2 November 2021
On the final Thursday of half term Abingdon welcomed schools from across Oxfordshire to Cox’s Field to compete in the first round of the English Schools Cross Country Cup. It was a glorious afternoon for pupils to toe the start line and give it their all for their respective teams.
The junior team, made up of H.Pinnington, H.Purcell, J.Thistlethwaite, O.Wardle, G.McVie and T.Payne paced the race extremely well with five runners inside the top 20. The team finished in 2nd place behind a strong Dragon collective.
The intermediate team, made up of O.Sherratt, H.Clarke, S.Wood, F.Scott, C.Adams and R.Allen had a fantastic race with all 6 runners inside top 10, with O.Sherratt finishing as the 2nd place individual. The team finished in 1st place which cemented their place in the next round.
The senior team, made up of R.Miell-Ingram, W.d’Arcy, J.James, H.Channon, Q.Miell-Ingram and T.Denning, ran superbly well placing the whole team within the top eight positions. R.Miell-Ingram ran from the front and never looked back, opening up and commanding the lead. J.James, W.d’Arcy, Q.Miell-Ingram and B.Simms of MCS worked well as a pack to distance the main field, whilst H.Channon and T.Denning used their 800m speed to secure 6th and 8th place respectively. The team finished in 1st place and now have their sights set on the next round which is due to take place on Saturday 13 November.
It was fantastic to see the national campaign get off to such a strong start with all three age groups qualifying for the next round of the competition.
Well done to all involved.
