Glorious sunshine, but muddy underfoot conditions, greeted nearly six thousand competitors to Parliament Hill Fields, in North London, as the English National Cross Country Championships returned, after an absence of two years.
Tonbridge Athletic Club’s runners and supporters were out in force, with 127 competitors starting across the ten age group races, including the men’s event, where they were the defending champions. On this occasion, the men’s trophy eluded them, although Tonbridge still finished a superb 5th of the 120 teams. Max Nicholls (28th), Jamie Goodge (51st), Steve Strange (69th), Michael Ellis (76th), Jamie Bryant (98th) and Ben Cole (143rd) were the scorers, as more than 2000 finished.
The women’s team went one place better, equalling their highest ever placing at the championships, with 4th from 104 teams. Lucy Reid (19th), Lauren Major (39th), Verity Hopkins (45th) and Lucy Thompson (73rd) were the four scorers and having excellent runs, as more than 1000 finished.
The young athletes produced some excellent performances and were rewarded with four team medals, with only Aldershot equalling that number on the day, from all the clubs across the country. There was some top-quality racing, with typically more than 400 starters in some of the events. Silver medals came from both the under 20 women and under 15 boys. In the former, Charlotte Alexander finished 5th, Imogen Amos 42nd and Sophie Preston 50th, in the only event with just three team scorers. Oliver Head was first home for the under 15 boys in 19th, with Harrison Fraser just three seconds back in 20th and Daniel Jeddo (78th) plus Connor Prendergast (108th) the two other scorers.
Tonbridge sneaked onto the medal podium for the under 17 men’s championship, winning the bronze medals, but being just one point ahead of 4th placed Wirral AC. Ed Coutts had his best performance for a while in 35th, with Jamie MacDonald (37th), Adam Jeddo (53rd) and Josh Prendergast (67th) being the scoring team. However, Tonbridge had other runners ahead of the fourth scorer for Wirral, meaning that they also made a crucial contribution the team result.
The under 20 men also claimed the bronze medal position, with Matthew Taylor in 8th having another inspired race, in his first year in the age group. James Kingston was 15th, Matthew Dubery 42nd and Ben Pearce 80th, to complete the team.
In the remaining championships, the Tonbridge under 13 girls finished 12th, under 13 boys 9th, under 15 girls 28th and under 17 women 11th.
Church wins UK Indoor Heptathlon title
Lewis Church, from Tonbridge Athletic Club, won the men’s Heptathlon, at the UK Indoor Championships, at the weekend, adding to the Southern and English titles that he had captured earlier this Winter. Once again, his training partner and fellow club member, Harry Kendall, took the silver medal position, despite adding 21 points to his personal best score. Also at the championships, James West finished 3rd in the 3000 metres final, in 7.53.95 and was just 0.03 seconds away from second place, whilst Simon Coppard made his first ever national senior final and finished 8th over 1500 metres.
Church and Kendall had a two-day battle with each other and a few of the competitors, as positions swapped around after each event. On Saturday, in the first event, Kendall ran 60 metres in 7.18 and was fastest of all the competitors so led the competition, whilst Church recorded 7.45 for 7th. Then moving to the Long Jump, Church recorded 6.79m to stay in 5th, whilst Kendall was a fair bit below his best with 6.69m and so slipped to 5th overall. Kendall’s 13.83m Shot Put brought him back up to 2nd overall, with Church’s 13.54m moving him to 5th. Then, in the final event of the first day, Church cleared 1.99m in the High Jump and Kendall 1.93m, which meant they were in 2nd and 1st overall, going into Sunday’s final three events.
On day two, both performed at their very best, recording personal bests in both the 60m hurdles and Pole Vault. Church had marks of 8.35 and 4.55m and Kendall 8.47 and 4.45m. This gave Church the overall lead of 27 points, but with Kendall level alongside Howard Bell of Woodford Green on 4631 points, going into the final event, the 1000 metres. This turned into a terrific battle with Church finishing 2nd in the race, a fraction outside his pb with 2.43.95 and Kendall beating Bell by less than a second with 2.45.83. The final points totals were that Church won with 5488, just three from his pb, Kendall 2nd with 5441 and Bell 3rd with 5434.