A Superb turnout at Hilly Fields

It was a good day for Chelmsford in the fourth fixture of the season of the cross-country league with four team victories and three individual wins - plus for good measure age group firsts in senior events.

On the Hilly Fields course at Colchester our under 13 girls kept their 100% record as Francesca Phillips had an excellent race to place second followed by Lily Sanford 4th, Emma Pickering 5th and Beatrix Cooke 6th to close in on 17 points with Brentwood next best on 49. Other members here were Isla Kehoe 8th, Orla Martin 9th and Izzy Eida 10th. Izzy - like Francesca is in line for an individual awards come the final fixture next month.

For the under 13 boys Fred Ferman was our first individual winner and his support came from Khaya Fakazi 8th, Oscar Stollery 15th and Charles Jackson 24th with Thomas Burgoyne backing up in 30th With 48 points this put them behind Basildon's 34 but improved the league position to third - just one point down on Havering.

Our under 15 boys have like the under 13 girls been dominant in the team stakes here scoring 30 points against the 50 of Havering. Josh Eida placed 5th with Austin Kelly 7th, Ben Smith 8th and Jacob Parrott 10th whilst Thomas Carter`s 15th would still put us to the fore.

It has been a different story from the under 15 girls. Concentrating - with success- on major road and cross-country championships the league has not seen a complete team fielded. Here Ezrah Harrold put in a strong performance for 2nd place with Niamh Roberts 15th and Chloe Haycock 20th. One must hope for a better turnout for the Essex Championships at Basildon on 6th January where medals could be won.

Under 17`s and both men and women found team and individual success. For the men Jacob Hurrell was the victor with Harry Wright 5th, Archie Durham 11th and William Sweeney 18th completing the scoring quartet with Dylan Robbins 26th and Thomas Birks 34th. 

The women were led by Kayleigh Atkinson`s 1st place with Sienna Shipton 2nd and Lucy Nuthall 6th for just 9 points with Colchester & Tendring next on 25.

To the seniors and the women`s team comprising different age levels again found us led by Rebecca Luxton in 6th place but first over 40 year through. Next Kiera Atkinson in 10th was 2nd under 20, Megan Williams 13th and Wendy King 26th - but first over 50 year - completed the scorers to put us in third but retaking second in the league table behind Colchester Harriers.

For the men we were led home by Finn Rattray as he placed 5th and was in fact first under 20 year home. Zack Bridgeland 6th and Ben Felton 7th were close behind  with the next scorers also close to each other as they placed 50th Tom Wood, 53rd Samuel Waite and 55th Jacob Alexander to push our score to 176 for 5th team. Other finishers Seb Cirillo 62nd, Peter Waite 69th, Peter Tullett 152nd, Mick Bridgeland 217th and Gerry Daniels 261st.

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Report written by Roy Meadowcroft

A Great Weekend for our Vets & Juniors

Another cross country champion as Rebecca Luxton took the Essex veterans title with a comfortable victory of a 47 seconds margin at the Writtle College course.

Others contesting these Essex veterans championships were Wendy King with 12th overall from the field of 106 finishers but claiming third and the

bronze medal in the over 50`s class which also showed Anna Nuttall in fifth place. Emma McCall placed 38th overall and Tracey Minton 17th in the over 60`s age group.

Of the men Will Parrott placed 16th and Nick Hunter 22nd in the over 40`s race, Peter Waite put in a fine run to place 6th in the over 50`s race whilst at over 60`s level Peter Tullet finished 7th and Mick Bridgeland placed 24th.

In the English Schools Cup Final staged in Suufolk, an event for the top school teams throughout the country Ava King had an excellent race to place 4th in the junior girls race in representing New Hall. In the senior race Larna Morgan placed 29th and

Holly Watson 37th for Brentwood with Sienna Shipton of St Martins in 36th position.

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Report Written by Roy Meadowcroft

A Night of Celebrations at the Junior Awards Evening

There was most certainly an excellent turnout for the presentation evening for our young athletes and how excellently it was organized as team managers provided details of athletes about to receive awards.

Taking the under 13 boys first most outstanding performance has to be from Fred Ferman whose 4m 35.57s eclipsed the club record set in 2018 and put him in at number eight in the UK. Others to receive awards were Zachery Ikharebore (sprints), Benjamin Ryder (hurdles), Jake Read (jumps), and Nicholas Cracknell (throws) whilst Oscar Stollery, Dominic Grant, Khayi Fakazi and George Dixon`s contribution to the team as they contested numerous events - and with success.

Highlight of the under 13 girls - well Saya Saunders also improved on the 2018 club record when she hurled the javelin out to 31.36 metres. Rose Phillips (sprints), Amy Hockley (hurdles), Isobella Eida (middle distance), Shindra Ayo-Adeyemo (throws) were joined by Francesca Hopper, Ava King, Olivia Mullineaux & Erin Kelly whose points contribution in the EYAL made a big impact on each meeting.

Three club records from the under 15 year boys - Sam Steadman over 300m with 36.29s eclipsed the previous best set in 2016 whilst also being part of the 4 x 300m team improving the record of 2015. Also part of this team Daniel Brown with 3271 points set a new pentathlon record. Marcus Fazackerley and Jacob Skamla completed the squad. Harry Lee (hurdles), Charlie Pyner (jumps), Ben Smith (middle distance), Jeremy Anderson (throws) plus Arsenii Handzil and Josh Eida for consistency in turn out and performances.

The under 15 year girls and yet more club records - Amelie Scott with 11.09 for the triple jump and part of the4 x 400 team improving the previous set 40 years by running 49.70s. Milana Thorpe (hurdles), Katie Case (pentathlon) and Chelsea Clarke were also members of the team. A record also for the 3 x 800 team comprising Ezrah Harrold, Lottie Wilkin and Hetty Harrison with their 7m 12.04s improving on the 2019 time. Alicja Yalajo (sprints), Maddie Poulter (throws) together with Josephie Walsh and Niamh Roberts for consistency received awards. But the top award went to Matilda Hewitt for her club record of 37.57m in the discus whilst also scoring heavily throughout the season in other throwing events.

Awards to the under 17 women went to Emmie Fulker (sprints), Sophie Catchpole (hurdles), Alicia Fairmaner (jumps), Sophie Moore (throws), Gabby Biblie (middle distance) together with Mia Bowring, Skye Lake, Ellie Gosling and Sophia Gavrilovic for consistency in their turn out and filling in for events where needed.

One name stood out in the under 17 men - Sam Wright. Winner at all levels through to the UK octathlon titles, ranked number one in the country with 5435 points in that event, number two with 13.30s for the hurdles, number two with 7.21m for the long jump. Not surprising then that his name appears on the club record list for these events. Despite his busy schedule he still fitted in club meetings. Other award winners were Harry Marshall (sprints), Ed Hughes (hurdles)- another doing 15 events during the EYAL series as indeed did Stephen Adesinia, Jacob Hurrell (middle distance), Morrie Nash (throws) plus Jack Gilbert, Harry Storey, Ben Watley and Archie Sims for contribution to our success.

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The Full List

Report written and compiled by Roy Meadowcroft