Met league cross-country…hills, hills and more hills at Trent Park
It was a great week-end for cross-country. One hundred and eleven Heathsiders travelled to the end of the Piccadilly line this week-end to discover Trent Park, venue of the penultimate fixture of the Met League. It has idyllic scenery, which, when translated into cross-country language, equates to undulations and long, long hills…lots of them. The recent rain meant that there was enough mud in places to keep even the most hardened cross-country runner reasonably happy, although it failed to transform the course into the mud bath that many had feared.
Young athletes
Hattie Mua and Rebecca Beliossi ran well in the first race (under-11s), coming 40th and 73rd respectively. Star of the youngsters was Ruari McGonagle, who came 1st in the under 13 boys race and an impressive 16 seconds ahead of his rival. Rose Garrett was the star of the under 13 girls, finishing 7th, backed by Matilda Heath (12th) and Nel Swinhoe (13th), who had an exciting race to finish within a second of each other. The junior men and women had great races, with highlights including 5th and 8th place finishes for Jem O’Flaherty and Liam Garrett and Meg Naylor’s 17th position.
Senior women
As first or joint first finishers in each previous Met league race, the women’s A team was in dominant position coming into the race and there was no shortage of talent on Saturday. Ella Waldman came in first home, finishing in a stunning 8th position, followed soon by Kelly Thorneycroft (17th), Dorcas Wright (18th) and Rachel Newstead (19th), with Sarah Swinhoe (25th) and Ulla Cartwright-Finch (28th) making up the remaining A team.
Despite these fantastic performances, the women’s winning streak paused on Saturday, as the A team finished – still impressively – in second position in Division One, just 38 points behind the leader. A post-race analysis revealed that the cause was something that was perhaps inevitable sometime – the opposition pulled out a phenomenally talented A team, in which each member finished in the top 15.
Meanwhile, the B team (Colette Monahan. Rosa Serafini, Leigh James, Emma Ford, Jennifer Wing and Alice Hosking) ran well to finish 8th in Division One. The C team, which finished 4th in Division 2, included some particularly outstanding performances from Hannah Stanforth and Louisa Pointon, followed by Genevieve Weston, Liz Drake and Jackie Wastell. The Vets A and B teams have maintained their positions in Division One (2nd and 7th respectively), whereas as the C has now climbed up to 2nd in Division Two.
Senior men
The day was memorable for the men’s teams. Tom Aldred led them home to finish in a fantastic 6th position, followed by great runs from Olivier Le Polain (35th), Richard Macaulay (45th), Kimon Doulis (59th), Dan McKeown (68th) and Simon Dunderdale (73rd). Mario Cadete (100th), Daniel Johns (103rd), Dan Madams (106th), Simon Brown (121st), Paul Mercer (126th) and Chris Hartley (137th) ran well to make up the rest of the A team. This result has some interesting repercussions for Heathside’s Fantasy League, as, before Saturday, at least four of the A team members were top scorers for the B team.
All the men’s teams did enough to maintain their positions or improve slightly. The A team remains 4th in Division One and the B team remains 10th or bottom of Division One. The B team included several apparently exciting sprints to the finish, e.g., between Asmelash Abrha and Adam Mitchell (148th and 149), Jacob Philips and Michael Heaney (152nd and 153rd). The C team remains 7th in Division Two. Considering the Vets, the A team remains 3rd in Division One, whereas the B has moved up a position to 6th in the same division. Finally, the Vets C team remains second in Division Two.
And finally…
The report would be incomplete without thanking everyone for the support around the course, which was truly inspirational and provided much-needed boosts on the many hills. Thanks are also due to Jake Spencer and Rebecca Piggott their efforts in organising everyone.
The next and final race in the Met league on the 11th February is in the home ground of Ally Pally, and we look forward to seeing many of you there to help welcome the return of Heathside’s winning streak.
