Complete Dominance at the County XC Champs.

I cannot recall any club showing such domination in county cross country championships such as Chelmsford showed in the junior events staged at Basildon, SEVEN out of a possible TEN team results coming their way with one being a second spot. Individually two winning performances with ten others picking up seconds or third place medals.

First race away were the under 13 girls and in this it had looked to be a battle between the Brentwood club who had been led home by Madison Kindler whilst having places fourth and sixth - a score at this stage of 11 points. Chelmsford meanwhile had Beatrix Cooke second, Isla Kehoe 3rd and Orla Martin 5th thus on 10 points. It was Jessica Hobson coming through in 11th place to ensure the victory. For Brentwood it was a disappointment not to have a fourth member and the second team placing went to Woodford with 47 points.

There was no doubt as to team victors of the under 13 boys as they packed their team into the top eleven home. For Chelmsford gold runs from Mason Sanford (2nd) and Joshua Dalton (5th) plus support from Daniel Smith (19th) and Sebastian Cooke (22nd) gave them second place ahead of Woodford.  Others in this event were Charlie Jackson 23rd and James Pollard 27th. Again Brentwood looked to be on cause for a win in the under 15 girls as they had Summer Smith and Heidi Woodley being the first two home, Chelmsford however claimed the next four places with Ezrah Harrold, Ava King, Isobelle Eida and Lily Sanford for a score of 18 putting them well clear of Brentwood`s 32 and Havering`s 44.  Also well placed were Erin Kelly 9th and Amelie Shipton 11th.

Again it was superb packing from the under 15 boys as Joseph Delaney and Jacob Parrott took the silver and bronze medals whilst Max Chivers placed fifth and Daniel Pollard 12th for a comfortable team win - again ahead of Brentwood.  Chelmsford`s athletes were completed with Kwasi Fakazi 28th.

Brentwood must be ruing that races are four to score as they again were on course with three in the top four in the under 17 women.. Olivia Forrest is dominant at county level and again claimed the Essex title. It was a great race however for Lottie Wilkin as she  prevented a clean sweep by them taking the runners up berth. With Harriet Matthews 7th, Jessica Walker 8th and Emma Cox 11th their 28 points put them well clear  of Woodford`s 66 and Havering`s 75.

It was another title for Jacob Hurrell as he won the under 17 men`s event and with Austin Kelly 11th, Ben Smith 17th and Dylan Robbins 21st it was a team win with 50 points over Woodford 56 and Basildon 59. Very handily placed in reserve was Thomas Carter 24th.

At under 20 level it was no contest with Chelmsford the only club putting out the required four members. In the women's event Lucy Nuttall claimed the silver medal and the support came from Molly Drane 4th, Sophie McCall 6th and Larna Morgan 8th.  For the men it could not have been more dominate as Joseph Grange, Sam Plummer and Will Nuttall filled the top three places whilst Finn Rattray was close by in 5th.

And so to the seniors', and here no medals could be expected but the men came close as a team finishing in fourth spot behind Southend, Woodford and Colchester. Callum Charleston, a member of Aldershot but with Essex birth right and second claim to Chelmsford, finished second behind Adam Hickey, Southend. Our members in the largest field of the day were Tom Rehal 11th, Thomas Woodward 27th, Samuel Waite 33rd, Seb Cirillo 36th and Scott Thomas 70th, Other`s not scoring were Nick Hunter 77th, Thomas Murphy 92nd and Peter Tullett 154th - all veterans with Peter in the over 65`s.

Sadly with the women the green and gold was difficult to spot for only Laura Dunn 22nd carried our hopes.

Although not a county championship an under 11 year race was included in the programme and it is congratulations to Dylan Law for being first past the finishing line. Other Chelmsford competitors were Freddie Blacketer 5th, Jacob Smythes 12th, Toby Hatt 18th and Lewis Boarer 23rd. The girls results saw Hannah Hogben 10th and Olivia Bilby 12th.

