Cole imperious at Kent League

Photo – Ben Cole leading the men’s race at the Kent Cross Country League

TRound two of the Kent Cross Country League was hosted by Tonbridge Athletic Club, on Saturday, at The Schools at Somerhill.

The Tonbridge men’s team once again dominated the eight kilometres race, putting seven in the top ten, from 245 finishers. This included Ben Cole, who pulled away before halfway to secure the individual win in 26.07. It was Cole’s first league win for five years.

Ben Murphy followed him home in 26.39, with Jack Higgins and Ted Higgins filling the next two places. James Crombie judged his effort well to move through to 6^th, with Cameron Chambers 8^th and Jordan Chambers 10^th. Lizzie Owen led the women’s team home in 12^th place, as they finished 4^th of the 15 teams.

There were three other individual victories for Tonbridge runners, with Jospeh Hunt being first in the under 20 age group, Ewan Prendergast was the top under 17 and Aoife Foley winning the under 15 girls’ race. Hunt and Prendergast both led their teams to wins. Tom Claridge and Harrison Fraser placed 3^rd and 4^th in the under 20 men’s category, whilst Peter Fitzmaurice and William Bachelor were 4^th and 5^th of the under 17s to finish. Foley’s fellow scorers were Isabel Gowing (4^th) and Jemima Wellesley (12^th), as the team placed second.

Another Tonbridge team win came from the under 15 boys, with Charlie Warren being the first scorer and returning to his very best form in 2^nd, backed up by Ethan Brooks (5^th) and Theo Ackerman (7^th). Both Tonbridge under 13 teams finished second. Aimee Watts (2^nd), Arianne Launders 4^th) and Rika Paterson (21^st) scored for the girls and Daniel McPherson (4^th), Sam Shearer (9^th) and Mika Pitt (10^th) scored for the boys.

The under 17 women placed third as a team, led home by Olivia Owen (3^rd), supported by Emily Boyd (8^th) and Millie Watts (12^th). Polly Moses finished 9^th in the under 20 women’s category.

Above – the other Kent League winners, Joseph Hunt, Ewan Prendergast and Aoife Foley

Kingston on form for England

James Kingston pulled on an England vest for an international representation race in Roeselare, Belgium, on Sunday. The men’s race was over seven kilometres and like many European Cross Country events, was run over five short laps.

Kingston was always with the lead group, which came down to four competitors over the final 400 metres, where he battled to finish third, just four seconds behind the winner. He will now join his Tonbridge teammates when competing in the National Cross Country Relay Championships, at Mansfield, this coming weekend.