There were 10 gold medal winning performances by Harriers of different ages at the Somerset County Cross Country Championships held at the University of Bath, with numerous other good runs. Meanwhile at the Dorset Championships at Canford School there was another squad of Harriers out competing just as hard.

Photos here thanks to Darren White

It’s hard to know which was the best Harrier performance of the day at the University of Bath on Sunday December 14^th as there were so many. The Somerset Cross Country Championships were once again combined with the Avon and Wiltshire Championships with each County awarding medals to the first three athletes qualified for each County. Conditions were quite good on the day – not so cold and not so muddy – but the course had its usual challenge of the long slight uphill drag of 800m or so on every lap.

First off for the Harriers was the u11 girls race where Kai Snell was 1^st home (gold medal) for Somerset, 5^th overall, with an impressive bit of running over the 1.9km lap. Jasmine Caley was next home in 4^th for Somerset, 22^nd overall, and then Maisie Loader, 8^th (33^rd). In the corresponding boy’s race Bradley Glover was 2^nd for Somerset, 3^rd overall, with James Carr in 7^th for Somerset.

The u13 girls race saw a whole host of great performances by the Harrier squad. Elena Sidman won Gold for Somerset, finishing 3^rd overall, in 10.54 for the 2.8km circuit, with Abbie White next in 5^th (9^th) in 11.29, Amy Northam 6^th (13^th) in 11.47; Lily Clarke a stride or two behind in 7^th (14^th) in 11.49; as was Ella-Mae Wright in 8^th (15^th) in 11.51; and finally Jessica Hudson in 10^th (18^th) in 12.14. That’s some excellent packing! The girls were also definitely the best at jumping for joy after the race! For the boys, over the same distance, Luke Macpherson led the team home and gained the Somerset bronze medal in the process finishing 3^rd for Somerset (9^th) in 10.24, with Will Parry 4^th (17^th) in 11.00; and then Tom Loader 5th (19^th) in 11.08; and finally William Carr in 7^th (25^th) in 11.38.

In the u15 girls race over 3.8km (2 short laps) we had an excellent turn-out of 7 girls. In 2^nd place for Somerset, gaining the silver medal (3^rd overall), was Sophie Hamilton in 13.24 with Elise Thorner next in 5^th (11^th) in 14.33; then Katie Lloyd, 7^th (18^th) in 15.27; and then came Kirsty Jenkins 9th (25^th) in 16.35; followed by Amy Barlow 10^th (27^th) in 16.55; Jodie Mitchell 11^th (31^st) in 18.22 and finally Jess Ainsworth 12^th (32^nd) in 19.07. Without doubt we were the best represented of all the clubs from across the 3 counties.

In the u15 boys race Ben Lloyd had a good run for the Somerset gold medal, finishing 7^th overall, in a time of 12.47. Alex Williams turbo-charged down the final short hill to pass a rival for 3^rd, bronze, (9^th overall) in 13.08; and then came Josh Thorne in 5^th (11^th) in 13.37 followed closely by Dylan dukes 7^th (13th) in 13.45; and then Kameron Ridler 8^th (15^th) in 14.22 and finally Kieran Ensor 9^th (20^th) in 15.27.

The u17 races were combined with the u20 races. We had two gold medal winners in each race! For the women, Emily Smith was 1^st for the Somerset u20 women, 2^nd overall, in a time of 17.22 for the 4.7km distance. Amy D’Arcy was 1^st for Somerset in the u17s race, 8^th overall, in a time of 19.34. For the men, Kieran Young managed to just stay ahead of Sam Sommerville and they both won gold with Kieran being the outright winner of all the tri-county athletes with a time of 18.01 and Sam being a stride behind in 18.02 for 2^nd place in the race itself but 1^st u17. Philip Bridge won silver for his 2^nd place u20, 3^rd overall, in a time of 18.52. Oliver Dickinson was next in with 7^th for Somerset (11^th place overall) in 19.24; then James Bridge, 10^th (21st ) in 20.42; and George Mallinson 11^th (22^nd) in 21.19.

For the women, Deb Glover picked up a gold medal for 1^st F35 with her 4^th Somerset position (14th overall) in 27.26 for the 6.6km course. Katrina Prior wasn’t far behind and gained the silver for 2^nd F35, in 5^th overall for Somerset (15^th) in 27.54, and then Melissa Aspinall, 8^th (41^st) in 34.30. For the men, Nathan Young seemed to enjoy the race, surging at times, but ultimately pulling well clear to win the race outright and gain the Somerset gold for the 10.3km course in 33.10. Jack Bancroft was 4^th home for Somerset, 8^th overall, in 34.51; and then Robbie Hawkins, sporting his new vest, in 9^th for Somerset, 55^th, in 40.31 and Simon Carr next home in 10^th, 87^th, winning 1^st V50 for Somerset in 46.37.

Meanwhile we also have a report from Neil Biss from the Dorset Championships

“Eight Harriers made the trip to the great setting of Canford School for the combined Wessex XC and Dorset County XC Champs. The course around the school grounds was relatively flat with a few areas of muddy patches, something we all like at the XC.

The first race got underway with a small lap and the now familiar format of SM,SW,U17W,U17B going together, In the senior men 7.9K Neil Biss finished 17^th in the Wessex match 10^th for Dorset 29.30 whilst in the Senior Women’s race over 4.7k Samantha Baker ran a brilliant race to finish 7^th Wessex and 4^th Dorset 21.24. In the U17men’s 4.7K race Michael Biss ran a very good race to finish 5^TH in both Wessex & Dorset 15.51. The U17 Women’s 4.7K race saw Charlotte Baker running well to finish 5^TH place in both Wessex & Dorset 17.52 closely followed by Natasha Jones in 10^th Wessex.

Next off was the fast starting U11 girls 1.4K race which saw Hannah Blundy have a brilliant second lap to finish 8^th Wessex. The last race of the day was the U15 boy’s 3.9K race where Luke Baker ran extremely well to finish in 9^th position Wessex & Dorset followed by a great run from George Biss in 14^th Wessex &13^th Dorset.

The overall League standings are yet to be confirmed as the league will finalise the provisional results first. Any prizes I believe will be posted and I will email anyone as soon as I hear anything. Many thanks to all who have run over the series enjoy the rest of the XC season.”

It sounds like both squads had a great day out and we’d like to congratulate all that made the start line and did their best for the team. We commiserate with the few that had to withdraw due to illness or injury, and hope you can get back ready for the SW Championships on Sunday January 4^th at Bicton College, Devon where we will have Harriers out competing - for individual medals; for Harrier team medals; and for their respective County! (Dorset or Somerset!). Keep up the training over the Christmas break.