Cross Country – Page 2

Basingstoke Destination Cross Country League M1

Team Kennet started the Junior Cross Country Season of with awesome individual and team performances in the first round of the Basingstoke Destination Cross Country League held at Wellesey Park in Aldershot, over a undulating park course with a wooded finish, that saw 5 individual victories from 8 races and 3 team wins, the best ever in team kennet at a cross country event.

The conditions on the day were perfect and also underfoot, Team Kennet had registered over 80 athletes in the league, and a strong turnout would set good results early on in the season, first up was the under 9 girls who hold the team title, Praiya Forman meant business from the gun as she set of to take the lead, Matilda Saunders followed in pursuit, these two led the field in to the woods where Foreman was just the slightly stronger to come out and take the win, with Saunders second, Matilda Hogg made a good debut coming home in 9^th and with Evelyn Pedersen 10^th this brought the A team home as team winners, Evelyn Barker was 11^th and Isla Cooke 12^th

The under 9 Boys were out in force, and made sure they also won their team race, Chester Bailey was the first clubs runner home in 3^rd place pushing himself through the woods , William Moloney ran a good race for 5^th place with Toby Hartley 7^th and Idris Gaye 8^th they were certain to take the win on the day, Seb Lauder-Clarke was next home in 13^th, Jacob Williams 14^th and Max Burt 17^th the other club runners.

The under 11 Girls just had the clubs biggest turnout of 13 runners, last years team winners, the girls wanted to retain this, after the summer season, Ella Larkin made sure she was going to win as she stormed off to take the lead, a big clutch of team kennet girls followed in the second pack of a field of well over 40, Larkin came out of the woods with a 20 second gap to win the race, with Penelope Lyth charging down the home straight to take a brilliant 3^rd place, Maisie McCurtin was next in 6^th working hard through the woods to gain several places, with Matilda Clare in 11^th the girls took team victory.

The B team was led by Alice Stratford 12^th, Affra Bailey 13^th, Ella Parsons 26^th and Gracie Cooke 27^th secured a top 5 team placing, The C team was led by Penelope Gorbold 29^th, Matilda Pedersen 31^st, Grace Hogg 35^th and Orlagh Stratford 37^th.

The under 11 Boys race is always tough with Aldershot and Basingstoke in the league, Malik Gaye ran a superb race taking over 6 athletes in the hilly woods section to come out to finish in 2^nd place, another surprise was Samuel Atkins who ran his best race ever to take 3^rd place in a field of over 50, Flynn Sanderson was 21^st and Joshua Bailey 31^st saw the team finish in 4^th place, Joshua Kuijten came home in 34^th, Connor O’Riordan 38^th, Miles Phoenix 41^st and Toby Clay 43^rd saw a top 12 team finish for the B team.

The under 13 Girls were also last years team winners, getting stronger as the season went on, this looks like it will be same again, as team came 2^nd on the day missing a few key runners, this didn’t stop Harriet Saunders as she settled in the race in third place and as the race went on she moved through to storm through the woods to come out in the lead and take another girls race victory, Anna Hall had a great run to finish 5^th and with Ella Cronk in 7^th secured that team second.

The under 13 Boys saw the biggest field of the day with well over 50 runners, 12 coming from Team Kennet, Oskar Larkin was the clubs first in, with 12^th place, hot on his hills was Harry smith 13^th, Elliot Bell 17^th and good debut run from Arthur Patterson 18^th saw the team home in 3^rd place. The B team were led by Charlie Adams 24^th, Henry Bell 25^th, Josh Brian 27^th and Ben Doherty 28^th for top 6 team finish, the C team Frank Edwards 29^th, Harry Barnett 33^rd, Noah Lauder-Clarke 34^th and Rueben Kuijten 38^th saw their team home in top 12

The under 15 Girls race saw Charlotte Bailey have no pressure with all TK girls winning, so she set of with a fast pace taking the lead to pull further away over the 3 lap course, ensuring all the TK girls won all four races, Chloe O’Riordan came home in 14^th and Lola Mitcham 15^th for 2^nd placed team.

The under 15 Boys saw only two runners from TK, Ethan Kuijten ran a complete mature race, as he stalked two runners who took the early lead, on the second lap he pulled up with them, and halfway around the last lap, one of the athletes tried to pull away with a change of pace, Ethan stayed within 5 metres until he changed his pace going in to the woods where his strength showed and pulled clear to win the race and team kennets 5^th victory of the day, Max Adams also ran well in 7^th place.