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Report written by Roy Meadowcroft

Four Individual & Five Team wins See CAC Dominate Round 4 of The Essex XC League.

The penultimate fixture of the Essex Cross Country League staged in the grounds of the Writtle college saw Chelmsford come up with five team wins -  and four individuals taking pole positions. Most convincing success came from the under 15 girls an event which Brentwood`s Summer Smith won but then Francesca Phillips, Izzy Eida, Amelia Shipton and Lily Sanford taking placings two to five for a score of just 14 points put them comfortably ahead of Brentwood`s 36 and Basildon's 39.  Also well placed was Stephanie Smith 12th whilst Chloe Hancock finished 33rd. Over the season Francessca has placed 3rd, 2nd, 1st and 2nd again and is guaranteed first place award whilst Izzy with 4th, 4th, 2nd and 3rd must look to be in the top three. Team wise however the league title will be going down the wire with Basildon, Havering and Chelmsford on equal terms.

With the boys under 13 led home by Mason Sanford and Joshua Dalton being first and second followed by Jake Boarer 8th Charles Jackson wrapped up the team win with his 15th spot, Others here were Daniel Smith 24th, Sebastian Cook 32nd and Jason Pollard 34th. Our 26 points just shaded out S,S,Athletics on 28. Again the league title is very open with S,S. Having an advantage of just one point. Mason despite two wins has missed out on two races as he had been contesting championship events but Joshua with two placings of third plus a second is in the running for an individual award but having missed one race must turn out in the final fixture to make this happen.

Another first came from the under 15 boys with Jacob Parrott following his success in the previous meeting again taking the leading position. Joseph Delaney in third place like Jacob could place well in the season`s ratings but again must turn out in the final fixture at Southend as both missed the seasons second meeting. Anyway with Daniel Pollard 14th and Luke Webb17th first team placing was assured with 35 points ahead  of Basildon on 50 and Southend`s 52. Our other placings here were Khaya Fakazi 28th and Oscar Stollery 31st. Basildon head the league table but discounting our lowest placing of 6th puts us back in contention if another team win can come our way in that final meeting.

Once again Jacob Hurrell took the under 17 year men's race-for  his third of the season - having missed out on one race here is another that needs to be at Southend. Here at Writtle Austin Kelly 9th and Thomas Carter 11th gave us team success with 21 points over the two Colchester clubs each with 41 points. Our lowly placing of 8th in the second fixture can be discounted and thus Chelmsford currently head the table.

The senior men took their third win of the season and head the second division as they look to gain promotion to the top division. Our scorers here were Gregory Martin 9th, Ethan Reilly 19th, Sebastian Cirillo 30th, Will Parrott 57th, Nick Hunter 62nd and Lee Martin 66th .Our score of 243 put us comfortably ahead of Benfleet's 480. Peter Tullett placing 147th - a total of 249 finishers - is in the over 60`s group and well in contention for top spot.

Again the senior women had to take second spot to Havering whose 30 points edged our 32 despite another win for veteran Rebecca Luxton with Megan Williams following her through. Rachel Broome 10th and veteran Wendy King 19th completed our scorers whilst Laura Dunn 26th and Anna Nuttall 33rd amongst the 138 finishers. With the later two  also in the veteran category they topped the the team result in this ahead of Grange Farm and Colchester Harriers.

No. I have not overlooked the under 13 girls - first of the league races on the programme - but her they had to give way to both Brentwood`s 32 points and the S.S. Team`s 34.  Close call for with Isla Kehoe 2nd, Beatrix Cooke 3rd,Jessica Hobson 10th and Olivia Clark 22nd our score was at 37. By my reckoning S.S. and Chelmsford  are on equal footing in the league table whilst Isla is well placed on the individual front for an award.

