Author: Emily Copeman

Pentathlon GB are have confirmed the list of athletes who have successfully qualified for the 2026 Great British Schools Biathlon Finals, taking place in March 2026.

The top scoring eligible competitors aged from year 3 to year 13, as well as their teachers, have been invited to enter Pentathlon GB’s flagship event taking place on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd March 2026 at the University of Bath.

Chester Bailey, Affra Bailey, Matilda Saunders and Harriet Saunders have all qualified for the event in March. Good Luck to them all!

Team Kennets Ella Larkin struck gold at the weekend in the under 13 girls 800m in the South of England Indoor Championships being held at Lee  Valley.

On the Saturday Ella had to earn her place in the final by either winning her heat or being top 3 fastest loser, Ella went out steady in third place over two laps picking of second place girl on the third lap and then taking the leader over the last 100m to win her best in fastest time of the day just under 2.29, on Sunday Ella started in lane 6 again she settled in third place but for only 400m then Ella surprised the field by speeding up which no one following, she extended her distance all the way to the finish clocking 2.25.88 some 4 seconds  clear of the field and also breaking the clubs indoor 800m record.

Also taking part for the under 15 boys was Matias Manrique Huelgas in the 200m. Matias progressed well through the heats, and semi final to reach the final finishing in 6th place.

Round 2 of the Oxford XC league took place yesterday at a cold and sunny Horspath. The course was much drier than previous years and the weather, sunny and dry.

Our first runners were in the Under 9 girls race and they both did excellently. Annabelle Jones was 4th in her first Oxon XC race and Isabella Dearns was 5th.

Under 11 Girls also had excellent finishes, Matilda Saunders just beaten in to 2nd place and Olivia Kwit 7th

Matthew Jones ran his first race in the league and was 2nd, just behind the winner.

Senior men and ladies were a bit depleted by injuries and illness and a clash with the Berks Champs. Mitch Poustie was 191st, Simon Hockaday 210 and Simon Gale 213rd.

Katie Reynolds was an excellent 67th in the ladies race.

Nine Team Kennet athletes took part in the Berkshire Cross Country Championships at Dinton Pastures, near Reading. It was a lovely day for XC racing with clear skies, sunshine and perfect temperature.

The course was very interesting, with an inner loop that was very twisty and turney with a few up and down sections over a mound in the middle of the field. The outer loop was much straighter and flatter, allowing a faster pace, with a straight and downhill finish. Conditions were perfect with the course mostly being soft grass, without too much mud or boggy conditions.

The Under-13 Girls (3.2k) had a great day with Ella Larkin finishing in 3rd place (just loosing out on 2nd in the last few meters). This secures Ella a place in the Berkshire team for the Inter-Counties Championship in March.

Tilly Clare finished in 9th place, improving on her performance from last year and securing 1st reserve slot for the Berkshire team. Next, in 11th was Quinn Joyce, also putting in a great performance and securing a reserve slot. Darcy Claridge finished in an excellent 13th place, only a couple of seconds behind Quinn and the 12th place runner.

With the first three athletes home counting as a team, Team Kennet secured a silver medal in the Under-13 Girls competition. Bracknell AC were the winners and Maidenhead AC were in third.

In the Under-13 Boys (3.2km) race, Team Kennet had two athletes competing. In a very strong field, Josh Bailey secured 25th place and Josh Kuijten finished in 28th.

Reuben Kuijten competed in the Under-15 Boys (4.7km) race, which was another strong field, securing a finish in 23rd place.

Finally, in the Masters (9.6km) race, Bart Kuijten finished in an excellent 9th position, with Chris Turner securing a 27th place finish.

Competition kicked off early in 2026 with the Hampshire County Cross Country Championships on Saturday 3 January at a frosty Fairthorne Manor, Botley.

Matilda Saunders from Team Kennet raced in the U11 girls event which quickly developed into a head to head battle between Matilda and an athlete from Southampton Athletics Club with the lead repeatedly changing hands. Matilda eventually finished in 2nd place securing a County silver medal.

