ESAA Cross Country Championships

Temple Newsam House, Leeds, 17^th March 2018

The final major event of the cross country season, The English School’s Championships, saw over 2,000 of England’s top athletes in the under19, under 17 & under 15 age groups converging on Temple Newsam House near Leeds where it’s spacious grounds and adjoining farmland provided a superb setting for the culmination of a busy few weeks of area and national championship events. The competitors were delighted to see a mainly grassy course in comparison to the thick gluey mud which greeted them the previous week at Loughborough for the Inter Counties Championships. However, closer inspection revealed some heavily waterlogged sections and a strength-sapping 400m hill which only the under 15 girls were fortunate enough not to have to tackle ensuring that the afternoon would be a true test of the athletes’ endurance, especially with a strong wind and periodic blizzards blowing across the West Yorkshire hillside.

15 year old South Holderness Technology College student Jodie Martin has had an outstanding winter on the country. The reigning county and county schools champion who was also the area’s highest placed athlete in her age group at both the Northern and Inter Counties Championships was rewarded for a fine tactical display with her best ever national placing of 43^rd from a field of over 350 girls in the under 17 event over 3,800 metres. Starting steadily Jodie moved through the field from the halfway point, proving especially strong on the long gradient where she picked her way through the field as others tired. With a further year in this age group Jodie will be looking forward to next year’s championships in Chelmsford with hopes of a further improvement in her position.

Martha Savage of South Hunsley 6^th Form College was making her debut at the English Schools event despite having been involved in the sport for a number of years. Heading off to university later in the year this was Martha’s last chance to qualify for the prestigious schools championships and she enjoyed the experience, despite encountering the heaviest snowfall of the day during her 4,100m race. Martha finished in 315^th position in the large field.

At the lower end of the age groups Ella Shaw-Hall of Wolfreton School had her first experience of an English Schools event in the junior race over 3,100m. Ella gained more valuable experience of championship racing following on from her appearance in the Inter Counties Championships the previous weekend and her placing of 335^th was a creditable effort from a young athlete with little over 12 months’ experience in the sport. She too will be aiming to come back faster and stronger next winter when she will have moved up to the under 17 age group.

Another junior girl making her first appearance at an English Schools cross country event was Hermione Pickering. She made her club debut in the regional final of the English schools track & field cup which was staged at the Costello stadium last June and was also selected for the clubs junior team in the UK Youth Development league where she covered the 1500 metre race. This meeting was her first competitive cross country race as a Kingston athlete and she ran the course in a time of 13:36 sec to finish in 287th place.

Thomas Smales who was in action in the junior boys race was making his second appearance at this cross country event, having made his debut at last year’s championship meeting in Norwich where he had finished in 308th place. This was his seventh outing of 2018 which has already seen him take the silver medal at the County championships and bronze at the Barton cross country event. A finish in the top third at the Northern Counties championships and a good performance at the National Inter Counties has been an excellent first quarter of the year for him. At the English schools event he wanted to improve on his 2017 performance and he certainly did that. Competing in a field of 346 athletes his run of 15:45 sec saw him cross the finishing line in 122nd place an improvement of 186 places on his 2017 performance.

The intermediate boy’s race saw two Kingston athletes in action. The winner of the 2018 Barton cross country meeting Harry Hudson was making his second appearance of the year at the English Schools event. He made his club debut in May of last year in the UK YDL league and he won his first County vest at the Inter County championships in Nuneaton last September. He made his debut appearance at the English schools championships in the intermediate race which was contested by 339 athletes. Harry covered the course in 20:04 sec finishing the race in 187th place. Harvey Roberts was running in his second English schools championship meeting having debuted at last year’s event at Norwich. This was his second outing of this year, the first being at the Northern Counties championships at Harewood where he had put in a solid performance. He covered the course in a time of 21:14 sec to finish in 289th position.