As stated previously the under 11`s do not form part of the league but do draw good fields. For the boys Dylan Law was well to the fore in second spot with Freddie Blacketer 6th, Harris Fuller 8th, Jacob Smithyes 11th, Arthur Cooke 16th, Toby Hatt 21st and  Benjamin Padfield 22nd. For the girls Lianne Esterhuysen, Brentwood, and Leila Robinson have dominated the event being first two in each of the four races. Surprised however that this time round Leila had opted for the red and gold of Braintree rather than the green and gold of Chelmsford who here had Bailey Kehoe 13th and Isabelle Perks 18th.

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Report written by Roy Meadowcroft

Hilly Fields Proved to be no Obstacle for our Athletes.

With six team wins out of six Chelmsford dominated the young athletes results at the third fixture of the Essex Cross Country League fixture on Colchester`s Hilly Field courses.

The under 13 girls headed the way as Isla Kehoe and Beatrix Cooke took the first two places whilst newcomer to the ranks Hattie Blackburn placed fourth and Jessica Hobson 9th giving a points score of only 16  against the 21 of the S S Club, Zenobia Williams finishing 14th was very handily placed as a back up to the scorers. With the boys, despite missing Mason Sanford who was winning at an Eastern Association meeting at Bury St Edmunds, a tally of 33 points gave an advantage of five over closest rivals. Our squad were led by Joshua Dalton in third with spot with Thomas Burgoyne 5th, Sebastian Cook 8th and James Pollard17th all scoring but close by came Daniel Smith 18th and Charlie Jackson 20th.

No doubt about as to the winners in the under 15 girls as the first three past the post wore the green and gold. Francesca Phillips was closely followed by Izzy Eida and Amelie Shipton and with Chloe Haycock 16th the tally of 22 points gave an advantage of eight over Basildon. We also had Stephanie Smith 20th and Lily Hartman 22nd in the top half of the field.

An individual winner from the under 15 boys in Jacob Parrott. Joseph Delaney 5th, Fred Ferman 7th and Daniel Pollard a score of 23 points with Basildon (30 points) second as with the girls race. Khaya Fakazi completed our runners  placing 25th.

There was another individual win from Jacob Hurrell in the under 17 men repeating his success in the first meeting. With only three scoring at this age level Austin Kelly 5th and Thomas Carter 8th wrapped up the team result.

To the under 17 women and with Jessica Walker 4th, Emma Cox 6th and Katie Cox 14th gave a further win over Basildon.

With the senior women team our 50 points were to put us behind Havering 41 and Colchester Harriers on 44. Megan Williams was our leading runner being 4th followed by Lucy Nuttall 12th, Rachael Broome 13th and veteran Wendy King 21st. Our other competitors were Sophie McCall 34th and Anna Nuttall 38th.

To the senior men and alas with only five runners we were to relinquish our top spot in league two. It was a complete veteran turnout with David Fewell 20th, Will Parrott 71st, Nick Hunter 85th, Peter Tullett 160th and Mick Bridgeland 208th.

Not part of the league  races for the under 11 age group continue to draw good numbers. The girls have seen the same two heading the result with Lianne Esterheysen (Brentwood) and our Leila Robinson well to the fore with the boys. Bela Kehoe 6th, Olivier Bilby 14th, Bailey Kehoe 19th, Nethan Dahanayake 24th and Isabelle Perks 29th were other placings. The boys result went to Dylan Law giving Chelmsford a win with Freddie Blacketer 3rd, Arthur Cooke 9th, Harris Fuller 11th, Jacob Smythes 16th and Henry Ball 22nd.

Regarding league positions  at the current time can mean little for possibility at season end.  As an example in the under 13 girls Chelmsford place ninth with scores of 20,  1  and 1. That 20 was for none attendance at the opening fixture. After the fifth meeting a team has their worst score discounted thus with good pacing's in the remaining meets league titles can be won. As well as teams this same position applies to individuals - i.e. you can miss one race and still place high.     

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Report written by Roy Meadowcroft