Report from the South West Inter-Counties XC Champs
The green Dorset vests made their first appearance of this cross-country season at the South West Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships. Non-championship under-11s races got the meeting underway, those athletes ran exclusively in their club colours. The venue – Aldon Hill, Yeovil – is considered by most to be the toughest of the local cross-country courses. It’s an exposed spot, though fortunately the weather was kind to us. With the loss of a Wessex League fixture some runners were also competing for points in that competition. More than 100 Dorset-based athletes had entered. In the results, those who represented Dorset are shown in green, and those who represented Wimborne in red.
The meeting commenced with a combined start for the non-championship under-11s. Their course was measured at 1600m and for many of the young athletes it would have been the most significant challenge they would have faced as a cross-country runner by a margin. Alex Koyabayashi was the first Dorset runner home in an impressive debut season. He’d had to work hard for that honour though, as Freddie Kimber of Poole Runners kept him honest all the way to the line and was only two seconds behind him. The venue could hardly be more challenging for an XC debut, so Zachary Fricker should feel pleased with the time he achieved too. For the girls, Evie Fuller was second Dorset home, she was headed by Bournemouth AC’s Esmee Hurst Atkins. Isabelle Fazakerley was 5th Dorset, and she has competed in every Wessex League fixture this season.
U11 boys (33 finishers)
10 – Alex Koybayashi – 6:26
11 – Freddie Kimber (Poole Runners) – 6:28
20 – Zachary Fricker – 6:50
U11 girls (34 finishers)
8 – Esmee Hurst Atkins (Bournemouth AC) – 6:45
14 – Evie Fuller – 6:54
15 – Isabel Cherrett (BAC) – 6:56
27 – Amelia Drew (Poole AC) – 7:22
30 – Lilia Flux (Weymouth St Pauls Harriers) – 7:40
32 – Isabelle Fazakerley – 8:14
34 – Willow Barnes (WSP) – 8:56
The championship takes place between the seven counties that make up south-west England: Avon, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Dorset had up to 12 in each age-group representing the county. In the seniors race there were both senior and under-20 county teams. Selecting who should represent the county in the senior age-groups was a challenge, as a number of those available to pick do most of their running in road races and assessing how they’d do against XC specialists required some guesswork. Ironically, in the senior men’s category I got the selection right (I didn’t do as well elsewhere) with all the green vests home first. Ben Westhenry, once of Weymouth St Pauls, was a top 10 finisher, and leading the charge for Dorset’s under-20s was Dom Wilmore. First Wimborne was Rob Rawles, with Mike Jurd and Seamus Doran also in red vests. Dorset’s under-20 men were 3rd team and the seniors came 5th.
Under-20/Senior men (152 finishers)
6 – Ben Westhenry (Bristol & West) – 28:01
21 – Rob McTaggart (BAC) – 29:18
24 – Dom Willmore (Poole Runners) U20 – 29:27
29 – Manny Cox (Dorchester AC) U20 – 29:36
36 – Jamie Grose (PAC) – 29:59
44 – Matthew Harris (Cambridge Uni) – 30:32
64 – Graham Sherwin (Egdon Heath Harriers) – 31:48
86 – Nat Willmore (PR) U20 – 33:08
90 – Ian Luke (PR) – 33:37
93 – Richard Brawn (BAC) – 33:46
94 – Tom Andrews (Lytchett Manor Striders) – 33:50
95 – Adam Gough (DAC) – 34:02
97 – Toby Marsh (DAC) U20 – 34:10
99 – Bruce Campbell (EHH) – 34:14
107 – Luke Dowsett (Littledown Harriers) – 34:51
112 – Jim Windebank (PR) – 35:19
113 – David Wilcox (South West Vets) – 35:22
116 – Stephen Williams (LDH) – 35:32
118 – Graeme Beckett (PR) – 35:48
133 – Rob Rawles (Wimborne AC) – 37:59
137 – Mike Jurd (WAC) – 38:43
139 – Andy Bucknell (Dorset Doddlers) – 39:50
140 – Neil Worthington (EHH) – 40:21
147 – David Ozanne (PR) – 43:46
148 – Ian Graham (BAC) – 44:00
149 – Andrew Moss (North Dorset Tri) – 44:04
150 – Seamus Doran (WAC) – 44:12
151 – Alan Lewis (Purbeck Runners) – 44:45
152 – Pete Cornes (PAC) – 61:41
In the under-13 girls’ race Lexie Brown’s (PAC) fine season continued with a podium position, and Erin Wells (BAC) was also placed in the top 10. The first two Wimborne athletes – Imogen Rawles and Isla O’Connor – were separated by a single second. Next WACer was Kaci Cadman in her first season, then for WAC it was Gracie Bunting and Ella Fazakerley. Many of the girls were representing Dorset for the first time including Wimborne’s Imogen, Isla, Kaci and Gracie Bunting. I owe an apology to Hattie Byrne (DAC), when selecting the county team I wasn’t able to find her results on Powerof10 (she’s listed there as Harriet). Clearly she’s one of those who should have been selected to run in county colours. Charley Trent (PR) and Charlotte Campbell (DAC) also picked off some green vests too! The under-13 girls claimed third for Dorset, and in the club competition the only Dorset team to score was Wimborne who came 5th.
