Last updated
27 January 2015
24/01/15 - South of
England Championships - Stanmer Park, Brighton
Cheers for Saturday was a great day out (great meaning
I felt like crap afterwards!!!), was very good performances all around
considering it's a beast of a course. Well done to Alex B-L, 4th spot is a
great achievement. Alex Gibbins didn't feel great, but retained his form
well to finish 86th, Kev May & Gareth Williams stomped up the hills to
finish 195th and 203rd apiece.
Danny Brewer came 247th, Dan Kennedy making a great
comeback from injury in 290th, Richard Byford continues to improve,
finishing in 416th. Chris Tuck came in solidly at 471st, Andy Lawes led the
mature guard home in 650th. Ian Taylor finished in 757th and last by no
means least Nigel Bulmer in 837st.
Full results here:
http://seaa.org.uk/images/2015/XC_Main_Champs_Results/2015_SM.pd
The 2015 South of England Cross Country Championships
held at Brighton this year saw two of our young athlete age groups win team
bronze medals and countless other great performances from the 44 Blackheath
and Bromley HAC endurance athletes running.
Despite the glorious sunshine, the temperature was
only just above freezing and the very hilly course made for a tough days
racing.
The U13 boys had the most athletes running and their
large numbers were rewarded by taking the team bronze. Peter Guy had another
great run and finished a fabulous 7th place, well backed up by a terrific
run from Joseph Georgiadis in 12th.
Keir Lundy moved nicely through the field to finish
inside the top 50, in 49th and completing the scoring four was Robert
Suckling having a great finish in 56th. A great team performance and well
deserved Southern bronze medals. The U13 talent did not stop there as a
further 6 boys completed the hard circuit. Finishing well up the field
inside the top 100 was Leo Braden in 93rd. The next two to finish are still
at primary school (with two more years in the age group) so the runs by Sam
Reardon finishing a fabulous 96th and Thomas Penlington in a great 110th, in
their very first major Championship race made their efforts even more
special. Cameron Swatton continued his consistent season finishing 136th and
young Ethan Kitteridge in his first major Championship race did well in
165th. Ben Gardiner had a difficult day and lost a few places when troubled
by a bad stitch but still managed to cross the line in 178th.
The U15 girls also won South of England team bronzes
and the scoring four were led home by a great run from Yasmin Austridge in
11th, followed by Naomi Kingston 22nd, Millie Smith 24th and Genny Allen in
43rd. Grace Scopes had a strong run in 74th followed by Amy Leach 86th and
Carlotta Weitzel in 91st.
Eight U13 girls stood eagerly on the start line before
setting off on a gruelling 3k two lap course. First home for BB was Sophie
Hoare having a great run in 16th closely followed by recently crowned
Middlesex schools XC champ Yasmin Marghini, making her club debut, in a fine
18th.
Jessica Neal and Rosie Allen had a good BB battle and
were only one second a part crossing the line 37th & 38th respectively.
Morgan Squibb finished in 64th and Lily Tappenden just two seconds behind in
68th. Niamh Milmo had a good run to finish 146th and Zoe Austridge completed
the BB showing, in 164th. The team were fourth overall just missing out on
medals.
Henry Cowie was first home for the U15 boys in 42nd
and Angus Harrington having a great race ended up in 54th. Coleman Corry in
89th and Oscar Hussey in 101st made up the scoring four who were placed 10th
team overall. Charlie Andrews at his first major Championship was a good
189th and it was good to see Harrison Parker competing again as he finished
227th.
The U17 girls produced the highest individual placing
of the day with a superb, determined run from Niamh Bridson Hubbard in 4th,
still on the road back to full race fitness. “Niamh’s best ever cross
country performance in 5 years of running” said team manager Andy Frankish.
Jess Keene continued her consistently high class season with a solid run to
finish a fine 6th place. Great to see Georgina Taylor back competing
regularly again as she crossed the line in 32nd. Joanna Clowes in 87th and
Mary Guy in 104th giving the U17 girls a 5th team place.
Joss Barber continued his great form to finish inside
the top 20 in the U17 boys race (19th). Likewise Marco Arcuri continued his
great season with another strong run in 46th. Two further athletes making
their major championship debuts were James Crawley (81st) ad Bertie
Harrington (138th).
Marco and James pre race rituals can clearly be seen
in the race photos from Rod Harrington on our website, but it looks like
Bertie could only manage one leg and Joss couldn’t manage either!!
Many thanks to Rod for loads of fantastic photos of
all the races.
The U20 mens race was a tough affair but saw Will
Fuller finish a strong 26th despite having recently recovered from illness.
Will Fuller showed his true class the previous week at the Kent schools (his
first race back after illness) having raced a hard senior boys race and
pulled himself back to a fine fourth position. This qualified Will for an
automatic selection spot for the English schools champs in Blackburn in
March. Much to Wills surprise he was presented with a Kent Schools bronze
medal. Apparently the boy who came 3rd had not been registered by his school
(and therefore ran as a guest) so wasn't eligible to win a medal!. Without
hesitation Will handed the bronze medal to the 3rd place boy, as he didn’t
feel he had rightly won the medal, having crossed the line in fourth. A very
sporting act carried out instinctively. Well done Will.
Will Ruiz having travelled down from University had a
solid run in 55th and Tom Desborough finished with great pace in 59th.
Sam Leighton was our lone representative in the U20
women and did well finishing in 38th.
The curse of the falling team manager struck again
this week as the boys team manager face planted on a down hill stretch
whilst cheering on the team, in front of hundreds of spectators. However,
there is a suspicion that Marco may have had a foot in the proceedings!
Rumour on the grape vine has it that there were more
tumbles from BB spectators but fortunately the long grass was both spongy
and dry making an ideal landing mat.
Once again it was great to see many of the clubs
senior members out in force supporting all our athletes on the course.
President Dick Griffin was joined by PP Tim Souter, PP John and PP Margaret
Baldwin along with ever present VP Dave and VP Hanna Cordell.
Also great to see PP Ken Daniel there supporting so
soon after his major op. Don’t ask him about it or he may well show you the
photos!!
Paul Austridge
Photos from Rod Harrington
U13Boys medal winners
U15 Girls medal winners
