Three Team Kennet athletes travelled to Burgess Hill for the South East Regional Sportshall finals.
Sophia Mahoney and Praiya Foreman were part of the Under 11 girls team finishing in 5th place and Matilda Clare in the Under 13 girls team finishing in 3rd place. Congratulations to all.
Team Kennet were in action again in match 2 of the Junior Cross Country League being held at Hartney Wintney.
The under 9 girls packed well to take second team on the day, Matilda Hogg ran well to hold on to 5th place, closing in fast with a good finish was Isabella Chapman in 7th place and Bella Dearns also had a strong finish for 9th place and to make up the team was Florence Randall-bird in 12th, Pippa Clay was the next club runner home in 27th.
The under 9 boys were next over the 1400m course, Chester Bailey left off from last week’s match to dominate the field to win again, Lenny Wyvill had to settle for 4th place, Idris Gaye 5th and Matthew Jones 6th were coming in together that made a team victory and second in a row.
The under 11 girls course over 2k saw Ella Larkin stride ahead from the gun to pull away to a 150m lead to win the race, Matilda Saunders had a better race this week to come home in 4th place as she worked hard up the hills, Elodie Burdett stormed him in 5th place and with Ella Parsons in 10th this secured another team win. Olivia Kwit was next home in 27th and Evelyn Barker 33rd Percy Reed was the only under 11 boy from the club he ran well to finish 13th.
The under 13 girls were up next, over a nearly 3k course Harriet Saunders worked well over the back fields on the 3 laps to win the race, coming home in 2nd place was Olivia Bentley producing her best ever race coming through the field with confidence, Penelope Lyth was next home in 5th place running most the race on her own kept it going, with Ella McDonald in 8th place the girls secured their second team win in a row, Affra Bailey was next home in 13th.
The under 13 boys were next Harry Smith after winning last week found the competition much tougher this weekend coming home in 4th place, good packing from Samuel Atkins 16th, Josh Bailey 17th and Henry Bell 18th was enough to secure third place team, JJ Mercer was next home in 20th and Ben Doherty was 22nd. The under 15 girls saw the team finish in 2nd place as last weekend, Anna Hall ran a brilliant race to finish in third place and Amelie Tayton was next home in 11th and Ella Cronk 14th.
Team Kennet hosted the rearranged round 1 Basingstoke Cross Country League at Downe Grange in Basingstoke, over a technical and muddy course otherwise conditions were ideal for cross country running, first up was under 9 girls, TK fielded only 4 girls first home was Isabella Chapman in 6th place, next home was Florence Randall-Bird 10th with Bella Dearns 13th and Molly Bell 25th. The under 9 Boys were next and a superb race developed by two TK runners with Chester Bailey coming home 1st and Lenny Wyvill 2nd, Idris Gaye battled well to finish 8th and with William Winter 11th secured a team victory, Archie Pilling was next home in 15th and Rory Ridler 23rd.
The under 11 girls were next to start which saw the clubs biggest turnout, Ella Larkin went off from the gun to control the race to come home in first place, Praiya Foreman ran a superb race to finish in 2nd place, Matilda Saunders was next in 5th place and with Alice Stratford 8th the team scored another victory, Ella Parsons ran a brilliant race to finish 9th, Cecily Wyer was 24th, Ayala Wyvill 33rd, Evelyn Barker 38th and Darcy Scaplehorn 39th. The under 11 boys only saw two from the club due to illness and other sports, Joshua Kuijten was 26th and Gethin Thomas 35th in a field of over 60.
The under 13 girls saw another winner, this time Harriet Saunders battled through the course to take victory, Olivia Bentley hung in well to come home in 4th followed by Tilly Clare 6th and Ella McDonald just behind in 7th which was good enough for another team victory, Affra Bailey was 13th. The under 13 boys ran well to pack in their race with over 50 taking part, Harry Smith took control of the race after a few minutes to gradually pull away from a small group to win, Samuel Atkins came through the field to finish 12th, with Josh Bailey 14th and Henry Bell 15th saw the team finish 3rd on the day, Elliot Bell was next home in 22nd and Ben Doherty 24th.
The under 15 girls saw Anna Hall finish in 3rd place and Ella Cronk 12th The Under 15 boys Rueben Kuijten came home in 8th place.
On Saturday 1st February Harriet Saunders, Olivia Bentley and Harry Smith represented Berkshire Schools at the South East Inter County Schools Cross Country Championships. With many of the region’s best athletes in attendance the competition was very tough but all three acquitted themselves well.
In the Junior Girls race (school years 8 & 9) Harriet produced an excellent run to finish as the 3rd Berkshire athlete and 25th overall. She was followed by Olivia in a very creditable 66th place and 9th Berkshire runner. Harry then raced in the Junior Boys event battling to a hard fought 79th place and 8th Berkshire runner.