West Berkshire & North Hampshire Primary Schools Cross Country 2023

Team Kennet held the 25^th Anniversary West Berkshire & North Hampshire Primary Schools Cross Country at Newbury Show Ground this week.

A Record 1510 finishers smashed the existing record the event holds to push the UK record further to keep it in West Berkshire for a long time.

50 Schools came to the event and all children taking part got a special 25^th Anniversary Certificate, The individual Placed top 3 not only got a trophy but were presented with a Special commemorative Teddy and T Shirt to mark the event.

The over night rain kept the course nice and soft over 1.3 miles which all four races run, in Race 1 which was the Year 3 / 4 Girls Ella Larkin from Falkland School took the early lead, which she extended to some 200m by the time she finished, Praiya foreman from Chieveley came in 2^nd holding of Maisie McCurtin from Falkland in third place.

The team Score saw Falkland three runners take the team trophy with St. Gabriel’s 2^nd and St. Nicolas taking Third place.

The Second race was year 3 / 4 Boys Benji Shelton from Francis Baily timed his run to perfection to take a superb victory in a close race over Charlie Herald Basildon in 2^nd place and George Dow from St. Martins

The team Score saw Francis Baily take the honours with Woolton Hill in second place and Basildon in third

Race 3 saw the year 5 / 6 Girls Harriet Saunders from St. Gabriel’s took on the lead early to come home in first place, Quinn Joyce from Fir Tree School took second place and Ella McDonald from Francis Baily took third place charging down the finish straight being chased down by two others and held on just.

The Winning Team went to New comers to the event St Andrews, while runners up were St. Gabriel’s and Thorngrove taking third team

Race 4 the Year 5 / 6 Boys saw a great tactical race develop, Rupert Knight from John Rankin took the victory in the end over Oscar Larkin from Falkland, with Alex Rowe also from John Rankin taking third place

The team award went to Falkland as they packed in well, John Rankin had to settle for runners up and St. Andrews took Third place.

The League Division Trophies has taken a great hit with the schools, in Division 3 New comers St. Andrews won the League with Garland Junior taking second and St. Martins in third place all three getting promoted to League 2

League 2 saw The Winchcombe take the title with Hungerford Runners up and Cold Ash St. Marks in third all being promoted to Division 1

Finally League 1 saw Falkland take this with Thorngrove in 2^nd and Francis Baily in 3^rd place

The small Schools Trophy was retained by Streatley with St. Martins runners up and Cold Ash St. Marks in third place

The Hampshire Schools was won by Thorngrove with Woolton Hill Runners up and St. Martins Third

The B team Trophy was won by Falkland with Thorngrove 2^nd and St. Nicolas taking third place

The Overall Winners of the Championships went to Falkland with St. Andrews taking runners up, Thorngrove in third place, Francis Baily in fourth and Streatley 5^th place

Nick Bull event organiser would like to thank all the 80 Volunteers who helped out including the Young sports leaders from Park House School and St. Barts.

Nick who has been running the event for the 25 years said hes seen over 20,000 Children take part in the event and quite a few have gone on to represent national sports in various ways, putting West Berkshire on the map to be one of the most sporting counties. To have a UK record for a sporting event on the numbers is a major title and im very proud to be part of it.

If anyone is interested in joining Team Kennet to visit the clubs website www.teamkennet.com to email the club.

Junior Cross Country Match 3

Team Kennet Juniors were in action in Force in the third round of the Destination Cross Country League at a new venue in Hartney Witney, over a fast, twisting and slight inclines with glorious sun shine for all.

The Under 9 Girls went first with 9 Team Kennet girls setting of, Ella Larkin led from the gun to take full control of the race to win by 100m, she now tops the individual points, another great run from Maisie McCurtin came in 2^nd place to put her second overall, then some fantastic packing from Matilda Saunders 6th and Orlagh Stratford 7^th saw the A team home in 1^st place and are now guaranteed overall Team Victory retaining their own title, the B team was led by Alice Stratford 8^th, not far behind was Elodie Burdett 10^th then a gap to Evie Kearney 20^th and Evelyn Barker 21^st bringing the team home in 3^rd place, Sophie Barnett was 23^rd

Next race was u9 boys Gethin Thomas was first home in 12^th place, with Joshua Kuijten 15^th, Max Burt 17^th and Seb Lauder-Clarke 19^th bringing team home in 4^th place, Alex Cameron was 23^rd and Jacob Williams 27^th

The Under 11 Girls took a fantastic Team Win, Quinn Joyce ran her socks of to finish in 2^nd place, a Good pack of TK Girls then followed led by Harriet Saunders 5^th, Ella McDonald 6^th and Matilda Clare 7^th for the scoring Team, Penelope Lyth led the second team home in 8^th place with Penelope Gorbold 23^rd.

