Team Kennet kicked of their Cross Country campaign for the season in the first round match of the Basingstoke Cross Country League being held at Basingstoke in lovely warm Autumn sunshine, The terrain being undulated was ideal for cross country running.
With New clubs coming in to the league this year, numbers were well up in the races making way for good competition and long distances.
The under 9 Girls started the day of, Annabelle Jones Led most the way round, only to be pipped in the last 200m of the race having to settle for 2nd place, Bella Dearns also went out hard and she maintained her top 5 position all the way round to sprint to the finish line in 4th place, another Great run came from Gracie Williams coming home in a fast 6th place, Pippa clay was next home also having a fantastic race in 17th place securing a team 2nd place on the day, Jessica Burt was next home in 18th, Maya Larkin 19th and Isabella Harte 20th saw the girls home with over 40 runners in the race
The Next race was the under 9 Boys, Rory Ridler went from the gun on a mission to win, he maintained his front running all the way home to take a great victory, Tavish Davidson was 18th and Samuel Pacutova was 19th in another big field of over 40 plus. The Boys were 5th team
The Individual wins kept coming in, The Under 11 girls were next up, Praiya Foreman also went out fast and broke away from the field immediately to extend her lead and take a convincing win, Matilda Saunders kept up with the third place girl to be out sprinted in the last 200m to take 4th place, Olivia Kwitt was next home coming in at 10th place holding her own most the way round, and Isabella Chapman came home in 13th place fore the team to take 2nd place on the day. Next home was Florence Randall-Bird in 17th and Emily Tomlin in 24th that’s saw over 70 girls in the race.
Another win came in the under 11 Boys, Not only a win but a 1-2-3, some great racing by the under 11 boys, Chester Bailey took it on with a huge field of 84 runners, he slowly edged away to win by 25 metres hitting the undulating parts hard and fast to gain the advantage on the pack behind, in that pack were two TK boys, they sat back and waited till the last 200m for Lenny Wyvill to take 2nd place and Matthew Jones taking third place on the line, Idris Gaye was the fourth scorer in 19th place to take first team on the day.
The second TK team was led home by William Winter in 28th place followed by Archie Pilling 36th, Percy Reed 42nd and James Rehill 59th with Jacob Williams bringing home rest of the boys in 69th place.
The Fourth Individual win came from the under 13 Girls, Ella Larkin took full control over the 2 laps to extend her lead by well over 45 seconds in another huge field of over 50 girls in the race, it looked like another 1-2-3 was coming from the girls, Quinn Joyce ran a superb race to finish in a strong 2nd place, and Matilda Clare who was running with Quinn most the way, just ran out of steam and had to settle for 5th place, and with Ella McDonald coming home in a strong 6th place the girls took a convincing team win. TK saw 12 girls turn out in this age group which is a record for the club in this age group, the B team saw home Affra Bailey 9th place having a great race coming through the field, Darcy Claridge was next in 12th , with Alice Stratford 15th and Penelope Lyth 17th the B team were 3rd overall, The C team was led home by Chloe Davidson 19th, Ella Parsons 25th, Orlagh Stratford 27th and Lottie Longhurst 31st
The under 13 Boys saw only 3 boys turnout led by Sam Atkins in 12th place, with Josh Bailey 22nd and Josh Kuijten 35th were one short of a team but got plus one to finish 5th team on the day, the Field saw over 40 runners again.
The under 15 girls and Boys now start together including u17s saw a field of around 60 start the race, in the girls Olivia Bentley worked her way through the field to Finish 4th girl but in her age group taking 3rd place, in the Boys Harry Smith came 5th overall but taking out older boys he to came home in 4th place Rueben Kuijten was in the top half and had to pull out due to breathing issues, and Daniel Hurst came home in 51st place.