Results
Under 11 Boys & Girls Race
Pos Time Name
40 7:24 Hattie Munday
73 8:40 Rebecca Beliossi
Under 13 Boys Results
Pos Time Name
1 12:01 Ruairi McGonagle
22 13:18 Oliver O'Connor
34 14:02 Jack Davis-Black
35 14:02 Lucas Maher
43 14:51 Freddy Haines
Under 13 Girls Results
Pos Time Name
7 13:38 Rose Garrett
12 14:06 Matilda Heath
13 14:07 Nel Swinhoe
Junior Men Results
Pos Time Name
5 13:50 Jem O'Flaherty
8 14:05 Liam Garrett
31 15:28 Jake Evans
39 15:43 Antanas Weston
58 16:58 Stan Brown
Junior Womens Results
Pos Time Name
17 17:54 Meg Naylor
38 20:40 Phoebe Crockford
Senior women
Pos Time Name
8 23:58 Ella Waldman
17 24:52 Kelly Thorneycroft
18 24:57 Dorcas Wright
19 25:02 Rachel Newstead
25 25:25 Sarah Swinhoe
28 25:45 Ula Cartwright-Finch
40 26:41 Colette Monahan
43 26:54 Rosa Serafini
49 27:12 Leigh James
50 27:13 Emma Ford
54 27:32 Jennifer Wing
62 28:11 Alice Hosking
71 28:29 Hannah Stanforth
81 28:51 Louisa Pointon
83 28:55 Genevieve Weston
84 28:56 Liz Drake
91 29:14 Jackie Wastell
104 30:09 Elspeth Storrar
105 30:17 Chloe Alder
106 30:18 Emilia Vynnycky
111 30:30 Ruth Miller
114 30:32 Jo Irwin
115 30:36 Hannah Jordan
116 30:40 Catherine Doherty
118 30:41 Madeleine Minson
122 31:01 Rachel Seckl
126 31:24 Kim Butler
127 31:28 Edyta Szot
149 33:32 Claire Sliwerski
163 34:50 Marianne Gibson
168 35:16 Laura Boothman
171 36:00 Ann Woulfe
178 36:39 Alison Harrow
Senior men
Pos Time Name
6 26:14 Tom Aldred
38 28:31 Olivier Le Polain
45 28:43 Richard Macaulay
59 29:07 Kimon Doulis
68 29:28 Dan McKeown
73 29:38 Simon Dunderdale
100 30:23 Mario Cadete
103 30:28 Daniel Johns
106 30:38 Dan Madams
121 30:59 Simon Brown
126 31:06 Paul Mercer
137 31:22 Chris Hartley
139 31:23 John Driscoll
144 31:31 Mark Anderson
145 31:31 Jonathan Litchfield
148 31:34 Asmelash Abrha
149 31:35 Adam Mitchell
152 31:39 Jacob Phillips
153 31:39 Michael Heaney
156 31:44 Andy Welshman
163 31:57 Marco Luna
164 31:58 Joe Garrood
168 32:04 Gareth Marshall
173 32:18 Stuart Meiklejohn
174 32:19 Joe McKeown
179 32:30 Jake Spencer
186 32:44 Lee Connor
194 33:00 Francois Barou
195 33:01 Phil Hogg
217 33:37 Alex Sweet
220 33:45 Sam Thompson
227 33:56 Jacob Howe
231 34:03 Dominic Jackson
234 34:07 Tony Killilea
238 34:20 Laurence Arnold
248 34:40 Mark George
259 34:54 James Rigby
260 34:55 Jonathan Hopkin
263 34:56 Tom Haworth
266 34:57 Nick Haward
274 35:11 Marcus Tillotson
290 35:52 Matt Fassnidge
292 35:55 Luka Melon
301 36:09 Joe Newman
302 36:10 Ian Shurmer
303 36:12 James Dark
304 36:13 David Hallam
306 36:23 Thomas Griffiths
339 37:48 Shaan Haque
343 37:58 Rob Shulman
350 38:19 Roger Wagland
358 38:54 Rondo Selwyn
360 38:57 Nick De Sausmarez
365 39:30 Tom Bedwell
377 40:18 Tim Sander
380 40:34 Marco Maserati
390 41:21 Ben Montilla
395 41:44 Russell Weston
399 41:59 Alun Nash
407 42:58 Ken Townson
416 44:38 Dave Walton