WADAC juniors continue excellent Hampshire League XC season at Aldershot

58 Winchester athletes turned out for the club’s junior ranks on a surprisingly bright, cold day at Wellesley Woodlands. Despite the absence through illness of a handful of others, there were still two team wins, four second places and a third place from the eight race categories, and three individual victories as well as several other placed runners.
nIn the Under-11 races, the girls were first up, and despite three runners in the top ten, WADAC were edged into second team place. Zoe Jack (7th) impressed on debut, with Amber Price (8th) and Camilla Hart (9th). Just behind in 11th and making a fabulous start to WADAC racing was Martha Hart, one of our youngest competitors, while Cecily Nolan and Pippa Russell both continued their good seasons with places in the top twenty.
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nFor the first time since October 2018, WADAC’s boys had to settle for second team place, this despite Luke Furby recording his second individual win this season, with a beautifully timed run. He was backed up by Eddie Clegg (6th) and Felix Sclater (7th), but this wasn’t enough to beat a strong COPAC team, who thus ended Winchester’s three-year winning streak. Ben Phillips, Edward Duxbury, Evan Perry, Jack Sansome and Tom Price all finished in a black and gold bunch between places 12 and 17, with eight further team-mates just behind (full results listings available in the link below).
nThe Under-13 girls’ race saw the WADAC team finish second as well. The early loss of Poppy Taylor was a blow to the team, but Kate Atkinson stepped up magnificently to fill the void, finishing 3rd, with Grace Baker (10th) and Alexandra Dickinson (22nd) completing the scoring team, followed closely by Ellie Jepson and Elodie Gill. As a result, WADAC lead the seasonal table after two fixtures.
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nIn the U13 boys’ race, Ethan Skipwith and Casper Wilson carried on where they’d left off at Bournemouth, leading the field, and once again taking 1st and 2nd places. Seth Noott (7th) did enough to secure the team win, but with Southampton runners in positions 3 thru’ 5, it’s getting a bit close. Ollie Corrie (11th), the fast-improving Oliver Foden (12th), debutant Iosu Harfield (13th), Daniel Cooper (15th), Tom Savill (18th) and Toby Pope (29th) again demonstrated the club’s strength in depth in this age-group, which will be important at the upcoming Hampshire Championships, where there are four runners to score, not three.
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nWinchester’s U15 girls were without Darcy Hawkins, who ran so well at Bournemouth, but good runs from first-timer Eva Johnson (17th), Cecily Wilson (20th) and Amelie Gill (29th) resulted in 5th place for the team on the day. It was good to see six black and gold vests in this race, with Scarlett Anderson, Rebecca Hutchings and Isla McAulay completing the line-up in an age-group that historically has had fewer WADAC competitors.
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nIn the U15 boys’ event, Winchester went one better than they had at Bournemouth and recorded their first team win of the season. Again Will Atkins was to the fore, with a superb 2nd place, with James Lewis (4th) missing the podium by millimetres, and Ruben Price (6th) with arguably the run of the day from the lower half of the age-group, completing the scorers. WADAC competitor numbers were again very strong, with Ieuan Thomas (20th), Aiden Furby (22nd), Billy Jones (33rd), Will Dickinson (39th) and Matthew Friend (41st).
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nOn a day of many second-placed Winchester teams, the closest call came in the U17 Women’s race. Rose Chesterfield and Amelia Moore led the field from the off, with Rose pulling clear to record a very welcome individual win, and Amelia just edged out on the line, finishing 3rd. Ellie McErlean (17th), claimed the final scoring place, but with 21 points being equalled by COPAC, it was they who took the victory on the tie-breaker.
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nThe Winchester U17 Men found themselves in a very competitive field on the day, with Poole AC putting out one of the strongest trios in memory and taking the first three places. Harry Wilson (4th) hung onto them gamely for much of the race, while Ben Chesterfield (10th) and Harry Harvey (14th) made up the scoring team for a third-placed finish. Just outside the top twenty were Ben Schofield, and a very welcome return to racing for Michael Shingleton-Smith.
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nSo congratulations to all who ran, a few frustrating second places but some good wins as well, and with two fixtures gone, WADAC teams are either top or joint-top of all bar one of the race category seasonal tables. So plenty to race for at the remaining three fixtures, Jan 15th, Feb 19th, Mar 19th.
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nAttention turns in the meanwhile to the Annual Hampshire County Championships on January 8th, when WADAC will be defending many of the team titles.
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nLink to Aldershot U11s results on the Hampshire Athletics website : Hampshire Athletics - Hampshire Cross-Country League - 4 December 2021 - Under 11
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nLink to Aldershot U13-U15-U17 girls’ results on the Hampshire Athletics website : Hampshire Athletics - Hampshire Cross-Country League - 4 December 2021 - Girls
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nLink to Aldershot U13-U15-U17 boys’ results on the Hampshire Athletics website : Hampshire Athletics - Hampshire Cross-Country League - 4 December 2021 - Boys