The under 11 Boys saw 13 TK runners, they managed 3^rd team on the day, Oskar Larkin put in an impressive race to come home in 3^rd place, with Euan Jones not far behind in 6^th, Harry Smith was next home in 13^th and new comer Liam Neil 16^th. The clutch of other TK boys were Elliot Bell 19^th, Luke Stiles 20^th, Malik Gaye 22^nd, Henry Bell 23^rd, Samuel Atkins 24^th, Ben Doherty 27^th, Joshua Bailey 44^th, Lestyn Thomas 53^rd and Alfie Cronk 58^th.

The under 13 girls team also took the team win. Amber Stiles and Charlotte Bailey led the race for three quarters the way round to finish 2^nd and 3^rd respectively on a tight finish only 10 metres separating the girls, Emerald Hill-Sawyer 11^th and Chloe O’Reardon 12^th for the scoring team, Ella Cronk came 14^th.

The under 13 Boys team were 4^th, Aaron Carter was clubs first runner home in 13^th closely followed by Ben Daley 14^th and Marlowe Barber 16^th and Charlie Adams 21^st making up the team, Harry Barnett 22^nd led the second team home with Frank Edwards 23^rd and Rueben Kuijten 34^th making up the team.

The under 15 boys was a great race, Ethan Kuijten battled with top two to keep in contention but had to settle for 3^rd place, Max Adams worked his way through the field for 4^th place and Elliot Murphy came 5^th to help the team home in 2^nd place.

Oxon Cross Country League for 2022/23

Five fixtures as follows, on the first Sunday of every month:-

6/11/22 Newbury Showground

4/12/22 Cirencester Park

8/1/23 Shotover Park, Oxford

5/2/23 Cotswold Farm Park

5/3/22 Henley Showground

We are entering Senior men/ladies, U20 and under 17 runners

The main change this year is the introduction of athlete fees payable by each runner

To keep the league running and to reflect the increasing cost of venues, there is a fee of £20 per athlete for the season, £15 for under 17. Descending by £4 or £3 per match when you register. There will be no car parking fees at the venue

Cross Country Report 21/22

Team Kennet held its Cross Country Presentations last night after training, top 3 in most of the younger age groups and seniors got their awards, highlight was the under 9 girls that won the team prize in the new Destination XC League, 10 under 9 girls ran 2 or more of the four league matches in what was an incredible season for them. Nearly 70 Athletes turned out for the season which was a great effort after two years out due to covid.

U9G

Ella Larkin
Isla Ladds
Maisie McCurtin

U9B

Malik Gaye
Joshua Kuijten
Alfie Cronk

U11G

Ella Cronk
Anna Hall
Harriet Saunders

U11B

Noah Lauder-Clarke
Ben Daley
Oskar Larkin

U13G

Amber Stiles
Leilah Gaye
Lola Mitcham

U13B

Ethan Kuijten
Elliot Murphy
Aaron Carter

U15G

Emma Davies

U15B

Isaac Mitcham

Senior Women

Sue Francis
Charlotte Aitken

Senior Men

Mitch Poustie
Paul Kemp
Simon Gale

Most Improved Athlete – Amelia Rehill

Champion’s Champion – Ethan Kuijten

TK stars

Ella Larkin

Isla Ladds

Joshua Kuijten

Alfie Cronk

Ella Cronk

Harriet Saunders

Amelia Rehill

Ben Daley

Frank Edwards

Luke Stiles

Reuben Kuijten

U9G team

Ella Larkin

Isla Ladds

Maisie McCurtin

Elora Murray

Evie Kearney

Penelope Lyth

Ella McDonald

Milly Davies

Gracie Cooke

Rose Bell

Berkshire Cross Country Championships

Team Kennet saw a few athletes travel along a foggy M4 to the Berkshire Cross Country Championships held at Cookham north of Maidenhead. Best Result of the day came in the under 13 boys as Elliot Murphy came home in 4th place just a few seconds off a medal position. Ethan Kujiten came home in 17th and to complete the team Aaron Carter was placed 28th.

Amber Stiles came 12th in the Under 13 Girls race, While in the older under 15 age group Emma Davies came 18th and in the Senior Men’s Race Bradley Thomas also came home in 18th place.

