Herne Hill Harriers round-up: Youngsters are standout performers
BY GEOFF JERWOOD
Herne Hill Harriers’ young athletes were the club’s standout performers as their senior counterparts endured a tough start to the Surrey Cross Country League season.
There were team wins for the U13 boys and U15 girls in Richmond Park, a second team placing for the combined U15 and U17 boys and third place for the U13 girls.
Caspian Holmes led the U13 boys in second place, backed up by Dylan Gillies (fourth), Lucas Heath (eighth) and Jack McLennan (17th), while the winning U15 girls team comprised Eva O’Hanlon (second), Vivi Marshall (fourth), Orla Carroll (fifth) and India Blakey (sixth).
The second-placed boys team in the combined U15/U17 contest relied on tight packing of their finishers in the field – the quartet were Robin Bebbington (12th), Oak Buchan (15th), Freddie Hake (18th) and David Aisa Miller (39th).
The U13 girls team scorers were Orla Wright (fifth), Sophie Jack (10th), Emilie Cherel (24th) and Summer Mackay (31st) as they achieve third.
The day in the park began with a wet senior women’s race which featured 23 Harriers, including a number who had not previously raced at this level in a fiercely contested league. The women placed fourth A team and second B team for a very encouraging start to their campaign, albeit missing some of their fastest members on the day.
Charlotte Davies (16th), Grace Leyland (29th), Aimee Hargreaves (41st), Julia Wedmore (42nd) and Karen Ellison (46th) were the A team scorers.
Annabel Hobday (47th), Sarah Grover (59th), Megan Gildea (62nd), Suzanne Swaine (70th) and Charlotte Kenyon (72nd) formed the B team.
The men’s A team placed seventh and the B team eighth of the nine clubs in a very strong Division 1.
They were led by Lewis Laylee (21st), then the rest of the A team scorers were Brandon Dewar (36th), Jack Dickenson (49th), Jack Hillier (53rd), Richard Henderson (55th), M45 Ben Paviour (60th), Jeff Cunningham (63rd), another M45 Simon Coombes (70th), Andrew Warburton (76th) and Joe Elliott (85th).
The men will look to regroup for the next league fixture on Wimbledon Common on November 13, but before then will contest the South of England cross country relays tomorrow.