The penultimate fixture of the Essex Cross Country League staged in the grounds of the Writtle college saw Chelmsford come up with five team wins - and four individuals taking pole positions. Most convincing success came from the under 15 girls an event which Brentwood`s Summer Smith won but then Francesca Phillips, Izzy Eida, Amelia Shipton and Lily Sanford taking placings two to five for a score of just 14 points put them comfortably ahead of Brentwood`s 36 and Basildon's 39. Also well placed was Stephanie Smith 12th whilst Chloe Hancock finished 33rd. Over the season Francessca has placed 3rd, 2nd, 1st and 2nd again and is guaranteed first place award whilst Izzy with 4th, 4th, 2nd and 3rd must look to be in the top three. Team wise however the league title will be going down the wire with Basildon, Havering and Chelmsford on equal terms.
With the boys under 13 led home by Mason Sanford and Joshua Dalton being first and second followed by Jake Boarer 8th Charles Jackson wrapped up the team win with his 15th spot, Others here were Daniel Smith 24th, Sebastian Cook 32nd and Jason Pollard 34th. Our 26 points just shaded out S,S,Athletics on 28. Again the league title is very open with S,S. Having an advantage of just one point. Mason despite two wins has missed out on two races as he had been contesting championship events but Joshua with two placings of third plus a second is in the running for an individual award but having missed one race must turn out in the final fixture to make this happen.
Another first came from the under 15 boys with Jacob Parrott following his success in the previous meeting again taking the leading position. Joseph Delaney in third place like Jacob could place well in the season`s ratings but again must turn out in the final fixture at Southend as both missed the seasons second meeting. Anyway with Daniel Pollard 14th and Luke Webb17th first team placing was assured with 35 points ahead of Basildon on 50 and Southend`s 52. Our other placings here were Khaya Fakazi 28th and Oscar Stollery 31st. Basildon head the league table but discounting our lowest placing of 6th puts us back in contention if another team win can come our way in that final meeting.
Once again Jacob Hurrell took the under 17 year men's race-for his third of the season - having missed out on one race here is another that needs to be at Southend. Here at Writtle Austin Kelly 9th and Thomas Carter 11th gave us team success with 21 points over the two Colchester clubs each with 41 points. Our lowly placing of 8th in the second fixture can be discounted and thus Chelmsford currently head the table.
The senior men took their third win of the season and head the second division as they look to gain promotion to the top division. Our scorers here were Gregory Martin 9th, Ethan Reilly 19th, Sebastian Cirillo 30th, Will Parrott 57th, Nick Hunter 62nd and Lee Martin 66th .Our score of 243 put us comfortably ahead of Benfleet's 480. Peter Tullett placing 147th - a total of 249 finishers - is in the over 60`s group and well in contention for top spot.
Again the senior women had to take second spot to Havering whose 30 points edged our 32 despite another win for veteran Rebecca Luxton with Megan Williams following her through. Rachel Broome 10th and veteran Wendy King 19th completed our scorers whilst Laura Dunn 26th and Anna Nuttall 33rd amongst the 138 finishers. With the later two also in the veteran category they topped the the team result in this ahead of Grange Farm and Colchester Harriers.
No. I have not overlooked the under 13 girls - first of the league races on the programme - but her they had to give way to both Brentwood`s 32 points and the S.S. Team`s 34. Close call for with Isla Kehoe 2nd, Beatrix Cooke 3rd,Jessica Hobson 10th and Olivia Clark 22nd our score was at 37. By my reckoning S.S. and Chelmsford are on equal footing in the league table whilst Isla is well placed on the individual front for an award.
As stated previously the under 11`s do not form part of the league but do draw good fields. For the boys Dylan Law was well to the fore in second spot with Freddie Blacketer 6th, Harris Fuller 8th, Jacob Smithyes 11th, Arthur Cooke 16th, Toby Hatt 21st and Benjamin Padfield 22nd. For the girls Lianne Esterhuysen, Brentwood, and Leila Robinson have dominated the event being first two in each of the four races. Surprised however that this time round Leila had opted for the red and gold of Braintree rather than the green and gold of Chelmsford who here had Bailey Kehoe 13th and Isabelle Perks 18th.
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Report written by Roy Meadowcroft