Once again there was a very good turnout of athletes for Herts Phoenix AC to compete in the second round of the Metropolitan Cross Country League. Despite the recent rain the ground was still quite firm and only a little muddy underfoot with the races being run on a bright sunny afternoon over the undulating course at Claybury, Woodford on Saturday 7th November.

With only two under 13 boys being available for the first race of the afternoon and both making their cross country debuts for the Club Peter Hale (Richard Hale School, Hertford) ran well to finish in 10th place followed by Matthew Papa (Chancellers) in 22nd. This was followed by the under 13 girls who continued their opening success by again comfortably winning their race and holding on to first place overall in the Team event with Lizzie Parry (Bishop’s Hatfield) being highest placed in 5th. The under 17 men ran well to finish third and consolidate their 4th place and gain a few points over the third placed team in their Team event. The under 17 women had an excellent day winning their Team race with very strong performances by Lizzie Bird (u15) (Haileybury) finishing 3rd, followed by Ella Fuller (Sir John Laws) 4th and Emily Ruane (u15) (St Mary’s Catholic, Bishops Stortford) in 7th place and another u15 athlete, Ella Lloyd (Bishops Hatfield) closing the team in 16th place overall. Neilson Hall continued his excellent form running out a convincing winner of the senior men’s race by some 29 seconds over the second placed athlete, but despite having several men unavailable for this match the other members of the team ran well to hold onto 8th place overall in the team competition and the veteran’s team climbed one position to also lie in 8th place overall after two races.

Individual results:

 

Under 13 boys – 3000m approx
Peter Hale 10th 12.31, Matthew Papa 22nd 14.48
Team 7th – 24 finishers – Team 7th after 2 races

Under 13 Girls – 3000m approx
Lizzie Parry 5th 13.08, Isabel Found (Townsend) 8th 13.37, Alicia Found (Townsend) 11th 13.40, Ellie Baker 12th 13.58, Melissa Murphy (St Mary’s Catholic) 13th 13.59, Emily Hore (Parmiters) 14th 14.06.
Team 1st – 20 finishers – Team 1st after 2 races

Under 17 Men – 4000m approx
Edward Shepherd (Boys High, Bishops Stortford) 6th 14.17, Vasudev Zaver ( St Albans Boys) 7th 14.26, Alex Cloona (Richard Hale) 18th 14.56, Liam Dee (u15) Richard Hale 24th 15.06, James Waterman (Boys High) 35th 15.52, Liam Cloona (u15) Richard Hale 41st 16.16
Team 3rd – 61 finishers – Team 4th after 2 races

Under 17 Women – 4000m approx
Lizzie Bird (u15) 3rd 16.20, Ella Fuller 4th 16.40, Emily Ruane (u15) 7th 16.54, Ella Lloyd (u15) 16th 17.48, Aisling Hayward (u15) (Princess Helena College, Preston nr Hitchin) 26th 18.36, Molly Veitch (Herts & Essex) 40th 20.10, Rachel Hore (Parmiters) 42nd 20.36
Team 1st – 48 finishers – Team 3rd after 2 races

Senior Men – 8000m approx
Neilson Hall 1st 24.41, Steve Prosser 52nd 27.52, Harry Gilham (u20) 84th 29.02, Tom Gough (u20) (Richard Hale School) 95th 29.23, Adam Frith 99th 29.28, Norman Morrison (V55) 154th 31.00, Richard Melvern (V60) 184th 32.17, Stephen White (V45) 215th 33.20, Mark Faughnan (V45) 239th 34.15, Simon Doyle (V45) 246th 34.22, Richard Foskett (V50) 252nd 34.32, Stuart Mann (V60) 258th 34.40, Richard Bloom (V60) 318th 38.06, Jeffrey Veitch (V45) 332nd 39.19, Mervyn Gilham (V55) 338th 40.27, Jim Davis (V60) 340th 40.56, Ash Zaver (V50) 341st 41.18, John Steed (V70) 342nd 41.46
“A” Team Div 1 – 11th, 8th after 2 races, “B” Team – Div 2 16th, 13th after 2 races, Vets “A” Team 8th (8th), Vets “B” Team 19th (18th) – 354 finishers

 

Adrian Newman