Junior Cross Country

Team Kennet Juniors kept up there Challenge in the Basingstoke Junior Cross Country League held at Rushmoor in Aldershot, a Bitterly cold Afternoon saw 44 Team Kennet Juniors compete, The Best Result came from Under 15 Girls where Emma Davies took full control to lead the girls home in a well deserved 1^st place.

The under 9 girls who were leading the team placings, saw a good turn out of 10 girls from the club, knowing another good result would pull them away in their age group league, they secured their four scorers in the top 9 to win the team again, Ella Larkin came home in 2^nd place to secure 2^nd overall, Penelope Lyth ran a superb race to finish 4^th, Maisie McCurtin just behind in 5^th and Ella McDonald was the 9^th scorer.

The B team came 4^th overall as these girls packed in well, Isla ladds 11^th, Milly davies 15^th, Gracie Cooke 16^th and Evie Kearney 18^th. Elora Murray was 22^nd and Rose Bell 23^rd.

The under 9 Boys saw only 3 turn out Joseph Rayfield was 13^th, Joshua Kuijten 19^th and Alfie Cronk 24^th for 6^th Team placing.

The under 11 Girls were hoping to better there 2^nd team placing from the last match, again Aldershot athletes packed in well, keeping the Team Kennet under 11s team to 2^nd place again, Anna Hall lead the way with 4^th place, Ella Cronk 10^th, Harriet Saunders 15^th and Mia Kearney 23^rd, Amelia Rehill 31^st, Olivia Rayfield 32^nd and Tillie Beaumont 33^rd brought the B team home in 10^th.

The under 11 boys had the biggest turn out for the club of 11 runners in a field of over 60 runners, probably toughest age group in the league, Noah Lauder Clarke came home in 7^th, With Ben Daley just behind in 8^th, Frank Edwards was 16^th and Henry Bell 23^rd bringing the A team home in 4^th place, Luke Stiles lead the B team home in 24^th, Harry Barnett 26^th, Elliot Bell 28^th and Flynn Murray 36^th for 7^th Team, Charlie Adams 38^th lead the C team with Matthew iles 40^th and Reuben Kuijten 44^th.

The under 13 Boys Elliot Murphy gave it a good go to stay with the leaders, he settled down in the race to come home in an excellent 4^th place, Ethan Kuijten 9^th, Max Adams 10^th and Will McDonald 18^th brought the team home in 2^nd place. Aaron Carter was 19^th and Jacob Hopkin 22^nd.

The under 13 girls Amber Stiles came home in 13^th place and Lola Mitcham 29^th and in the under 15 boys Matthew Nocton was 5^th running a good solid race and Isaac Mitcham 11^th, in the same race in the u17 men Arthur Lane was 1^st u17 runner home and Noah Kemp came home 2^nd u17 man.

Junior Cross Country

Team Kennet took part in their first Cross Country Race for 2 years, the Juniors are now taking part in the Destination Basingstoke Junior Cross Country League, which covers league formats for all junior age groups, Round 1 took part in Basingstoke that sees clubs from the M4 and M3 Corridor, The TK under 9s were the first race to go and it was Ella Larkin first home for the club with a sprint finish for first place but Ella was just pipped in to 2nd place by 1 second, Isla Ladds came home in 5th place with Maisie McCurtin 10th bringing home the A team in first place overall, Elora Murray was 14th, Sophie Cox 15th and Evie Kearney 16th bringing home the B team in 6th place.

The Under 9 boys went next and it was Malik Gaye that took the only club victory in the races by a massive margin in a big field, Joshua Kuijten was 17th and Alfie Cronk 20th as TK came 2nd overall

The under 11 Girls saw another top3 3 finish this time by Anna Hall coming home in a great 3rd place, Ella Cronk was next home in 11th and then Harriet Saunders 17th bringing the A team home in 2nd place behind Aldershot Farnham & Dist. Emerald Hill-Sawyer led the B team in 18th with Mia Kearney 26th and Amelia Rehill 29th for 8th team place overall, Jessie McCurtin was the final scorer for the club in 30th.

The under 11 Boys found a tough race with the biggest field of the day, Ben Daley ran really well to stay with the leaders but had to settle for 6th place with Oscar Larkin 9th and Frank Edwards 14th to bring home the team in 3rd place, next home was Luke Stiles 23rd then Joshua Ladds 28th followed by Flynn Murray 31st for 10th team overall, Rueben Kuijten was next home in 32nd

The under 13 Girls saw Amber Stiles first home for the club in 14th just ahead of team mate Leilah Gaye in 15th with Lilia Gale 20th brought the club home in 3rd place, Lola mitcham was 23rd

The under 13 boys Ethan Kuijten led home the TK vests in 8th place followed by Aaron Carter 11th and then Jacob Hopkin 22nd for 5th place team.

