There was a superb turnout of 38 Bicester AC athletes for round 4 of the recently held Oxfordshire League cross country event at Cotswold Farm Park. There were 5 individual Bicester top 10 places amongst the various age category races.
Bicester had 9 in the senior men’s category encompassing all of the age categories from under 20 men upwards. It was another very competitive run from Bicester AC’s Owen Stocker who is enjoying a very successful winter season. Stocker was again very competitive at the front end of a 264 strong field. He erased from the memory what was a slightly disappointing effort in round 3 to storm back in to form with his 3rd top 10 finish of the season. Stocker finished 8th, just under a minute and a half off the winning time and was again one of the leading finishers from an Oxfordshire club. The battle for 2nd place in the under 20 men’s race was a close run affair with Stocker finishing 3rd, just 16 seconds behind the runner up. Stocker clocked 30mins 46secs for the approximate 8km course. Next in for Bicester was Finlay Kerr who was 38 positions ahead of his round 1 effort placing 106th in 37mins 51secs. Joseph Whelan had what was probably his best run of the season so far finishing a commendable 147th (40mins 24secs) which was his first top 200 finish and an improvement of 54 places on his last round effort. Shane Brine contested his first ever senior men’s cross country race and in his first race of the season did well to finish 148th clocking an identical time to Whelan (40mins 24secs). Igor Slawik has put in some solid efforts this season and he was the final Bicester runner to make the top 200 placing 180th (42mins 32secs). Robson Matthews was next in for Bicester in 206th place clocking 44mins 47secs and it was Robert Parsons who completed the Bicester team scorers in 217th clocking 46mins 11secs. There was a closely fought contest between Bicester’s other two finishers with Josh Bradley (48mins 38secs), just getting the better of Paul Jones (48mins 43secs) in 231st and 232nd respectively.
What a first cross country season Alexander Collins is having. He has finished in the top 5 in each of his 4 Oxfordshire League races and equalled his best placing of the season finishing a superb 3rd in the 32 strong field and clocking 16mins 57secs for the approximate 4.5km distance. This was just 12 seconds behind the winning time, which compares favourably with Collin’s first round effort where he was over a minute behind the same athlete. Theodore Cogan has shown improved cross country form this winter and he ran well again for 26th (21mins 05secs).
There was a good turnout of Bicester athletes in the under 13 boy’s race contested over 3km. This race represented something of a return to form for Charlie Joiner who ran his best race since the opening round to finish 11th in the 42strong field clocking 12mins 55secs. Charlie Simpson continues to perform to a high level despite being at the junior end of the age group and he was next in for Bicester placing 16th (13mins 10secs. The A team places were completed by Ralf Sprogis who finished in 33rd (143mins 47secs) with the team finishing 7th. Bicester had enough athletes for two teams with Stanley Conlon leading the B team home in 36th (15mins 36secs). Next in was Ivan Stocker who was 39th (16mins 26secs) just ahead of Lucius Mohandes who was 40th (16mins 28secs) with the B team finishing 13th.
Megan Surman finished in the top ten places for the first time this season finishing a superb 8th in the under 15 girl’s race run over 4.5km. Surman clocked 20mins 40secs in the 30 strong field. Emelie Stocker finished 27th in 26mins 43secs with the Bicester team completed by Madison Joiner who was 30th (30mins 4secs) with the team finishing 5th.
There were some strong performances by Bicester AC in the under 11 boy’s race run over 1.5km. There was a strong run from Theodore Simms who led the team home in 15th in the 54 strong field clocking 7mins 1secs. Zach Ryan also made the top half of finishers in 22nd with a 7mins 7secs clocking. Isaac Wilkinson completed the team finishers in 31st clocking 7mins 15secs with the team finishing in 7th. Bicester’s other finisher was Archie Joiner who was 47th in 8mins 11secs.
George Hart has competed consistently throughout the winter and he produced a solid effort for 10th place in the under 17 men’s race. Hart clocked 23mins 42secs for the 6km distance. Erlgean Appiahkorang-Mensah, who was competing in his 2nd Oxfordshire League race of the winter, was not far behind placing 19th in 24mins 30secs with the team finishing 5th.
Bicester had 5 in the under 11 girl’s race run over 1.5km. Ivy Balch had been Bicester’s leading athlete in the previous three rounds but it was Dotty Conlon who prevailed on this occasion. Conlon placed 26th clocking 7mins 53secs for the 1.5km circuit. Ivy Balch was close behind in 27th just 2secs adrift (7mins 55secs). The team scorers were completed by Eva Brunt who was 34th in 8mins 15secs with the team finishing 9th. Other Bicester finishers were Lorelei Whelan who was 40th (8mins 32secs) and Ruby Maxwell in 42nd (8mins 49secs).
Bicester had 2 runners in the under 13 girl’s race. Hannah Parsons finished 19th clocking 15mins 18secs for the 3km circuit. Bicester’s other finisher was Olivia Maxwell who was 31st in 18mins 06secs. There were also 2 Bicester runners in the senior lady’s race with Leanne Stocker finishing 95th clocking 49mins for the 8km circuit. She was followed home by Emily Benfield who was 124th in 51mins 51secs. Bicester had a single competitor in each of the other three races. Ella Myers-Finnegan finished 10th in the under 17 women’s race clocking 31mins 44secs for the 6km course. Eisa Tyrell finished in 19th place (6mins 25secs) in the under 9 boy’s race run over a 1.2km distance. And running over the same distance Sienna Scott-Haynes was 19th in the under 9 girl’s race clocking 7mins 5secs.