Race 3 of the Metropolitan Cross Country League meant only one thing, it was our home fixture at Uxbridge!
A favourite for some, but a testing course for all, including the ski slope and river crossing, it was sure to be a great event once again!
A strong turnout from our junior athletes included Wilbur 18th, Isaac 21st and Albert 39th in the MU11. Betty 10th, Rafferty 22nd and Isabelle 27th scored in the FU11 race.
In the MU13 race, Marcus was 19th, followed by William 27th, George 31st, Lee in 34th, Freddie was 37th, Dominik 38th, Daniel 40th, Alistair 43rd, Oscar 44th, Jesse 45th, Kacey Rico 47th and Ryan in 52nd
In the FU13 race, Elsie finished in 3rd place, followed by Tabitha 18th, Gia 27th, Tulula 30th, Ada 31st, Anna 32nd, Cara 36th, Annabelle 39th and Gracie in 40th
Race 5 saw the Junior men race, Dylan was 7th, Luke 42nd, Lewis 62nd, Joshua 63rd, Jack 69th, Micah 72nd, Mason 83rd, Alexander 85th, Michael 89th, Jacob 97th and Mohsin 99th
Our junior women was race 6 of the day, Edey finished 25th, Rosie 31st, Emma 39th, Ava 41st, Natalia 49th, Elissa 52nd, Maya 53rd and Zoe in 54th!
21 ladies conquered the Uxbridge course, featuring the ski slope and river. Catriona was our first lady home in 16th as she did at Horsenden – Miss Consistency! Catriona was followed by Hannah 38th, Heather 46th, Nikki 65th, Paige 74th – on her XC debut this season and Mel 87th who made up the A team. The B team consisted of Zoe 96th, Aimee 97th, Caroline 107th and 2 Katies! Katie N 112th and Katie S 121st. The C team consisted of Karen 126th, Hollie 131st, Chao 142nd and Pauline 146th. Pauline was followed by Ellie 153rd, the consecutive finishers of Vicky 168th, Ruth 169th and Alice in 170th! Lucy was 178th and Candice in 179th!
Good points were generated by all of you!
On the VET’s side, all ladies eligible generated points, with Candice picking up the final point, so all your efforts and perseverance was well worth the pain. Thank you for all for your contribution!
As a result of the great individual performances, we have made gains in the league tables and with only two races left we are in a great place to win promotion with Senior C team and VET B team both currently in 1st place in their leagues! Also the Senior B team and VET A team have an opportunity to attain a top 3 position.
Following the success of the ladies, a strong turnout of 32 male athletes in the Met League at the weekend saw a notable achievement for the club as we finished complete A, B and C teams for the first time in the revised league structure!
Unfortunately, the high number in attendance from the club was not reflected in the finishing positions for the teams with the A team finishing only slightly higher up in ninth position in Division 1 and the B and C teams finishing in 9th and 15th place in Division 2. However, with a few of our regular athletes not racing and a number of new athletes scoring for the club in the A team, there is much to be optimistic about as we look ahead to the remaining fixtures at Welwyn Garden City and Trent Park in the New Year.
Matt Whitfield was first scorer for the club in 39th place whilst also finishing as 3rd VET! Matt was followed by Kallum Pritchard 46th, James Laing 54th, Connell Metcalf 74th and William Mifsud 89th all finishing in the top 100. There were welcome returns from Dominic Speight 158th and Tony Grant 176th, a senior Met League debut for Zakariya Bhatti 186th and a club debut from Graham Dodd in 227th. Well done all!
Ryan Stoddart was 12th scorer for the A team in 235th with the B team led home by Paul Williams in 257th. Following Paul was Steve 264th, David 277th, Patrick 283rd, Matthew 288th, Dan 293rd. Adam Laing marked his return to cross country racing in 310th, followed by Jeremy 311th, Ed 318th and rounding off the B team scoring was Alan Tilly in 321st. Shaun Burns finished 1st scorer for the C team in 340th place after working his through the field following a late start. Shaun was followed by Richard 351st, Chris 355th. Atul was 362nd, Michael 384th, Neal 386th, Trevor 395th, Martin 397th, Brian 399th, the C team was completed by Emanuele in 403rd!
A HUGE thank you to everyone that competed, marshalled, baked some amazing cakes and cookies and assisted in making our home fixture at Uxbridge possible. We had close to 100 people in attendance from the club across the different age groups which was great to see!
Full Hillingdon Athletic Club results can be found here
