Athletics and Triathlon Club
Harriet Saunders represented Hampshire at the National Inter-Counties Championships held at Wollaton Park, Nottingham today. Testing herself against the very best athletes in the UK she produced an excellent performance on an undulating course and, in a very tightly packed field, finished 52nd out of the 308 qualifiers and 4th placed Hampshire runner.
Team Kennet were in full action in the Basingstoke Junior Cross Country League being held at Wellesley Woods in Aldershot over a much boggy and muddy course.
Lovely Spring Sun greeted all the athletes in the afternoons event, first up was the under 9 girls over the 1400m course, Isabella Chapman ran a great race to finish in 7th place, and Bella Dearns wasn’t too far behind in 10th place, the team came 3rd on the day with Gracie Williams 13th and Annabelle Jones in 15th.
The under 9 Boys had already wrapped up the team Trophy, but yet another solid display of team running made sure they took first team on the day to remain unbeaten, this time it was Matthew Jones coming home in 4th place in the Yellow Vest, with Lenny Wyvill 5th, Idris Gaye 7th and Chester Bailey 8th, other runners were Archie Pilling 14thand Rory Ridler 18th, this meant at the presentations Chester Bailey won overall and the boys won the team Trophy.
The under 11 girls were next to start over 2400m, Ella Larkin went off like a rocket to lead all the way round the course to come home as overall winner winning all three races, she also helped the team to win overall with her team mates Praiya Foreman coming home in a brilliant 3rd place to take 2nd overall, Matilda Saunders was 5th and Alice Stratford took 9th place, Olivia Kwit was next in 21stand Evelyn Barker 38th.
The under 11 Boys saw the biggest field of the day with well over 50 runners, Percey Reed was the clubs first runner home in 28th, followed by Joshua Kuijten 31st, Gethin Thomas 42nd and Jacob Williams 44th with Toby Clay 49th
The under 13 Girls again like the u11s, already sealed the team victory, they made sure they kept unbeaten all season, it was Olivia Bentley that took full control to win the race over the second lap to win her first cross country race, Penelope Lyth ran one of her best cross country races to come home in 5th, with Matilda Clare 6th and Ella McDonald 7th this was enough to win, Affra Bailey was next home in 12th and Harriet Saunders 13th, Harriet Saunders took overall individual win and Olivia Bentley taking runners up spot.
The under 13 boys were next to race, Harry Smith kept up his pressure around the course which paid off to come home in 2nd place this was good enough to take 2nd individual overall, Samuel Atkins was 11th, Josh Bailey 13th and Fynn Sanderson 16thtook 4th team on the day, and JJ Mercer came home in 18thout of nearly 40 runners.
The under 15 Boys and Girls run together, in the Girls race Amelie Tayton came home in 8th and Ella Cronk 9th and in the Boys, Rueben Kuijten was 9th. Although Anna Hall didn’t run, she took 2nd place overall in the league.
Ben East won the Senior Men’s Long Throw Championship Javelin today held at Loughborough University Track with a throw of 73.50m.
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.
Olivia Bentley, Anna Hall and Harriet Saunders travelled to Beckenham, South East London on Saturday to test themselves against some of the best runners in the country at the South of England Cross Country Championships.
Harriet and Olivia were first up in the U13 race finishing in 32nd and 62nd place respectively. Anna was next to run in the U15 race finishing in 67th place.
Excellent performances by all three girls.
Team Kennet travelled to Thames Valley Athletics Centre to compete in the annual Berkshire County Sports hall Championships. The U11 girls had a huge turnout with 2 teams participating, the blue team of Ella Larkin, Sophia Mahoney, Olivia Kwit, Ines Field, Praiya Foreman and Hazel Balch finished in 3rd place. They had some great results with 2 first places and 2 second places in the track events. In the field, Ella Larkin 5th in the standing long jump and 1st in the speed bounce. Ines Field 4th in the high stepper. Praiya Foreman 3rd in the vertical jumo and Olivia Kwit 5th. The Red team were 6th with some more great performances, Marlie-Jai Proctor finishing 3rd in the Speed bounce.
Under 13 girls had one team and finished 5th out of 9 teams with some great individual performances, Isla Ladds 5th in the standing long jump and high stepper, Penelope Lyth 4th in the Speed Bounce and Matilda Clare 4th in the vertical jump.
The Under 11 boys finished 5th out of 9 teams, and some of the boys the youngest in the competition performed well finishing in 2nd place in the paarauf and Harvey Baker 4th and Chester Bailey 6th in the standing long jump.
The Under 13 boys didn’t have a full team on the day so it was always going to be a challenge to be in medal position, but they put in a great performance to finish 8th on the day with a great performance in the standing triple jump by Samuel Atkins finishing 7th.
Results
Several TK Athletes from all age groups attended the Berkshire Schools Cross Country Championships at Newbury Showground on Saturday 18th January 2025.
Full results can be found below, congratulations to all who took part!