U13 girls (73 finishers)
3 – Lexie Brown (PAC) – 12:49
9 – Erin Wells (BAC) – 13:09
24 – Daisy Flux (WSP) – 13:56
28 – Elizabeth Dawson – 14:14
32 – Isla McPhail (PAC) – 14:27
34 – Imogen Rawles (WAC) – 14:33
35 – Isla O’Connor (WAC) – 14:34
36 – Emily Coltman (BAC) – 14:35
37 – Hattie Byrne (DAC) – 14:39
47 – Kaci Cadman (WAC) – 15:05
51 – Bethany Cooper (PR) – 15:14
52 – Charley Trent (PR) – 15:18
62 – Gracie Bunting (WAC) – 15:53
67 – Charlotte Campbell (DAC) – 16:03
71 – Mariah Marshall (New Forest) – 16:58
72 – Bea Kimber (PR) – 18:34
73 – Ella Fazakerley (WAC) – 19:02
Oscar Ewen Matthews (BAC) led Dorset’s under-13 boys home. The first of the Wimborne runners was Ollie Green, but he had company as Toby Butt was only two seconds away at the finish. Unsurprisingly, in the youngest age-category there were many county debuts, including for Wimborne Ollie and Toby, plus Josh Fricker and Jack Doran. Apologies here to Ethan Crowley (PAC), on the spreadsheet I was sent to make selections from he was listed in the wrong age-group so didn’t get the shout when he should have done. As we were picking teams of 12, there was a county vest for all those in this category. Hopefully it won’t be too long before another opportunity comes Ethan’s way. Dorset finished 6th, and in the club competition Wimborne were 5th.
U13 boys (68 finishers)
15 – Oscar Ewen Matthews (BAC) – 12:21
33 – Alex Cox (DAC) – 12:28
42 – Leo Riggs (PAC) – 13:22
45 – Ollie Green (WAC) – 13:29
48 – Toby Butt (WAC) – 13:31
49 – Daniel Couch (BAC) – 13:39
56 – Henry Cornish (PAC) – 14:09
59 – Josh Fricker (WAC) – 14:19
64 – Tyler Lawrence (PR) – 15:18
66 – Ethan Crowley (PAC) – 15:48
68 – Jack Doran (WAC) – 18:46
Neve East (BAC) was the 1st of Dorset’s under-15 girls. The top four score, so the counters for Dorset were split evenly between Bournemouth AC and Wimborne AC. Neve and Martha Preece sandwiched the WAC pairing of Birdie Payne and Sarah Graham. Of the other Wimborne girls, Isabella Cox, Lauren Hancock and Ruby Sargeant, Lauren was making her county debut. The Dorset team placed 3rd, as did Wimborne in the club competition.
U15 girls (58 finishers)
8 – Neve East (BAC) – 15:12
18 – Birdie Payne (WAC) – 16:14
22 – Sarah Graham (WAC) – 16:34
29 – Martha Preece (BAC) – 16:54
39 – Emily Trent (PR) – 17:30
44 – Isabella Cox (WAC) – 17:42
51 – Millie Small (PAC) – 18:32
52 – Lauren Hancock (WAC) – 18:36
56 – Ruby Sargeant (WAC) – 20:35
The performance of the day from a Dorset team and individual came from the under-15 boys. Dorset are now South West Champions in this category. This race was the only one to feature an individual Dorset race winner too. Congratulations to Ed Bird on a fine performance. Ed had great support from Mark Ruby (PAC), Tom Jackson (WAC) and Owen Pitcher (DAC) in the point-scoring positions. For Tom this was his county debut. Dorchester AC claimed 2nd in the club competition. Aside from Ed and Owen, they also had Oliver Forsey and Ryan Pitcher securing points for them. With Dorchester 2nd, it was Poole AC who took 3rd, their scorers being Mark Ruby, Ryan Openshaw, Tristan Green and Finn Pardy. Alongside Tom Jackson, Jay Dunn and Josh Fazakerley were WAC’s other athletes. With only three from Wimborne, this meant we were one short of recording a result in the club competition.
