Several club athletes were in action for their schools on Saturday in the regional round of the national schools cross country competition. There was great success in the junior section.
In the Junior Girls event for Region E (Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk) held at Lincroft Middle School near Bedford, the team from Dr Challoner's High School won the race and progress in style to the final. All six runners for the school are Chiltern Harriers club members.
From a high calibre field of 60 runners, Jessica Franks was first Challoners girl home in third place, followed by Connie Lewis in fourth. Rosalind Firth also made the top ten in ninth place and Beth Cotterell was final counter in fourteenth. Amy Harris and Jemma Wenman also ran to be sixteenth and thirtieth respectively. The girls finished on 30 points, six ahead of a strong team from Robert Bloomfield School that featured three members of the powerful Bedford and County AC Under 13 team. Aylesbury High School were the third placed team that will also travel to the final on December 6th.
The race also featured athletes from Luton AC, Vale of Aylesbury AC, Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow AC, and Dacorum and Tring AC so full of talent and experience. This highlights just how strong the Challoners girls performance was.
Also running at Lincroft were the Dr Challoners Grammar School Junior Boys team. They also made the final, finishing in third place behind Lincroft Middle School and Robert Bloomfield. Featuring at the head of the team were Chiltern Harriers runners James McCarthy (ninth), Andrew Stenning (tenth), and Joe Cochrane (twelfth). Fourth counter was Toby Wilson (twenty-first).
In the Intermediate boys race Dan Barraclough came ninth running for RGS, High Wycombe. They finished in fourth place so just missed a place in the final.