Met League #2 - Welwyn Garden City

The second Met League xc race of the season was the big event of the weekend with 115 Heathsiders taking part. Also over the weekend there was the ESAA XC and Regents Park 10k

Met League # 2 - Welwyn Garden City, 13.11.21

Simon Baker sent in this report of the day’s events and all results: “Almost perfect conditions for cross country greeted the many Heathsiders that headed to Welwyn on Saturday, to take part in this season's second Met League cross country race.  The weather was mild and although overcast, there was no repeat of the biblical downpour which affected runners last time at Welwyn.  The course was firm and well covered in grass, making running conditions fast.  There was a great turnout with over 110 Junior and Senior Heathsiders taking part.  The Senior Women again demonstrating their strength this season by convincingly winning the Senior Women’s race, this time by an even bigger margin than at Claybury, with Beth again 1st and joined on the podium by Tamara.  Elsewhere Thomas Archer was 1st U20 man, Mimi Blake 2nd U20 woman and Rory Willis 2nd U11.  The Club have strengthened their 3rd place overall in the Senior competition and 2nd place in the Juniors. 

Senior Report

Having not produced a Senior race for several years Beth Hawling has now won two back-to-back races, again producing a powerful piece of front running to win by a massive one and a half minutes ahead of Tamarah Armoush, debutanting in Heathside colours  and coming home in 2nd place. Not long after, Brogan Wallace crossed the line in 4th place, just outside 30 minutes, Josie Hinton was only another 30s behind in 8th, meaning we had 4 runners in the top 10.  Olivia Desborough was next in 13th and the final scorer for the A team was Shannon Sinclair in 27th place, crossing the line just ahead of Julie Pickering.  The U20 women- Mimi and Rose were 2nd and 3rd U20's respectively.  Caroline White was 3rd V60 helping the Vet's A team to 4th place.

Senior Women

The men’s race, with a bumper field of over 400 runners started at a frenzied pace.  The tight course with narrow sections meant runners had to be tactical and judge when to pass.  Highgate, with 6 runners in the top 10 showed how difficult they are to beat this season and arrived at Welwyn having won silver at the National XC Relays at Mansfield the previous weekend.  Our first runner home was Thomas Archer in 13th, in his first race for the Club as an U20.  Tom Aldred, now recovered from his marathon exploits was next in 17th (and the 1st V40 in the race) with James Wooldridge 5 seconds behind in 19th.  Oliver O'Connor another U20 was next home in 37th place. Mathew Rallison (49th), Charles Hardy (65th), Kieren Morris (68th), Francesco Melloni (73rd), Andy Barnes (83rd), Christopher Gracie (98th), Peter Gould (114th) and Conor Brown (134th) completed the A team scoring, which finished 4th, one place better than Claybury.  The Vet Men A Team of Tom , Matt, Adam, Mark, Jamie and Alex did even better, winning their race and closing the gap on league leaders VP&TH to 20 pts. 

Senior Men

Attention moves to the London Championships at Parliament Hill next Saturday with the men and Women both defending their 2019 titles.  Entries are now closed but support is very welcome on what is an iconic Cross Country venue and a taster for the Nationals which also return to Parliament Hill next year.  

 Junior Report

Another great turnout of Juniors saw them consolidate 2nd place overall on the Junior Howard Williams Trophy.  Individually it was one of those days with only Rory Willis recording a 2nd place, however there were 8 top 10 performances across the age groups. The U13 Girls again finished 2nd, with 3rd places for the U11 and U13 Boys and Junior Women.  

The U11's kicked off the day’s action thundering around the one lap course.  Rory Willis improved on his 5th place at Claybury to finish 2nd, only just failing to catch the winner Jack Hayward of ESM.  Alex Kirk also improved his position from Claybury finishing 9th with debutant Mikail Wahid 15th and Alex Rankin 19th completing the scoring team which just missed out on 2nd place to Shaftesbury by 1 point, The narrow course caused some problems for many athletes and Charlotte Beale got stuck in traffic and was only able to finish 13th in the girls race after a 3rd place at Claybury and was supported again by Isla Kavanagh in 20th.

