26 September 2018
Last Thursday the Cross-country club kicked off their season and welcomed competitors from Caldicott, Abingdon Prep, MCS and Blessed George Napier to compete in the Abingdon Relay Race.
The course this year would take the 70 athletes around the grounds of Cox's Field. Following a long hot summer and little rain for a number of weeks it was firm underfoot which made for some fast running. Only the notoriously strong wind that blows across the open expanse of Cox's Field would test the resolve of some of the competitors.
In the junior race Abingdon finished in 2nd position behind a very strong Abingdon Prep team, which averaged a time of 5 min 16s per runner over the 1.4km course. Special mention must go to Quinn Miell-Ingram of Abingdon Prep who was the only boy to break the 5 minute barrier and ran the fastest lap time of the day (4 min 48s).
The intermediate race was tightly contested and is the reason why the relay format is such an exciting race for both spectators and competitors alike. The lead changed hands 4 times throughout the race but the Abingdon team made up entirely of 3rd years (H.Channon, W.D'Arcy, J.James, M.Rolfe and L.Trotter) eventually proved too strong for the rest of the field, breaking the tape in a combined time of 33min 35 seconds. Congratulations must also be extended to Rowan Miell-Ingram of Abingdon who ran the fastest lap time, completing the 1.8km course in a time of 6min 10s.
Year 7 & 8:
- Abingdon Prep A: 26:19.00
- Abingdon A: 28:32.00 +02:13.00
- BGN B: 28:44.00 +02:25.00
- MCS A: 28:
46.00 +02:27.00 - Abingdon Prep B: 29:17.00 +02:58.00
- Caldicott A: 30:41.00 +04:22.00
- Abingdon B: 31:13.00 +04:54.00
- BGN A: 32:
21.00 +06:02.00 - Caldicott B: 32:51.00 +06:32.00
Year 9 & 10:
- Abingdon C: 33:35.71
- Abingdon A: 34:38.31 +01:02.60
- BGN A: 34:50.45 +01:14.74
- Abingdon B: 36:02.21 +02:26.50
- MCS A: 36:30.56 +02:54.85
Well done to everyone involved for a fantastic start to the season. The Club's attention now turns towards the Longworth 10km and the first round of the English Schools National XC Cup.
Many thanks to the Miell-Ingram family who kindly purchased our new timing system.
