Cross Country Championships

4 March 2012

In rather typical cross-country conditions of icy winds and rain, nine pupil’s from years 5 through to 8 represented Abingdon Preparatory School in the prestigious IAPS National Preparatory Cross Country Championships held at Malvern School, Worcestershire on Sunday, 4^th March. The competition was represented by 42 Preparatory Schools from around the country and each race consisted of 250 runners.

The Under 11 (Years 5 & 6) race began over a distance of 2.6km around the ample grounds of the school. After the usual fast start, our boys found themselves near the front of the pack.  Henry Insley ran a well-paced race, working his way through the field to finish in 7^th place while the strong finishing Joseph Richardson finished 24^th. Both runners are Year 5’s and will qualify to race again in the Under 11 category. James Moore and Ben Armstrong gained valuable team points by finishing a very creditable 81^st and 84^th respectively which placed Abingdon Prep. 9^th in the overall team competition. Timmy McConnachie-Kaye, in his first major cross country competition did himself proud by finishing 138^th and was closely followed by Sam Collins in 139^th.

The Under 13’s did not have enough runners in their age group to compete for the team competition, so each was competing for individual places in the race. The race was run over a testing 3.2km course. The start of the race resembled a charge on the plains of the Masai Mara. The Abingdon Prep. runners soon established positions in the middle of the pack and worked hard to maintain their positions in the field. Toby Collins was the first finisher for Abingdon Prep. in 91^st closely followed by Archie McChesney 108^th and Joseph Delafield 137^th. Many congratulations to all those who took part on a very enjoyable afternoon, as Cross-Country at Abingdon Prep increases in popularity and goes from strength to strength.