Olivia Bentley also from Team Kennet, raced over 4km in the U15 girls event. Olivia made a solid start but, with some strong running through the wooded section, she progressed through the field to take an excellent 7th place in a tightly packed finish. This result places Olivia in a strong position for Hampshire team consideration.

Whilst most of the Team Kennet juniors were racing in the Basingstoke XC League, a few opted to compete at the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire XC Championship instead. Held in glorious sunshine on the beautiful Englefield estate, the competitive racing across the age groups set the scene for some excellent Team Kennet performances, two individual silver medals and a team silver medal.

Matilda Saunders started the day for the juniors with a real battle in the U11 girls race. Despite a poor start, Matilda quickly took action to get herself into medal contention by the biggest of the hills and then move into 2nd place as they returned to flatter ground. Matilda used her strength well over the second half of the race to win an excellent silver medal with her and the race winner both stretching well clear of the rest of the field. In the U13 girls race Ella Larkin stayed right on the heels of the lead athlete for much of the race (showing some impressive downhill skills) however, having expended a lot of effort on the early hills, she was not quite able to maintain it through the final quarter. Nevertheless, 2nd place in Ella’s first year in the age group was a great performance. With Quinn Joyce and Ella McDonald also racing, Team Kennet was in the fortunate position of having enough athletes to complete a scoring team. Quinn continued her strong start to the XC season by settling into a good position from the start and delivered a well paced run to earn a very creditable 5th place. Ella M’s gutsy 15th place was enough to ensure an outstanding 2nd place in the team competition.

In the boys events, Josh Bailey was first to race in a closely contested U13 boys event. Fighting hard on deceptively steep hills, Josh came home in 21st place. Harry Smith was the final Team Kennet athlete in the U15 boys event. The race broke up into several tightly packed groups which ensured there was excellent racing throughout with Harry finding some good form to finish 16th in a very close finish (four athletes separated by two seconds).

Earlier in the day Richard Saunders had competed in the Senior race finishing 40th overall and 4th in the V45 category.

Team Kennet we’re back in action in the second round of the Basingstoke Junior Cross Country League,  Team Kennet we’re the hosting club this time being held at Down Grange.

The conditions were really good with the days rain before making the conditions tricky over the twisting up and downs of the course with far end of the course with plenty of mud and some water thrown in.

The day started with the under 9 girls Gracie Williams and Annabelle Jones set of with the leading girls, halfway round both girls found themselves battling it out with each other as the leading pair broke away, down the home straight to the finish Williams came home in 3rd place, with Jones just behind, Bella Dearns had a great run, found herself fast catching up with the TK girls down to the finish to be placed 6th and Pippa Clay brought home the team in 2nd place with Isabella Harte moving up the field for 18th place

The under 9 boys were up next and last match winner Rory Ridler had some competition this time, he took the race on and just about managed to hold of fast approaching lad from Basingstoke to take a great win, Edward Wyer came home next in 11th with Tavish Davidson 16th the team were placed 4th one short of a full team.

The wins started to come in fast, it was Praiya Foreman in the under 11 girls taking full control of the race as in match one to win by well over 30 seconds, great packing by the TK girls saw Olivia Kwit run a superb race to come home in 4th and also improving was Cecily Wyer taking 5th place  just one second behind, Isabella Chapman was fourth home in 12th place  and bringing the girls home as first team, next home was Flo Randall-Bird in 14th then Evelyn Barker in 24th.

The biggest field of the day saw nearly 80 start in the under 11 boys, Chester Bailey went out and took control of the race to pull a group of around 7 runners, Bailey worked hard over the last third of the course to find himself being chased down by team mate Lenny Wyvill who just ran out of the course as the boys took 1st and 2nd, Matt Jones wasn’t to far behind in 5th place and with Archie Pilling 16th the boys just secured an excellent team win. Thanks to the mid placings packing of the boys which helped them win next home was Idris Gaye 18th then William Winter 19th, James Rehill was 49th followed by Jacob Williams in 51st.

