A total of 19 Bicester AC athletes made the journey to Milton Keynes for the 2nd round of the Chiltern League Cross Country League held at a chilly Teardrop Lakes. One of the performances of the day was provided by St Albans Strider’s Olympian Phoebe Gill who produced an emphatic victory in the under 17 lady’s race proving again that she is a very effective cross country runner.
There was a high class turnout in the senior men’s race. There are some very strong clubs that contest the Chiltern League including Beford Harries AC, Aylesbury AC and Marshall Milton Keynes AC. Each of the five clubs from Oxfordshire that compete in this league are in division 2. There was a significantly larger field than race 1 with 408 athletes completing the approximate 9km distance. Bicester’s seniors were gain spearheaded by their under 20 athletes. Owen Stocker is having to compete over greater distances this year having moved up an age group. Showing lots of confidence with a brisk start he started off with the leading group and was still in the top 20 with a lap remaining. He lost a few more places on the final lap but still finished a superb 25th in the mob race, matching his effort in race 1 in what was a large field. Stocker finished 5th out of the 132 athletes who contested the division 2 race and was 3rd division 2 under 20 men’s finisher. Joshua Moran is developing into an accomplished cross country runner and like Stocker started off well holding a top 30 placing in the early stages. He kept his form well and ran superbly to finish 61st in 34mins 38secs. He was 13th finisher in the division 2 race and 4th under male finisher. Richard Gould made a rare but welcome appearance in a Bicester vest with his host club not competing. Gould ran a well judged race maintaining a good pace throughout and finished a commendable 124th in the mob race and 26th in the division 2 race. Gould was also 3rd division 2 veteran over 50 finisher. Isaac Moran made his first appearance of the cross country season. Although his progress has been hampered somewhat by injury Moran was the third leg of an impressive under 20 men’s performance. Moran’s 156th place in the mob race and 36th in division 2 helped the under 20 men’s to an emphatic win in the under 20 men’s team race and leaves them in a strong position after two events. Paul Jones completed the men’s team finishers placing 321st in the mob race (45mins 30secs) with the senior men’s team finishing an impressive 6th out of the 22 competing teams and are 7th in the standings after two races. Bicester AC are also the 2nd best placed Oxfordshire team after two events.
Hannah Parsons contested her first ever Chiltern League race and produced a polished performance to finish 16th (8mins 29secs) in a well contested under 11 girl’s race with 52 athletes completing the 2km course. Although this race is not divided into division Parsons was 3rd placed out of the division 2 club runners. Lorelei Whelan gain gained good experience in 47th (10mins 18secs) with clubmate Isabelle Bryan one place behind in 48th (10mins 19secs).
Bicester had a strong team contesting the under 15 girl’s race. Kate O’ Malley has started the season strongly and she led the Bicester team home in a solid 27th clocking 19mins 33secs for the 4km course. She also finished 8th out of the 25 competing athletes in division 2. Ella Myers-Finnegan was not too far behind in 38th (20mins 24secs) and the teams scorers were completed by Emelie Stocker in 65th (25mins 19secs) which was good enough to see the team place 4th in the division 2 race.
The under 15 boys did not fare quite as well. Erlgean Appiahkorang-Mensah ran his first cross country race of the season and started well. He slipped a few places as the race progressed but finished well to take 37th clocking 17mins 2secs for the 4km distance. There was an improved effort from Max Finnegan who was 56th in 17mins 57secs and the teams scorers were completed by Theo Cogan who was 79th (20mins 54secs) with the team finishing 7th.
Megan Surman achieved her first ever Chiltern League top 30 mob placing in the mob race with a fine 27th placing in a competitive under 13 girl’s race run over a 3km circuit. Surman clocked 13mins 57secs which was also good enough for 10th place in division 2 out of the 28 finishers. Bicester also had two runners in the under 13 boy’s race with Ivan Stocker leading the two Bicester runners home in 82nd (16mins 46secs) ahead of Bicester debutant Emeras Mohandes who was not far of his clubmate in 85th (18mins 07secs). Emeras’s brother Lucius was also making his debut in the under 11 event and he performed creditably to place 46th clocking 9mins 07secs for the 2km distance. Emily Benfield was Bicester’s sole competitor in the senior lady’s race contested over 6km. Benfield finished 216th clocking 35mins 41secs for the 6km distance.