Isaac Mitcham was the only under 15 taking part for the club in the boys race he came 3rd.

Oxford XC League

Team Kennet took part in the last of the series for this years Oxford Cross Country League, held at Henley Show Ground.

One of the best weather conditions over the winter saw a good turnout by the club specially the Juniors, Anna Hall in the under 9s had to settle for a 2nd place in the Girls race but this was good enough to be Crowned under 9 Girls Champion.

The under 13 Boys race saw one of the best races by Team Kennet athletes since taking part with Matthew Nocton coming through strong to win the race on the day, William Chipchase did enough to bring him home in 3rd place, with Ivan Checkmazov 23rd and Oliver Carroll 29th the team were 2nd on the day.

The under 13 girls team came 4th overall just missing out on team medals, Eve Brown came in 9th with Alanna Smith 14th, Emma Davies 17th, Rosie Burridge 27th and Maddi Baker 38th

The under 15s ran well Annelise Gale coming 7th and Emily Tucker 17th in the girls while in the boys Toby Clark 8th and Noah Kemp 17th.

The younger under 11s Elliott Murphy continued from last match coming home in 5th place to finish 4th overall Ethan Kuijten was 13th, Reggie Harder-Scott 16th, Aaron Carter 25th and James Simmons 36th.
The under 11 Girls Imogen Newby was 7th, Leilah Gaye 18th, Amber Stiles 22nd, Lilia Gale 29th

The under 9 Boys saw 8 TK athletes start, Noah Lauder-Clark was 7th, Ben Daley fast improving 8th, Oscar Larkin 10th, Charlie Adams 19, Joshua lads 20, Rueben Kuijten 23, Harry Barnett 25, Thomas Mitchell 28., rest of the under 9 Girls battled well, Jessie McCurtin was 6th, Charlotte Lawton 8th and Mia Kearney 13th

The Senior Women saw the usual two Women Sue Francis 38th and Martine Stiles 100th while the men saw 9 runners with Phil Murphy first home from TK in 35th, Bart Kuijten 83rd, Chris Hall 100, Mark Little 158, Mitch Poustie 174, Andy Waters 186, David Johnston 217, Paul Kemp 218 and Simon Gale 223

Oxford XC League

Team Kennet were in action in the fourth round of the Oxford Cross Country League at Swindon on Sunday, a tough muddy and wet course with slippery turns saw good results from the club.

The under 13 girls thrived in the mud as Kirsten Fraser cruised to a slippery win to help her chances to winning the individual series, this result also meant that the team could win the team prize at the end of the season, Emma Davies was next home in 10th and Alanna Smith 15th, Rosie Burridge was 30th and Maddie Baker 39th.

Anna Hall moved up to first place in the under 9 girls as she finished in 2nd place, all down to the last race of the season next month, Charlotte Lawton was 8th, Mia Kearney 9th and Holly locket 11th.

Imogen Newby came home in 4th place in the under 11 girls, with Amber Stiles 10th, Leilah Gaye 14th, Lilia Gale 29th and Lola Mitcham 42nd

In the older races for the girls Emily Tucker came 21st in the under 15s, and Bethan Philp coming home 6th in the under 17s, while in the Senior race Sue Francis was 44th and Martine Stiles 77th.

Elliot Murphy was the highest placed in all the male races, competing in the u11s he came 8th with Max Adams just behind in 9th, Ethan Kuijten 14th, Aaron Carter 18th, Joseph Bell 35th, Evan Alderman 36th and James Fenner 39th

Toby Clark came 9th in the under 15 boys and Noah Kemp 13th

In the under 9 boys Noah Lauder-Clarke was also 9th, Kaan Tugcetin 15th, Joshua Ladds 16th, Reuben Kuijten 20th, Charlie Adams 22nd and Ben Daley 23rd

Ivan Chekmazov led the TK under 13 boys home in 22nd, Oliver Carroll 33rd, Jacob Avery 39th and Isaac Mitcham 42nd

In the Senior Mens race Phil Murphy came home in 35th, Bat Kuijten 108th, Jonjo Stiles 120th, Mark Little 192nd, Andy Waters 193rd Mitch Poustie 201st, Sean Bird 225th and Simon Gale 247th