Will Perkin (U11 boys)
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Connie Lewis (U13 girls)
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Eddie O'Gorman
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Click on photos to enlarge - use browser back button to return Pictures by Gary Mitchell | ||
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Will Perkin (U11 boys)
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Connie Lewis (U13 girls)
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Eddie O'Gorman
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Click on photos to enlarge - use browser back button to return Pictures by Gary Mitchell | ||
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Chiltern Harriers had an excellent day at a cool and wet Shuttleworth in Bedfordshire on Saturday; coming back from the Christmas break and recent snowy conditions to surge back into overall third place in the league.
A superb turnout of 87 athletes contributed to third place and the best supported club on the day and again it was the youngest athletes that shone brightest.
In an unprecedented situation Chiltern teams won all of the first four races on the programme. The Under 11 girls were led home by Lizzie Barraclough, having her race of the season so far to finish fourth. Hannah Thear was eighth and Orla Fawcett 13th to complete the scoring. The girls finished on 143 points, just two ahead of St Albans and now lie just 13 points behind League leaders Bracknell with one race to go.
The Under 11 boys race saw a fourth victory for Will Perkin, in doing so clinching the individual League title. The boys team had their fourth straight win and lead the division by over 100 points. Robert Hall was sixth, David Willcox seventh, Angus Denison-Smith eighth, Sam Henning ninth and Jonny Stenning 11th in a great display of team running.
The Under 13 girls were missing key runner Hannah Morton with injury but still managed a slender victory by six points from Windsor. Connie Lewis won her third race of the season, Rosalind Firth was fourth, Emma Barraclough fifth and Katie Bench 19th to complete the scoring. With one race to go Chiltern lead Windsor by 14 points overall.
A great turnout in the Under 13 boys race saw the team clinch victory by 23 points and they have a 34 point margin going into the final race. James McCarthy was third, Bill Hughes fourth and Andrew Stenning fifth with Callum Neal completing the scoring in tenth place. Also in the top twenty were Joe Cochrane 11th, Joe Aherne 12th, Sam Butcher 17th and Callum Reid-Jones 20th.
The Under 15 girls scored useful points in their race, coming seventh with Phoebe Cutter leading the way in 16th position. Amy Harris was 26th, Chloe Allen 29th and Hannah Wardley 39th.
The Under 15 boys saw some determined running with Michael Goddard eighth, Jack Dutton 11th, Dan Barraclough 15th and George Gillingwater 17th. This placed the boys second on the day and they are second overall.
In the Under 17 races there was an impressive debut from Grace Birch in the women's event, finishing 11th and the men had Alex Watson 10th, Dan Loach 17th, Ben Hall 29th and Thomas Hughes 34th.
The senior women had a smaller than usual squad but still managed an impressive fourth place with Sian Thomas 10th, Ali Young 13th, Judith Orr 19th and Heidi Folkard 30th. Ali, Judith and Heidi were joined by Barbara Ralph as the winning Veterans race team.
In the senior men's event Eddie O'Gorman was fourth, Matt Bennett ninth and Tom Beedell 15th to score big points. The men were fifth, maintaining fifth place overall.
The club is now in third with a 300 point lead over fourth placed Windsor. Team managers will be looking to another strong turnout on February 13th at Wing to round off the season in style.