Oxford mail report

Banbury Harriers completed a successful Oxon Mail Cross Country campaign on Sunday 1^st February with individual series medals going to the following runners. Reuben Snelson 2^nd under-9 boys, Skip Snelson 2^nd under-13 boys, Emily Thompson 1^st under-13 girls, Ros Kelling 1^st V45 Women and Michelle Bartlett 2^nd V45 Women.

On a clear morning conditions would have been perfect if it had not been for a stiff breeze that swept across the open ground course at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. In the under-9’s race Reuben Snelson got the day off to a great start finishing 2^nd followed by good runs from Tilly Lainchbury in 31^st and Talitha Eskender in 47^th. In the under-11 girls Sophie Howie was first home for Harriers in 24^th place followed by Nikola Bishop in 28^th and Jessica Knox 38^th. In the under-11 boys  there were extremely good runs from Max Lloyd-Thomas, Christopher Charles and Jasper Bell to finish 5^th, 6^th and 8^th respectively and  also encouragement from bottom year runner Ryan Barnby in 25^th as the boys team secured 3^rd place overall.

In the under-13 girls Lizzie Eskender and Laura Berrie flew the Banbury flag finishing 26^th and 42^nd. While in the boys race there was a lot at stake as Skip Snelson, in the bottom year of the age group, battled well to secure 4^th place on the day and a tremendous 2^nd place overall in the series. Moving on to the under-15 & 17 girls saw the climax of Emily Thompson ‘s battle with Newbury’s Izzy Fry and despite taking a fall during the race Emily was able to recover to 4^th place on the day and to share first place with Fry across the series. This was a particularly strong race for Harriers as excellent finishes were also recorded by Rosie Watson (5^th), Jenny Hannah (6^th), Rose Lord (8^th), Tia Williams (9^th) and Lucy Scruton (19^th). The club has real strength in depth across this age group with Jenny Hannah just missing out on a series medal finishing 4^th overall under-15 and Rosie Weston ended in a similar position at under-17. Not surprisingly the girls’ team finished a more than creditable second overall behind a very strong Newbury team.

In the senior men’s race Tim Wright ran strongly for 15^th place but also secured 5^th place overall for the series. He was supported by Simon Pritchard in 78^th, Gerard Duncan in 137^th, Phil Coy in 182^nd, Neil Frape in 190^th and Doug Scott in 200^th place. Ros Kelling and Michelle Bartlett lit up the woman’s race finishing 9^th and 12^th respectively as they secured the V45 one and two.  Supported by Becky Pull in 44^th the team secured an excellent victory as they ended the season on top of the division two table.

Will

The photos are of the U15/17 girls team and Rosie Weston. 

Phil