Hercules Wimbledon gain successful results at UK Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships

A host of Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club athletes represented Surrey at the UK Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships at Prestwood Hall near Loughborough on Saturday, writes George Mallett.

There was success right across the age groups with Isabella Harrison setting the tone in the U13 girls race thanks to an impressive 19th-placed finish.

Harrison has enjoyed a highly successful cross-country season, opening up with a third place at the Surrey County Championships and improving ever since. A win in the London Schools Championships at the start of February was followed by an outstanding sixth place at the English National just two weeks ago.

Harrison’s performance helped Surrey to a silver in the team competition as Kitty Scott of Aldershot, Farnham & District AC won individual bronze leading the Surrey team. All four scorers finished inside the top 35 with Surrey having three additional runners in the top 100.

Also in the U13’s, the youngest age group in the competition, was Hercules’ Thomas Whorton. Like Harrison, Whorton has enjoyed a prolific 2023, having won silver at the County Championships in January and backed it up with an 18th-placed finish at the English National as part of Hercules’ quartet that won team silver.

Whorton finished 46th on Saturday, completing the Surrey scorers and helping the county to team bronze.

In the other junior age groups Theo Webb continued his return from a stress fracture in the U17 boys.

He was part of a Surrey side that finished eighth but had eight in the top 100, the Hercules athlete finishing 98th.

The club’s senior men had three representatives in the nine-strong Surrey team, more than any other club. Having won the team competition in 2022, Surrey finished a competitive though perhaps somewhat disappointing fifth this year. Fred Slemeck, who won county bronze earlier this year, led home the Hercules contingent in 41st, his best finish in three appearances at the competition.

Slemeck, Hercules’ cross-country captain, has now represented three different counties throughout his time in running, from Hampshire as a young boy, Oxfordshire some time later to now Surrey on three separate occasions.

Behind him, 11 years on from his previous county selection, then for Shropshire, George Mallett closed out the Surrey scorers in 83rd. Having faced a highly-testing week at work, his brother Ed finished 149th, 10 years on from last representing a county, then as a Shropshire County champion from 2011 to 2013.

The Inter-Counties marks the end of a long cross-country season for Hercules athletes that began back in October and has since yielded impressive results.

A silver medal in the U13 boys team competition at the English National accompanies a stellar season for the seniors.

Hercules’ depth there has secured London Championships and county golds, a successful defence of the Surrey Cross-Country League Division One title and a first team medal in 49 years at the Southern Cross-Country Champs.

Athletes will now look to the upcoming 12 Stage Road relays in April, where Hercules will attempt to win a first senior medal in recent history.

Main Pic: Fred Slemeck