Abingdonian 2020

21 www.abingdon.org.uk Michaelmas Term Cross Country The Abingdon School cross country team had a very successful season with great results from all age groups. As always the season for the senior team started with the Longworth 10K. This featured some great performances, especially from debutant Roy Schumacher, who narrowly missed out on beating club captain Alexander Pennington, who received first place in the U18 category. Classic fixtures at St Albans and then Harrow followed. The inter boys once again impressed with fifth, seventh and ninth place for, respectively, Johnny James, Rowan Miell-Ingram and Will d’Arcy in a strong senior field at St Albans. All three teams performed well at Harrow, taking home second-placed team in the juniors, first in the inters and first in the seniors. It was great to see all the young runners representing the school so well, particularly because not too many years ago the senior team was the only priority. In a further display of their strength, the inter team competed at the ESAA XC National Cup Final, finishing second overall, narrowly missing out on the gold medal to a very strong Judd team. Will d’Arcy and Johnny James ran superbly to finish on the podium as second and third placed individuals. This was a superb achievement on a national stage. After a well-earned Christmas break the senior team were straight into the historic Knole Run around the gruelling 9km course. The stand out performance was once again by Will d’Arcy, who dispatched all his elder team members to finish in an outstanding 16th place. The King Henry VIII Relays, a highlight on the Abingdon race calendar, attracts the best cross country schools in the country to compete around the War Memorial Park in Coventry. Fifty-seven teams toed the start line this year, all eager to try and secure a felt badge (awarded to the top eight teams), and see if they could join the likes of Seb Coe, Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee and Richard Nerurkar on the ‘all time fastest runners’ list. Alexander Pennington, now a veteran of this race, took the first leg and positioned the team in tenth place. The rest of the team, made up of promising young talent, slowly picked off competitors as the race progressed, crossing the finish line in sixth place. This is a tremendous achievement considering four members of the team still have three years to compete here. At this point in the season all the races came thick and fast. But the most anticipated of them all is the School County Championships. With places in the Oxfordshire team up for grabs, this is the race in which every team member wants to perform well. Incredible results all-round led to eight team members qualifying for the county team in Liverpool later in the year. Securing this many of the 24 places up for grabs demonstrated the strength of cross country running at Abingdon. The county race proved to be the last time the boys raced together before widespread cancellations due to coronavirus. I wish every member of the squad good luck for the future and look forward to keeping up to date on their results when racing resumes. Alexander Pennington, 7RMF