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Another good set of performances in the penultimate race of the series left Chiltern Harriers in an excellent fourth place in the Chiltern Cross Country League.
There were good efforts all round but again it was the Under 11s that shone. The girls were first off in bright sunshine round one of a series of short, relatively flat courses in Upton Court Park that yielded fast times throughout the day, despite some very muddy sections.
An excellent turnout of 16 girls again saw good packing with seven in the first twenty. Counters on the day were Connie Lewis, sixth in 5.50, Rosalind Firth, seventh in 5.51, and Claire Buttivant, ninth in 5.53. Also running well were Claudia McInerney, tenth in 5.57, Claudia Jones, 15th in 6.04, Emma Barraclough, 16th in 6.07, and newcomer Katie Pawlyn, 18th in 6.11. All bar Katie are lying in the top twelve positions for the season so far, and the team has an 83 point lead going into the last fixture.
Amazingly the boys Under 11 race produced yet another individual winner for Chiltern (the fourth in four races). This time Bill Hughes led the way with an aggressive piece of front running to finish in 5.11. Andrew Stenning was third in 5.13, Joe Cochrane fifth in 5.21, and Sam Butcher seventh in 5.23. James McCarthy, Robert Hughes, Toby Jones and Will Perkin also all finished in the top twenty to give Chiltern a 105 point cushion going into Round 5 at Wing on Feb 9th. Andrew, Joe, James and Bill lie 1,2,3,4 in overall league positions.
The squad of Under 13 girls continues to grow and Ellie Jones was again first counter in 29th place. The boys Under 13s had another great race with Michael Goddard having his race of the winter so far to come second in 9.36. Jack Dutton also put in his performance of the season to be third in 9.50. George Gillingwater, 13th in 10.31 and Peter Illingworth, 34th in 11.32 completed the Chiltern scoring.
The Under 15 boys were seventh with Alex Watson sixth in 13.03, Dan Loach 23rd in 14.39 and Hugh Beedell 30th in 15.51. Alan Stewart was sole Chiltern man in the Under 17s, finishing in 22nd in 20.45.
The Senior ladies 6K race of two long laps saw Chiltern fourth overall but again winners of the Vets race. Sandra Reynolds was an excellent sixth in 21.55 and Cath Holloway (21st in 23.57), Lousie Barnett (23rd in 23.58) and Judith Orr (24th in 24.11) completed the seniors scoring. Sandra, Cath, Judith and Barbara Ralph (30th in 24.39) were the vets scorers.
The Senior men had a 9K, three-lap course and the Chiltern team managed a solid fifth place, missing some key runners away with academic commitments. Featuring well up the field were Eddie O'Gorman, ninth in 28.38, and Matt Bennett, 11th in 28.43. It was also good to see the return of Derek Brown, 17th in 29.06 (2nd vet 40).
The overall standings show Chiltern now fourth in the 14-team Division 1 with 7510 points, only 63 behind Windsor and with a 300 point lead over Vale of Aylesbury.
In the individual competitions Eddie O'Gorman is 4th Senior man, Stuart Ellerby 11th Senior man, Matt Bennett 4th Junior man, Paul Manners 14th Vet 40, Tony Richardson 8th Vet 50, Alex Watson 6th Under 15 boy, Michael Goddard 2nd Under 13 boy, Jack Dutton 6th Under 13 boy, and Dan Barraclough 7th Under 13 boy.
Andrew Stenning is 1st Under 11 boy, Joe Cochrane and James McCarthy equal 2nd , Bill Hughes 4th, Will Perkin 9th and Sam Butcher 11th.
Laura Butt lies in 8th spot in the Senior ladies league, Sandra Reynolds is 2nd Vet 35, Cath Holloway 4th vet 35, and Barbara Ralph, Kate Loach and Jane Peel are 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively in the Vet 45 competition.
In the under 11 girls league Connie Lewis is 5th, Emma Barraclough 6th, Claire Buttivant 7th, Rosalind Firth 9th, Claudia McInerney 10th and Claudia Jones 12th.
All now depends on the final fixture of the season at Wing on February 9th.