Chiltern League Cross Country Round 1 – Horspath 13th October 2018
Published: 22 October 2018
Oxford’s juniors and seniors were out in force for the first round Chiltern League match at Horspath on Saturday. The day began with squally cold showers drifting across from the north west, but by the time of the first race the sun was shining, with the result that the races were run in bright sunshine and blustery winds.
in the first race of the day, the under 11 girls were lead home by Izzie Haines-Gray, who won in fine style 8 seconds ahead of her nearest rival. A strong 16th place for Emily Channon plus 26th place for Sophia Hanson and 28th for youngster Ella Ramsay (out of 77 finishers), gave Oxford an overall 2nd place. The under 11 boys were strongly represented, by Alex Garry (19th out of 88 finishers), William Kelsey (31st), Luke Brown (34th), Louis Griffiths (36th), Peter Fleming (40th), Seth Carlisle (45th), Theo Patch (51st), Euan Lewis (53rd), James Nicolaou (67th) and Harry Cann (70th) – giving them overall 7th place after one round.
In the Division One match, the juniors sit in 6th place overall, while the seniors are in 12th place, and the Men and Women are both in 10th place. This leaves Oxford overall in 11th place, but not far behind the teams in 6th and 7th place. Later rounds will be critical but the club has made a good start. Highlights from the other races were a brave solo run from Payton Carter in the under 13 girls race, coming 38th out of 95, while newcomer Katarina Duric suffered in the heat to come home 95th. In the under 15 girls race Holly Hunter was first home for Oxford in 19th place out of 78, followed by Amy Shayler (24th), Margot Ward (26th), Emily Haines-Gray (34th), and Beth Hunter (41st). In the women’s under 17/under 20 race, Daisy Palmer was first home in 12th place, with Felicity Clark (31st), the only other Oxford runner in a field of 63. In the Senior women’s race Jess Duckett (48th) was the first Oxford finisher, with Gwyneth Hueter in 87th, Lisa Barnes 106th, Elisa Robbins 117th the other finishers in a field of 222. The u13 boys were led home by Freddie Jones in 9th place, followed by Alfie Barnes (25th), Farrell Ledford (53rd), Harry Richards (62nd), Sebastian Gardner (66th), Isaac Green (69th), Jonathan Poole (71st), Joshua Dixon (92nd), Ben Straughan (96th), William Reeve (112th) and Jack Brown (114th) in the biggest junior race of the day. In a closely fought under 15 boys race Louis Enskat finished 12th, with Ben Sims 21st and Drew Hogger 32nd out of 87 racers. Ben Davies in 4oth place was the only Oxford boy in the under 17 race. In the senior men’s race Will Gardner finished first for Oxford in 10th place, followed home by Ben Upjohn (72nd), Aaron Simpson (76th), Adam Bayliss (94th), Michael Garry (162nd), Rob Webster (181st), Stewart Thorp (199th), Brian Green (203rd), Mark Lane (213th), Asghar Ali (217th), Jon Marsden (275th), Roy Treadwell (304th), and Rob Wood (316th) out of 367 runners.
The picture shows coach Mark Pitt with members of the under 11 boys team.
