Photo – The TAC men’s team at the Kent Cross Country League
Charlotte Alexander and Jack Higgins, from Tonbridge Athletic Club, were the individual winners of the women’s and men’s races in round two of the Kent Cross Country League, on Saturday. Guy Bowers was a third winner from Tonbridge, sprinting to victory in the under 16 boys’ race.
Tonbridge Athletic Club hosted the league match at The Schools at Somerhill, in glorious, sunny conditions, with the senior races being held over 8 kilometres. The women’s race developed into a battle at the front between Charlotte Alexander, of Tonbridge and Millie Smith, of Blackheath and Bromley, who had won the first race in the series. Alexander was the one who pushed the pace at the front throughout, whilst Smith remained relatively close. There was just nine seconds between them at the finish, as Alexander won in 29.30. Their battle took them two minutes clear of the next runner home. Tonbridge won the three to score contest by a single point from Medway and Maidstone, through Holly Hayward having the run of her life in 4th and Nichola Evans in 9th. They were backed up by Helen Gaunt, Noémie Thomson and Lizzie Owen in 11th, 12th and 14th , as 141 finished.
The men’s race became a three-way battle between Jack Higgins and Jamie Macdonald, from Tonbridge, plus Alex Richards from Bexley, who broke away, as a trio, from the field of 277 finishers early on. They were together for half the race, before the Tonbridge duo built a small gap. Higgins gained a few seconds, but Macdonald pushed hard to stay in contention and up the final hill with 400 metres to go looked like he might rein in his teammate. However, Higgins finished strongly to win by just five seconds in 24.59. Tonbridge again were decisive winners in both the four and twelve to score competitions. Lewis Mills (4th) and Jordan Chambers (8th) scored, with Calum Laing also making the top ten in 9th.
Tonbridge won three of the young athlete team contests, with the under 16 boys and under 18 men managing to reverse their defeats from last time out with Blackheath. Guy Bowers won the under 16 race, which was probably the closest contest of the day, with just seven seconds covering the first five runners home. Sam Shearer (4th) and Jack Levett (6th) were the other two scorers.
Tonbridge had 20 of the 59 finishers in the under 18 men’s race, led home by George Jacobs (2nd), Ethan Brooks (4th) and Charlie Warren (6th). Isabel Gowing had one of her best races when she finished 2nd in the equivalent women’s age group race.
The Tonbridge under 14 boys squad won for the second week in a row, from the 12 clubs competing. They had 5 runners in the top 12 of 82 finishers, with James Tyrrell 4th, Matthew Ayres 7th, Eddie Gregory 10th, Ethan McGrath 11th and James Carter 12th.
The under 16 girls were second as a team to Cambridge Harriers and the under 14 girls were runners-up to Blackheath and Bromley. In the older age group, Aimee Watts (4th), Eva Pluckrose (7th) and Jess Hill (8th) all had very good races, whilst in the under 14s the scorers were Lydia McClements (4th), Maia Soomal (11th) and Poppy Vincent (23rd). Freddie Chapman (3rd) was first home for the under 12 boys, who were another team to finish 2nd, whilst Millie Woolacott made her club debut to finish 11th in the girls’ race, in the same age group.
Away from the cross-country scene, several Tonbridge AC members competed in the Amsterdam Marathon on Sunday. Mason Willis set a new personal best of 2.28.25, as did Jess Lovell with 3.01.19 and Sarah Cronin with 3.04.56.League, at Footscray