The 3rd round of the Oxfordshire League Cross Country League took place recently at a very wet and muddy Horspath. This race also doubles up as the Oxfordshire Cross Country Championships and some of the races appeared more competitive than normal. Conditions were towards the end of very extreme and more in keeping with a tough mudder event. The 37 strong Bicester AC contingent experienced a mixture of high and lows over the 11 events they contested.
Leo Blyton produced his best cross country performance of the season winning his first county title in the under 15 boy’s event. Blyton was a clear winner at the line clocking 16mins 43secs for the 5km course. It was an outstanding run from Blyton who is at the junior end of the under 15 age group. It also puts him back in contention in the under 15 boy league standings with two events remaining. Max Finnegan was next in for Bicester in 15th and Theo Cogan showed improvement over his opening round effort to finish 22nd (22mins 19secs) with the team finishing 3rd in the league race.
Megan Surman has made great strides over the country this season and she achieved her highest ever Oxfordshire Cross Country League placing of 5th in the under 13 girl’s race contested over 3km with a 14mins 25secs clocking. Surman also earned her first ever county medal with 3rd place in the Oxfordshire County Championship race. Nancy Alcraft was Bicester’s other finisher in 24th (18mins 48secs).
Bicester AC managed to field a complete team in the senior men’s race (8km) contested by 305 athletes. The team enjoyed mixed fortunes with Edward Jolliffe making a welcome return to Bicester colours to produce his strongest ever Oxfordshire League performance. Consolidating on his strong recent half marathon effort, Jolliffe finished a superb 13th in the league race (30mins 05secs). Jolliffe also finished 8th in the senior men’s Oxfordshire County Championships. The senior men’s race also incorporates other categories, including a strong under 20 men’s event. Joshua Moran has been a model of consistency this cross country season and he produced another solid effort to lead the Bicester under 20 men’s team home in 49th (32mins 40secs). Next in was Noah Gulvin, who has put together a solid run of efforts this season, in 79th (34mins 32secs). Finley Kerr was Bicester’s 3rd under 20 finisher and did well to place 127th (36mins 20secs) in what was only his 2nd ever race. The team finishers were completed by Owen Stocker, who had won the previous two under 20 league races, but was down the field on this occasion in 298th (55mins 33secs) having raced the previous day. However he remains in a strong position for top spot in the under 20 men’s standings with two races remaining. The team of Moran, Gulvin, Kerr and Stocker won the silver medal in the Oxfordshire County team event. Bicester’s other two finishers in the senior men’s event were Paul Jones who was 250th (45mins 00secs) and Joshua Bradley 299th (55mins 35secs) with the team finishing a very creditable 20th in the league event.
Bicester had a good contingent in the under 15 girl’s race contested over 4.5km. Ella Myers-Finnegan turned over previous form with teammate Kate O’ Malley to lead the team home in 18th (24mins 45secs). O Malley was not far adrift in 19th (25mins 22secs). The team scorers were completed by Madison Joiner who finished 25th (30mins 50secs) with the team of Myers-Finnegan, O’Malley and Joiner winning the team silver medal in the Oxfordshire county event. Bicester’s other finishers were Erin Griffiths in 26th (31mins 40secs), Emelie Stocker 28th (31mins 49secs) and Grace Fulcher 29th (32mins 29secs).
The under 11 girl’s race attracted a monster field of 62 athletes. Hannah Parsons ran well to finish in 15th clocking 7mins 18secs over the 1.5km course and was also 9th in the county event. Olivia Maxwell was next in for Bicester in 40th (8mins 4secs) with Lorelei Whelan completing the team scorers in 53rd (8mins 44secs).
Harry Cruikshank led the under 13 boy’s team home in 15th place clocking 12mins 59secs for the 3km course. He finished just 2 seconds in front of Charlie Joiner, who improved significantly on his earlier Oxfordshire League round effort to place 17th (13mins 01secs). Ivan Stocker completed the team scorers in 37th (16mins 31secs). Bicester AC’s other finisher was Emeras Mohandes in 40th (21mins 11secs).
Bicester had two just competitors in the senior lady’s event but both placed highly in the 184 strong field. Amy Gould was first home in 27th place clocking 39mins 47secs over the 8km course. Anna Jolliffe, back during a break from university, finished in 41st (40mins 48secs) and was 3rd under 20 finisher in the county event.
Barnaby Wilson finished in the top half of finishers in a competitive 59 strong field in the under 13 boy’s event run over a 1.5km course. Wilson placed 27th clocking 6mins 33secs. Next in for Bicester was Theodore Simms in 36th (6mins 53secs) and the team scorers were completed by Samuel Wilson in 46th (7mins 34secs). Bicester’s other finisher was Lucius Mohandes in 52nd place (8mins 03secs).
Bicester had two competitors in the under 9 girl’s race (1.2km). Ivy Balch ran a solid race in 9th (7mins 41secs) with Bicester’s other finisher Ruby Maxwell in 14th (8mins 28secs). There were also two Bicester runners in the under 9 boy’s race run over the same distance with Archie Joiner leading the team home in 23rd (7mins 36secs) with Bicester’s other finisher Alex Kelly in 27th (7mins 45secs).
Bicester had two athletes in the under 17 men’s race. George Hart finished 22nd clocking 26mins 00secs for the 6km course. Shane Brine was Bicester’s other finisher in 26th (27mins 56secs).