BUCS Cross Country Championships
Oxstall’s Sports Park, Gloucester
Saturday 6th February 2016
The 2016 British Universities and College Sports cross country championships were hosted by Gloucester University at the Oxstall’s Sports Park. It was raining on the day and the course was muddy and heavy going.
The event drew a total of 1799 competitors from all over the United Kingdom.
Kingston athletes Alfie Salsby and Oliver Newton were in action in the senior men’s 7.3 kilometre race, which was contested by a field of 477 runners.
Alfie Salsby is 19 years old and has been with the club for three months, making his debut at the British Athletics cross challenge at Liverpool last November, a second outing for Kingston came at this January’s Northern Championships at Witton Park in Blackburn where he finished in an excellent 19th place.
He is a student at Hull University and he ran under their banner at this championship meeting. He completed the course in a time of 25:54s, and he crossed the finish line in a magnificent 25th place with another 452 athletes behind him.
Oliver Newton is also 19 and is a Loughborough University student. He has been a Kingston athlete since 2012 and has been a key member of the clubs youth and senior teams in all of their league campaigns, and in his younger days he was the Humberside Schools 800 metres and 1500 metres champion.
He finished well inside the top 25 per cent in the race, finishing 107th out of the 477 contestants, covering the course in a time of 28:03s.
