all that helped to marshal and with other aspects of the organisation, particularly to Phil Pape for designing and marking the course. The Meadows may be short of some of the natural features that make some of the other courses attractive but Phil has a knack for extracting the maximum amount of interest from the material he has to work with.
Young Age Groups
The day got off to a winning start for the club when Iris Williams claimed her third victory in the under 13 girls race over 3 km in a time of 12:33, winning by 8 seconds. Her time would have been quicker had she not taken a wrong turn (due to inattentive marshalling) and having to re-establish her lead from the other runners. With this result, Iris became the overall league winner with 5 points. Our other under 13 girls put in excellent performances as well. Sophia Pawa had a battle with new recruit Celia Allen. Sophia eventually finished in 20th place (14:19) with Celia two places behind in a time of 14:33. Our under 13 team was completed by Celia Yeatman (26th, 14:57) and Delilah Lester (39th, 16:35).
Iris with team mates, showing off her trophy for first under 13 girl in the Kent Cross Country League.
Back row: L to R, Amelia, Abigail, Iris, Mia, Eva
Front row: Sophia, Delilah, Celia A, Celia Y.
In the under 13 boys race over 3 km, Aniket Iyangar produced his best performance of the season when finishing in 13th place (12:34). Henry Onyejekwe missed his usual sprint training session at Sutcliffe Park in order to make sure we had a team of three. He finished 51st with a time of 14:49. Oliver Hill completed the team in 57th position (15:38).
We had two finishers in the under 15 girls race over 4 km. Mia Harris had an excellent run to finish 25th with a time if 17:37. Despite running with a slight injury Abigail Richards bravely got round the course in 36th place (18:42).
We had good numbers in the under 15 boys race (4 km). Samuel Scrase-Field had a fantastic race to finish 13th (15:02). There was great packing from the rest of the team who finished within 4 seconds of each other. Positions were: 22nd Luke Bridges, 15:55, 23rd Felix Tynan, 15:56, 24th Samuel Holloway, 15:57, 25th Aiden Newton.
The day for our young athletes ended with Eva Armitage-Woods and Inez Rice taking on the 5 km course (under 17 women). Eva had a great race to finish in 22nd place, time of 26:00 which was a good time considering the nature of the course. Inez was taking time out from revision for her mock exams to support the club to complete the course in a time of 29:34 when finishing in 36th place.
Well done to all of our young athletes for turning out to represent Cambridge Harriers and a special thank you to all parents who have transported our youngsters to the various fixtures, this is much appreciated.
Over 70s men
Well done to Peter Hadley, our only runner in the over 70s race run in conjunction with the U17 women. Peter could only manage a 5th place in this, the last race for this age group, but it was sufficient for him to win the award for third place overall thanks to many of his rivals failing to finish all four races. You have to be in it to win it!
Senior men
Bayley Massey in 9th place was again our first finisher, although at the rate at which Angus Vosper (23rd) has been improving this season Bayley will soon be looking over his shoulder. Next came Pat Lucas, Tom Brooke and Dave Worden, all within a few seconds of each other earning the four to score team another 4th spot.
Bayley Massey
Angus Vosper
Tom Brooke, David Worden & Pat Lucas
Particularly pleasing was our high turnout of 20 as we were bolstered but yet two more new faces: Pat Lucas and John O'Mahony giving us good strength in depth. With 13 finishers in the top 100 we took an excellent 2nd place in the 12 to score team competition.
John O'Mahony
Mark Penny & Duncan Hope
Clinton Lowe
With just one Kent League fixture remaining (Norman Park, 12 Feb) we are lying 4th in the four to score and 3rd in the twelve. In the individual table Angus in 11th place is the highest placed Harrier with Luke Ford and Mark Penny 30th and 31st. In the vets categories Martin Hawkins is in first place in his new 60+ category.
British Athletics Cross Challenge
On the same day Holly Dixon raced in Liverpool finishing 35th in a very high quality field. At the same meeting Sabrina Sinha competed in the European Short Course Relay Trial finishing 7th.
Holly in action in Liverpool