9 October 2019
Last Thursday Abingdon hosted the first round of the English Schools Cross-Country Cup competition. 15 schools from across the county fought for two automatic qualifying places at the regional round of the competition.
The intermediate boys had high expectations having placed 7th at the national final last year. The Abingdon team took the race by the scruff of the neck and established a strong grip early on. Johnny James ran a mature race, sitting in second until the final 400m where he kicked to break the tape ahead of Ben Sims of MCS. Will d’Arcy followed in 3rd, Henry Channon 4th, Quinn Miell-Ingram 5th, Thom Denning 6th and Ben MacLennan 9th. The team secured 1st place, with a total score of 13 points, and their spot at the regional round of the competition, which will take place at Sibford School on Saturday 9 November.
In the Junior race Luke Skates ran a strong race to finish 3rd overall and the highest placed Abingdon junior. The rest of the team followed in quick succession with Oliver Veal (14th), Oliver Sherratt (15th), Mark Hanlon (18th), Adam Andrews (19th) and James Hilton (20th), giving the team a total score of 50 points. The team finished in 3rd overall, just outside automatic qualification to the next round.