15 boys (73 finishers) – Dorset 1st, Dorchester 2nd, Poole 3rd
1 – Ed Bird (DAC) – 15:43
5 – Mark Ruby (PAC) – 16:00
14 – Tom Jackson (WAC) – 17:03
17 – Owen Pitcher (DAC) – 17:11
24 – Oliver Forsey (DAC) – 17:33
29 – Ryan Openshaw (PAC) – 17:47
30 – Tristan Green (PAC) – 17:49
34 – Jay Dunn (WAC) – 17:57
39 – Finn Pardy (PAC) – 18:21
60 – Ryan Pitcher (DAC) – 20:16
61 – Freddie Griffiths (Yeovil) – 20:26
62 – Josh Fazakerley (WAC) – 20:31
65 – Louie Todd (BAC) – 21:13
68 – Archie Campbell (EHH) – 21:58
Another strong category for us is the under-17 women. It was a third place for the Dorset team, with the first three home – Emilie Castagna, Ashia Wilson and Emily Parker all of Poole AC. Claiming the final point-scoring position was WAC’s Holly Nixon. Unsurprisingly with three in the top 15, Poole performed well in the team competition claiming 2nd.
U17 women (43 finishers)
2 – Emilie Castagna (PAC) – 17:35
10 – Ashia Wilson (PAC) – 19:02
15 – Emily Parker (PAC) – 19:24
17 – Holly Nixon (WAC) – 19:55
21 – Fern Kimber (PR) – 20:09
22 – Izzie Rabjohns (PAC) – 20:22
31 – Izzie Somers (PR) – 21:20
34 – Camilla Brown (PAC) – 21:39
36 – Lauren East (BAC) – 22:17
38 – Lucie Guy (Wells City) – 22:35
41 – Marnie Worthington (DAC) – 22:52
Egdon Heath Harriers are primarily a road running club so it’s not too often we see their name in amongst the junior categories. However, it was Egdon’s Jamie Barrington who led the Dorset team home. In the other county point-scoring positions were Oliver James (BAC), WAC’s Ben Martin and Will Brodie (PR). Dorset came 5th county. In the club competition of the Dorset teams only WAC placed (7th). Scoring for us alongside Ben Martin were Joel Green, Ollie Rawles and Seth Lake. Also representing WAC were Josh Jack and Tom Fuller. This age-group has thrown up unpredictable results for WACers all season, largely due to runners competing while struggling with colds. This time around it was the turn of Tom Fuller to fall foul of the winter bug curse!
U17 men (57 finishers)
24 – Jamie Barrington (EHH) – 21:06
28 – Oliver James (BAC) – 21:14
29 – Ben Martin (WAC) – 21:29
35 – Will Brodie (PR) – 21:39
37 – Joel Green (WAC) – 21:50
38 – Ollie Rawles (WAC) – 21:53
42 – Seth Lake (WAC) – 22:27
47 – Josh Jack (WAC) – 22:54
48 – Tom Fuller (WAC) – 23:04
56 – Jacob Small (PAC) – 27:06
The meeting concluded with the combined under-20/senior women’s race. The first green vest home was WAC’s Maddy Johnson. Maddy is an under-20, and she narrowly missed a podium, being 4th u20. The first of the senior women was Dawn Andrews of Lytchett Manor Striders. The top four senior women were Dawn, Alex Door (Egdon), Sarah Swift (PR) and WAC’s Tara Green. One place ahead of Tara was Dorset’s 2nd-placed u20, Lita Short. The Dorset women’s team placed 5th, unfortunately we didn’t register a score in the under-20s competition. The only one Dorset clubs to register a score was Poole Runners who were 8th.
Under-20/Senior women (84 finishers)
15 – Maddy Johnson (WAC) U20 – 22:59
34 – Dawn Andrews (LMS) – 24:36
38 – Alex Door (EHH) – 25:00
54 – Sarah Swift (PR) – 27:17
59 – Lita Short (PR) U20 – 27:54
62 – Tara Green (WAC) – 28:30
65 – Izabela Shylock (PR) – 29:03
71 – Kirsty Drewett (BAC) – 29:37
74 – Lisa Worthington (EHH) – 30:48
76 – Megan Hocking (PR) U20 – 31:24
77 – Linda Ashmore (EHH) – 33:38
78 – Jayne Wade (BAC) – 33:48
79 – Josie Harris (PR) – 34:10
80 – Natasha Flux (WSP) – 34:16
84 – Annette Lewis (BAC) – 36:08
That’s it for another South West Inter-Counties. Many of these athletes will re-group at Prestwold Hall, near Loughborough on 7 March for the Inter-County Cross-Country Championships where we will be fielding teams of eight in each age-group from under-13 right through to seniors.
