Chiltern Harriers had an extremely successful Bucks county cross country championships at Hughenden Park, High Wycombe on Saturday. In grey, drizzly conditions on tough, hilly courses, the club won several medals and had their best championships for some time.
The Senior men had a strong and diverse line up in terms of age. Fabian Downs led the six scorers to team gold with an individual bronze medal-winning run on the arduous 11k circuit. He was backed up by Simon Beedell (8th), James Repper (9th), Nick Hughes (10th), George Gillingwater (20th) and Peter Gould (27th). James and Nick were gold and silver medal-winning athletes in the Vet 40 category.
In the Senior women’s race Sandra Reynolds, Cath Holloway and Ellie Bates combined to be second placed team, but Sandra, Cath and Kirstie Elliott were the winners of the Veterans team gold medals. Individually Sandra won gold in the Vet 35 category, with Kirstie second, and Cath was gold-winning Vet 45. Barbara Ralph was third in the Vet 55 category.
There was also a great deal of success in the young athletes age groups, with all top-four placed runners guaranteeing a place in the Bucks team at the National Inter Counties Championship in Birmingham on March 7th.
In the Under 13 boys race, Ben Smith had a great run to win gold against a strong field. The team also won gold, with Ben backed up by Angus Williams (4th), Tom Hunter (7th) and Zach Rahaman (9th), who had an excellent debut as an U13. There were also good runs from Tommy Davies (10th), Alex Aldred (12th), Tom Job (14th) and Edward Watson (15th).
In the Under 13 girls race, Beth Welham ran strongly to be fourth, the other scorers being Millie Hughes (16th), Isobel Swann (22nd) and Sian Haines (24th).
The Under 15 boys event saw a silver-medal winning run from Harry Kettle. The team also secured second place with Will Brown (6th), George Brown (9th) and Angus Denison-Smith (11th) joining Harry as scorers.
The Under 15 Chiltern girls ended up dominant winners with Emma Kaye the individual winner. Jess Orr won bronze and Maddy Lacey was fourth, securing the team title. There was also a solid run from Orla Fawcett in seventh but Robyn Watkins had to drop out after a fall.
The Under 17 men’s race was a battle between Chiltern’s Will Perkin and Callum Bampton of Oxford with Will having to settle for silver on this occasion. Chiltern’s other runners were Richard Slade in seventh and Will Oleksiuk eleventh. James McCarthy won the Under 20 men’s race comfortably.
The Junior women’s race was very short on numbers but Hannah Thear won the U17 category with Katie Bench in bronze. Emma Barraclough (fourth in the U20 race) completed the winning Junior women’s team for Chiltern.
In the Senior women’s race Sandra Reynolds, Cath Holloway and Ellie Bates combined to be second placed team, but Sandra, Cath and Kirstie Elliott were the winners of the Veterans team gold medals. Individually Sandra won gold in the Vet 35 category, with Kirstie second, and Cath was gold-winning Vet 45. Barbara Ralph was third in the Vet 55 category.
There was also a great deal of success in the young athletes age groups, with all top-four placed runners guaranteeing a place in the Bucks team at the National Inter Counties Championship in Birmingham on March 7th.
In the Under 13 boys race, Ben Smith had a great run to win gold against a strong field. The team also won gold, with Ben backed up by Angus Williams (4th), Tom Hunter (7th) and Zach Rahaman (9th), who had an excellent debut as an U13. There were also good runs from Tommy Davies (10th), Alex Aldred (12th), Tom Job (14th) and Edward Watson (15th).
In the Under 13 girls race, Beth Welham ran strongly to be fourth, the other scorers being Millie Hughes (16th), Isobel Swann (22nd) and Sian Haines (24th).
The Under 15 boys event saw a silver-medal winning run from Harry Kettle. The team also secured second place with Will Brown (6th), George Brown (9th) and Angus Denison-Smith (11th) joining Harry as scorers.
The Under 15 Chiltern girls ended up dominant winners with Emma Kaye the individual winner. Jess Orr won bronze and Maddy Lacey was fourth, securing the team title. There was also a solid run from Orla Fawcett in seventh but Robyn Watkins had to drop out after a fall.
The Under 17 men’s race was a battle between Chiltern’s Will Perkin and Callum Bampton of Oxford with Will having to settle for silver on this occasion. Chiltern’s other runners were Richard Slade in seventh and Will Oleksiuk eleventh. James McCarthy won the Under 20 men’s race comfortably.
The Junior women’s race was very short on numbers but Hannah Thear won the U17 category with Katie Bench in bronze. Emma Barraclough (fourth in the U20 race) completed the winning Junior women’s team for Chiltern.
