15 abingdon.org.uk After a fantastic term of rowing, the senior rowers raced at the inaugural Junior Fours Head of the River on Friday 14 November. Despite the torrential rain, the river conditions were surprisingly good for the Tideway and this meant the crews enjoyed a great day's racing. Abingdon had six crews racing in a mix of coxed and coxless fours as well as coxed and coxless quads. Having spent the past few weeks in the boats there were some really encouraging results. The highlights were two 2nd place finishes for our J16 coxed quad and our J18 coxless four. Rutherford Head Junior Fours Head Cross country team finishes term as a top 10 national school Sport Abingdon Three eights took the trip up north for a weekend of racing and training on the Tyne at the end of November. Rutherford Head is the biggest Head in the north, and features some of the top university clubs in the country. The squad brought home wins in the J18 4+ and J18 8+ as well as the 1st VIII mixing it in with the university crews near the top of the timings. Then, before heading home on the Sunday, the squad had a fantastic training session rounding off a really productive weekend away with the team. The Cross Country club have had a superb season, securing victories and top finishes. At the Eagle Relays on 20 September (4 x 3km), the three Senior teams achieved a clean sweep of the medals, with co-captain Ralph running the fastest time of the day - 9:38. The Intermediate team also impressed, finishing 2nd, thanks in part to Harry's superb 10:30 leg. This momentum carried through to the English Schools Cup regional round on 4 November where both the Intermediate and Senior teams secured dominant wins. Daragh (2nd) and Edward (3rd) led the Intermediate performance, while the Senior team showcased its remarkable depth, ensuring all counting runners finished between 7th and 13th place. Both progressed to the final on 6 December at Princethorpe College. Against 27 other teams, the technical and hilly course was wet and muddy. The Intermediates battled hard to secure a team 17th. The Seniors ran a tactically excellent race with Harry leading the team home in 33rd, and captain Ralph close behind. Fast finishes from Hugh and Quinlan pushed the team up the field for a 10th place finish, with Peter and Isam taking places from rival teams - a serious achievement and reward for four months of hard training.
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