The under 13 girls were up next over the course of 1 1/2 laps, Matilda Clare led the way for the yellow vests coming home in 4th place, great packing from Affra Bailey 7th and Darcy Claridge 8th and Chloe Davidson 18th the girls had to settle for 3rd place in a close contest.

The under 13 boys were next over the same course now starting to get very muddy, Sam Atkins started steady to work his way through the field of nearly 50, he settled down to finish 13th place, Isaac Coath made his debut for the club in 28th and Joshua Kuijten was next placed in 39th and Alfie Cronk coming home in 46th for 4th placed team.

The under 15 girls were next and another superb win came from Olivia Bentley who timed her race to perfection overtaking the lead girl with only 5 metres to go, Ella Cronk was TKs other girl in 12th place.

In the under 15 boys race Reuben Kuijten worked his way round to finish a creditable 17th 

The league opener took place at Cornbury on Sunday. We were treated to both great weather as well as a fly-past from Lord Rotherwick, and the course was a good mix of firm grass with mud through the woods.

The hills were tough and plentiful with the course being run in the opposite direction to previous years

Under 9 girls went first and Isabella Dearns was 5th in her Oxford league debut.

Under 11 girls saw a great effort by the TK girls, Matilda Saunders was a brilliant second, well supported by Olivia Kwit in 9th and Isabella Chapman in 12th, both also in their first runs in the league.

Under 13 girls saw Ella Parsons having to withdraw part way through the race due to an unfortunate injury.

The under 15 girls race saw our only win of the day thanks to a superb run by Harriet Saunders winning by just over a minute. Olivia Bentley also had a good run in 7th to mark another impressive debut.

Harry Smith led the Under 15 boys finishing a credible 16th with Rueben Kuijten also running well in his first race to finish 31st.

Senior men were next and faced a tough 8.4k race, Bart Kuijten 73 and Richard Saunders 95 doing well to finish in the top 100, Rich Bickerton was next in 201, Mitch Poustie 267, Simon Hockaday 288, Simon Gale 296 and Rob Parsons 305.

Our senior ladies produced good performances over the same course as the men with Georgie McCabe in 76 and Katie Reynolds in 101st.

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 2^nd 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 4^th place, another Great run came from Gracie Williams coming home in a fast 6^th place, Pippa clay was next home also having a fantastic race in 17^th place securing a team 2nd place on the day, Jessica Burt was next home in 18^th, Maya Larkin 19^th and Isabella Harte 20^th 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 18^th and Samuel Pacutova was 19^th in another big field of over 40 plus. The Boys were 5^th 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 4^th place, Olivia Kwitt was next home coming in at 10^th place holding her own most the way round, and Isabella Chapman came home in 13^th place fore the team to take 2^nd place on the day. Next home was Florence Randall-Bird in 17^th and  Emily Tomlin in 24^th 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 2^nd place and Matthew Jones taking third place on the line, Idris Gaye was the fourth scorer in 19^th place to take first team on the day.

The second TK team was led home by William Winter in 28^th place followed by Archie Pilling 36^th, Percy Reed 42^nd and James Rehill 59^th with Jacob Williams bringing home rest of the boys in 69^th 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 2^nd place, and Matilda Clare who was running with Quinn most the way, just ran out of steam and had to settle for 5^th place, and with Ella McDonald coming home in a strong 6^th 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 9^th place having a great race coming through the field, Darcy Claridge was next in 12^th , with Alice Stratford 15^th  and Penelope Lyth 17^th the B team were 3^rd overall, The C team was led home by Chloe Davidson 19^th, Ella Parsons 25^th, Orlagh Stratford 27^th  and Lottie Longhurst 31^st

The under 13 Boys saw only 3 boys turnout led by Sam Atkins in 12^th place, with Josh Bailey 22^nd and Josh Kuijten 35^th were one short of a team but got plus one to finish 5^th 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 4^th girl but in her age group taking 3^rd  place, in the Boys Harry Smith came 5^th 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 51^st place.