Sam Turner had the misfortune to trip on tree routes in the wooded section losing 3 places but still matched his 8th place at Claybury.  Koppany Szentes was close behind in 10th with Gus Kendall 26th and debutant Isaac Walker 33rd completing the team which finished 3rd.  Kiara Corkin who won at Claybury, had one of those days, maybe pushing a little hard on the first lap to stay with the Woodford Green runner, and finished 5th.  She was followed by Amy Kirk in 7th who is getting stronger as the season progresses.  The scoring team was completed by Lettice Gundry and Lila Blustin in 18th and 23rd places.  The Club has a good squad of U13's this year with 9 running on Saturday and a good spread of 1st and 2nd years, testimony to coach Ruth's work.

The Junior Women were missing the Watkins sisters but still secured 3rd place, led home by Hattie and Mia in 8th and 9th places.  Maia Hampton Phillips is also improving as the season progresses finishing 21st - an improvement of 15 places on Claybury.  Ella Mai Hancock in her first cross country race completed the scoring team in 35th place and Maddison Frawley was 38th.  There were 10 Junior men running on Saturday, led home by Roni Kizikaya in 14th place.  David Baah-Okyere in his 2nd race of the season finished 22nd but was the 3rd U15 to finish.  Fred Beale and Janak Subberwal completed the scoring team in 25th and 28th places.  The team finished in 6th place which was also good enough to move the team up to 6th in the overall standings.

After 2 of the 5 races the club sit in 2nd place, 94 pts ahead of Shaftesbury in 3rd who have 88 pts.  Well done to all the Juniors.  Races come thick and fast now with the London Youth Games next week followed by the NWLL at Trent Park on 27th and the third Met League race on 4th December at Uxbridge with its famous river crossing.  

U11 Boys (1700m, 43 runners)

2nd  Rory Willis 5:41

9th Alex Kirk 5:59

15th Mikail Wahid 6:08

19th Alexander Rankin 6:13          

24th Sebastian McNeely 6:17

39th Sam O'Connor 7:27

40th Kymani Gaillard 7:39

 

1st ESM 138 pts, 2nd SBH 132 pts, 3rd London Heathside 131 pts

Overall:- 1st ESM 262 pts, 2nd London Heathside 225 pts, 3rd WG&EL 202 pts

                                                                                                                               

U11 Girls (1700m, 35 runners)                                                                                                                  

13th Charlotte Beale 6:55              

20th Isla Kavanagh 7:17

1st WG&EL 103 pts, 7th London Heathside 31 pts

Overall:- 1st WG&EL 208 pts, 5th London Heathside 78 pts

                                                                               

U13 Boys (3,000m, 43 runners)                                                                                                                

8th Sam Turner 11:42

10th Koppany Szentes 11:59

26th Gus Kendall 13:47

33rd Isaac Walker 14:30

 

1st SBH 135 pts, 2nd WG&EL 111 pts, 3rd London Heathside 79 pts

Overall:- 1st SBH 272 pts, 2nd WG&EL 249 pts, 3rd London Heathside 186 pts, 17th London Heathside B 9 pts           

 

U13 Girls (3000m, 49 runners)                                  

5th Kiara Corkin 12:25

7th Amy Kirk 12:44

18th Lettice Gundry 13:40

23rd Lila Blustin 14:22

25th Jessica Lappin 14:30

28th Maya Westgate 14:43

29th Elkie Baker 14:44

34th Evie Hipwell 14:59

40th Lucy Ryan 15:28

 

1st WG&EL 169 pts, 2nd London Heathside 147 pts, 7th London Heathside B 84 pts

Overall:- 1st WG&EL 324 pts, 2nd London Heathside 300 pts, 5th London Heathside B 175 pts

 

Junior Men (3000m, 94 runners)                                             

14th Roni Kizilkaya 15:19

22nd David Baah-Okyere (U15) 15:45 (3rd U15)

25th Fred Beale 15:51

28th Janak Subberwal 16:08

39th George Saint (U15) 16:51 (11th U15)

40th Gregory Berrisford-Sweet (U15) 16:51 (12th U15)

