Abingdonian 2018

22 The Abingdonian Cross Country When looking back at the 2017/18 cross country season there were a number of highlights on both a personal and collective level. The junior squad reached the final of the English Schools’ Cross country Cup and six Abingdonians represented Oxfordshire at the National Cross Country Championships. Abingdon continued to perform well on a tough race circuit and returned to the King Henry VIII Relays for the first time since 2012. This race, founded in 1972, and hosted by King Henry VIII School in Coventry, is now regarded by many as the best inter-schools cross country relay race in the UK, and has seen competitors such as Seb Coe, Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee, and Richard Nerurkar all cut their teeth around the course. This year the Abingdon team finished seventh out of 44 of the best cross country schools in the country, beating the likes of Shrewsbury, Sedbergh and Harrow. On Tuesday 23 January Abingdon hosted the first U13 Cross Country Cup Fixture. Athletes from five schools including Abingdon, Abingdon Prep, New College, Magdalen College School and Blessed George Napier competed for individual and team awards around the 2.8km course. The notoriously consistent wind that blows at Cox’s Field had dried the course out nicely, allowing firm footing and some fast cross country racing. Henry Channon of New College broke the tape in a time of 9 minutes 47 seconds, having been pushed hard all the way to the line by Quinn Miell-Ingram (APS) who finished just milliseconds behind. William D’Arcy (APS) completed the podium, finishing third in a time of 9 minutes 53 seconds. The Abingdon team placed well, with Alexander Darbishire finishing seventh and Callum Aiken tenth, helping their team to second place in the overall standings. This was no match however for an extremely strong Abingdon Prep squad who finished with four runners inside the top 10 allowing them to take home the team silverware. It is fantastic to see so much young talent coming through and will make for some exciting racing in the future. The ESAA National Cross Country Championship is the most eagerly anticipated event of the winter for young runners. It is an event that brings together the best athletes in each of the 48 counties in England to compete for the honour of being the best in the country. This year seven Abingdon pupils including Calum Steer, Henry Barlow, Fergus Mitchell, David Bunn, Matthew Kunov, Alexander Pennington