Winchester juniors clinch seasonal team medals at final Hampshire XC League meeting of the campaign

Bournemouth’s King’s Park was the venue for the fifth and final event in this season’s Hampshire Cross Country League, unusually so, having also been the location earlier in the campaign for the second event. Conditions were benign, with clear skies and only a little wind, although temperatures were definitely nearer cold than warm. The course was flat and firm, with many athletes opting for road shoes instead of spikes.
nWADAC’s juniors came into the fixture knowing that, in many categories, a full team and good results would be needed in order to consolidate or improve upon their current positions in the seasonal medal tables.
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nBefore that however, it was the turn of the U11s to race a 2k course. Winchester’s teams were a little lighter in number than usual, with nine boys and three girls taking part. In the boys’ race, Leo Pratt-Davies (7th) and Ollie Furby (8th) led the way, with support further down the field from Seth Howard, Joe Jepson, Jack Sansome, Alexander Dibben, Thomas McLeish, Owen Wilson and Fedi Cunningham, the latter adopting the ‘one shoe strategy’ which has become inexplicably popular with a few WADAC athletes during this campaign.
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nIn the U11 girls’ race, Isabelle Hoskins (7th) was again first home for Winchester, followed by Felicity Knibb (12th) and Holly Martin (16th).
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nNext up were the U13 girls, with Ellie Jepson (18th) leading the way once more, supported as usual by Amber Price and Evie Smith, with Amy Drabble, this time getting the better of the Bournemouth course, completing the team.
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nWinchester’s U13 boys had worked themselves into second place in the league table prior to the final race, this despite most of the team missing the first two fixtures. Here again they managed second place on the day, and cemented their seasonal silver medals as a result. Oliver Foden (8th) ran strongly throughout, while Tom Savill’s now customary late burst saw him up to 9th, with the scoring team being completed by the ultra-reliable Sam Parker (15th). Sam consequently finished 9th in the individual league table for the season, a great result in his first campaign.
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nIn the previous fixture, WADAC’s U15 girls had fallen short of a full team, a missed opportunity in an extremely tightly contested category this season. This time round they were still short of a number of athletes, but did field a team and played their part in the first of the day’s spectacularly squeaky finales. Rosie Sharrock (6th), Grace Baker (14th) and Isla McAulay (18th) made up the scorers, closely followed by Scarlett Anderson. One point separated the top three teams on the day, with WADAC third of those three, on the same points as their main rivals, Aldershot, in second. This meant, alas, that Aldershot pipped us to the season’s title, also by one point. This may not be the most popular piece of reporting, but any one athlete placed one position higher on Saturday would have meant Winchester golds for the season instead of silvers, (maybe think of it as an opportunity for next year, girls ?) There were excellent top-ten seasonal table finishes for Grace Baker (6th) and Rosie Sharrock (7th).
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nNot to be outdone, the U15 boys achieved the seemingly impossible and produced an even tighter end of season outcome. WADAC went into the race knowing that they could afford to finish behind main rivals Southampton, but only by one place on the day. Running at the front from the gun, Ruben Price (2nd) completed a very good campaign for him, also earning the season’s individual silver medal in the process. The scoring team was completed by Thomas Jacobs (10th) and Seb Murray (14th), for a total of 26 points. Southampton’s team score was 24, but a strong Reading team threatened to derail the necessary one-place gap, with finishers in 3rd and 5th positions. This however, and not for the first time in recent WADAC history in this age-group, is where the benefits of a strong squad kicked in. WADAC’s next three runners were Sam Wilkinson (15th), Aiden Furby (16th) and Seth Noott (17th), just in front of, you’ve guessed it, Reading’s third athlete, who, with 18th place, tied WADAC’s point-score of 26, but fell into third place on the tie-breaker of lower third scorer. Phew – seasonal gold medals secured, but only just. Winchester still had two further runners, Casper Wilson and Adam Perry, in the top 25, once again showing the huge strength in depth in this age-group. Also in the top ten seasonal table with Ruben, were Seb (9th) and Aiden (10th).
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nThere was nothing to play for in a team sense, in the U17 women’s race, with all clubs having already missed too many fixtures. But for Eve Bailey, the recent winner of the bronze medal at the Welsh National Championships, there was the final instalment of a hugely impressive individual first season with WADAC. Eve duly added 2nd place on the day to her 100% record of podium finishes, from lower year, and thus secured the season’s aggregate silver medal. Another WADAC runner in her first season, Jasmine Gosse, again picked her way through the field, for 5th place, and will be looking forward to a first full season next year.
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nWinchester’s U17 men needed to field a full team in order to secure their aggregate silvers, the golds having been won already by Aldershot. With several athletes again missing in this category, the three scorers was achieved, and the medals duly nailed, but with no margin for error. Eddie Chambers (6th) was first home, but as a non-scorer, completing a great campaign in which he also finished 6th individual overall. James Lewis (9th), on his long-awaited comeback appearance, surprised everyone including himself with the strength and quality of his run, Ieuan Thomas (16th) made late progress to move up the field and Thomas Evans (17th) completed the team. Will Atkins, already the winner of the individual season’s gold, had sensibly elected to have a day off racing in what is a very heavy schedule.
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nSo, another successful campaign comes to a close, with team and individual medals won in most categories. The now traditional high WADAC turnout would still be the envy of many, though a little less impressive than in recent years. A final word, therefore, for the three WADAC runners who raced in all five fixtures – Well Done Evie Smith, Sam Parker and Aiden Furby.
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n Thanks to all the coaches, team managers, officials and helpers, and parents, who make participation in these great events possible for the juniors.