48th Michael Smith 17:22

63rd Ben Ryan (U15) 17:54 (29th U15)

89th Artie Feeny-Willings (U15) 20:06 (U15 52nd)

93rd Alex Butcher (U15) 20:21 (56th U15)

 

1st Shaftesbury Barnet 350 pts, 6th London Heathside 291 pts, London Heathside B 190 pts, 26th London Heathside C 8 pts

Overall:- 1st SBH 681 pts, 6th London Heathside 518 pts, 13th London Heathside B 287 pts, 28th London Heathside C 23 pts

                                                               

Junior Women (5000m, 52 runners)

8th Hattie Munday (U15) 18:02 (5th U15)

9th Mia Rosen (U15) 18:06 (6th U15)

21st Maia Hampton-Phillips 19:21

35th Ella Mai Hancock (U15) 21:28 (21st U15)

39th Maddison Frawley 22:15

 

1st Harrow 127 pts, 3rd London Heathside 119 pts, 15th London Heathside B 9 pts

Overall:- 1st WG&EL 370 pts, 2nd London Heathside 343 pts, 17th London Heathside B 82 pts

 

Senior Women (8.1km, 210 runners)

1st Beth Hawling 28:09 A

2nd Tamara Armoush 29:38 A

4th Brogan Wallace 30:06 A

8th Josie Hinton 30:37 A

13th Olivia Desborough 31:07 A 

27th Shannon Sinclair 32:40 A

28th Julie Pickering 32:41 B

36th Emily Reichert (V40) 32:59  (4th V40) B VetA

42nd Rachel Seckl 33:07 B

55th Ciera Kennedy 33:57 B

61st Eilidh Wagstaff 34:35 B

69th Ella Barnes 34:56 B

74th Jennifer Wing 35:20 C

81st Ciara Williams 35:38 C

82nd Tanya Addison (V50) 35:47  (4th V50) C VetA

84th Monika Newton (V40) 36:01 C VetA

89th Trudy Kearney 36:22 C

90th Maura Bellio 36:24

97th Mimi Blake (U20) 37:02 (2nd U20)

106th Yen Yo (V40) 37:31 VetA

116th Annabel Judd (V50) 37:56 VetB

133rd Caroline White (V60) 39:04 (3rd V60) VetB

136th Rose Garrett (U20) 39:32 (3rd U20)

138th Ann Woulfe (V40) 39:40 VetB

149th Rebecca Marshall (V40) 40:42 VetB

157th Madeleine Minson (V50) 41:39 VetC

167th Emilia Vynnycky (V50) 42:20 VetC

192nd Marianne Gibson (V50) 44:40 VetC

 

Division 1: 1st London Heathside 378 pts, 5th London Heathside B 201 pts

Overall:- 1st London Heathside 727 pts, 2nd VP&TH 595 pts, 5th London Heathside 382 pts

 

Division 2: 1st WG&EL 310 pts, 4th London Heathside C 265 pts

Overall:- 1st WG&EL 587 pts, 4th London Heathside C 484 pts

 

Vet League Div 1:- 1st VP&TH 125 pts, 4th London Heathside 85 pts, 11th London Heathside B 28 pts

Overall:- 1st VP&TH 237 pts, 5th London Heathside 160 pts, 11th London Heathside B 54 pts

 

Vet League Div 2:- 1st VP&TH B 72 pts, 5th London Heathside C 24 pts

Overall:- 1st VP&TH 136 pts, 7th London Heathside C 26 pts

                                                                                                                               

Senior Men (8.1km, 441 runners)

13th Thomas Archer (U20) 25:16 (1st U20) A

17th Tom Aldred (V40) 25:31 (1st V40) A VetA

19th James Wooldridge 25:36 A

37th Oliver O'Connor (U20) 26:24 (4th U20) A

49th Matthew Rallison 26:57 A

65th Charles Hardy 27:27 A

68th Kieran Morris 27:35 A

73rd Francesco Melloni 27:39 A

83rd Andy Barnes 27:51 A

98th Christopher Gracie 28:15 A

114th Peter Gould 28:36 A

134th Conor Brown 29:07 A

141st William Ross 29:20 B

143rd Filippo Minelle 29:24 B

150th Matt Collins (V45) 29:36 B VetA

158th Deng Akol 29:52 B

163rd Adam Mitchell (V40) 29:59 B VetA

174th Jake Spencer 30:22 B

178th Mark Jefford (V55) 30:28 (4th V55) B VetA

179th Oliver Negus 30:31 B

183rd Matthew Wheat 30:40 B   

188th Jamie Morris (V45) 30:47 B VetA

202nd Alex Sweet (V40) 31:08 C VetA

210th Chris Hartley (V55) 31:20 C VetB

215th Patrick Curry 31:26 C

217th Paul Beale (V50) 31:29 C VetB

218th Paul Mercer (V45) 31:31 C VetB

219th Nathan Tipping 31:32 C

220th Joel Northcott (V40) 31:32 C VetB

226th Jonathan Halliwell 31:36 C

229th Valentin Valeanu (V45) 31:39 C VetB

238th Edward Garrett (V45) 31:58 C VetB

247th Liam Hazelton 32:28

251st Leonard Martin 32:32

260th Lee Connor (V50) 33:03 VetC

267th Kwasi Agyei-Owusu (V40) 33:23 VetC

282nd Pete Crockford (V60) 33:49 VetC  

303rd Stephen Topp (V45) 34:36 VetC     

308th Kris Milovsorov 34:43

335th Leo Pemberton (V40) 35:56 VetC

340th David Hallam (V50) 36:05 VetC

342nd Matt Beard (V50) 36:08     

350th Tom Bedwell (V40) 36:22

370th Andrew Johnston (V50) 37:05

400th Mike Hickey (V55) 38:58

404th Michael Gray (V40) 39:19

406th Andrew Owen (V50) 39:32

416th Marco Maserati (V60) 40:32

421st Russell Weston (V60) 41:18

 

Division 1:- 1st Highgate Harriers 1554 pts, 4th London Heathside 1093 pts

Overall:- 1st Highgate Harriers 3099 pts, 5th London Heathside 1,988 pts

 

Division 2:- 1st Harrow 1273 pts, 2nd London Heathside B 1043 pts, 7th London Heathside C 741 pts

Overall:- 1st Harrow 2456 pts, 2nd London Heathside B 1845 pts, 9th London Heathside C 1221 pts

 

Vet Division 1:- 1st London Heathside 388 pts, 5th London Heathside B 294 pts, 11th London Heathside C 161 pts

Overall:- 1st VP&TH 761 pts, 3rd London Heathside 741 pts, 5th London Heathside B 563 pts, 10th London Heathside C 315 pts

 

Howard Williams Trophy (Seniors)

1st Highgate Harriers 44 pts (2 wns), 2nd VP&TH 44 pts, 3rd London Heathside 42 pts (2 wins)

 

Howard Williams Trophy (Juniors)

1st WG&EL 104 pts (7 wins), 2nd London Heathside 94 pts (0 wins), 3rd SBH 88 pts (2 wins)

 

Scoring:- Juniors 4 to score, Senior Men Div 1 12 to score, Div 2 10 to score, Senior Women Div 1 6 to Score, Div 2 5 to Score”

 

ESAA XC Cup, London North Regional Final, St Albans, 13.11.21
A number of Juniors ran for their schools on Saturday rather than taking part in the Met League.  Issy and Milly Watkins both produced great runs to help their school win the Intermediate Girls race and qualify for the National Final on the 4th December in Newquay.

Junior Girls
32nd Caitlin Roberts 12:00

Intermediate Girls
3rd Issy Watkins 12:36
6th Milly Watkins 13:10

Senior Girls
15th Mia Manttan 18:43

Regents Park 10km, Regents Park 14.11.21
Results
1st S Williams 36:27
5th Annabel Arnold 39:02 (1st Women)
35th Steve Crowley (V50) 45:36

Parkrun results can be found here, and there were first places for Seyfu Jamaal at Highbury Fields, Julia Bijl at Worcester Pitchcroft and Ruby Tuke at Ally Pally


Compiled by Caroline White, with thanks to Simon Baker for providing the entire contents, and to Maura for a photo

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