Met League 3 Uxbridge U15/17s
So the festive season has arrived, and so too has winter, as misty,old conditions greeted our runners for a good course involving a ski slope, some wooded areas and a river crossing to boot towards the end of the course.
Unfortunately we were down on numbers for this fixture, what with four of our best Under 15s doing the business up at Woodbridge in Suffolk in the ESAA Cup Final. Teamwise we took a hit on the day with the boys in 6th spot and the girls in 8th place. Fotunately we still hold second overall in both genders.
Under 15 boys
A good size field of 55 starters was led home by the talented Daniel Jellfs in 1st place. Oscar Eaton led the team home in 8th spot, less than a minute behind the overall winner. Oscar literally comes straight to these races after football training which he cannot afford to miss. Well done Oscar, great effort from you. Lucas Freedman was next home in 25th spot and has improved greatly in recent months. Rahul Solanki was next home in 33rd spot. Rahul is also steadily improving. The squad were backed up well with Oliver Brown 40th, Stephen Ng 42nd, and Tyler Mudondo 50th.
Under 17s
There were 35 starters in this race which runs alongside the U15s. Luke Dunham, a 8:55 3k runner, led the overall race home. Joshua Ssempira led the squad home in 11th spot. Joshua has just finished his mocks so well done to him. Unfortunately, William Muffett had a bad start but rallied well to place 15th. Godwinner Nkembani, so reliable, was 28th with Vladimirs Kalinins placing 30th. Again, good packing from the lads.
Under 15/17 girls
Unfortunately we only had three runners out ,which was disappointing to be honest but, having said that, most of the others had valid reasons for not racing.
Great credit to Tess, Ella and Matilda for making it over to Uxbridge that day.
Jorja March, an outstanding schools international, won the race overall. Ella Traynor led the team home in 14th spot, a really good run. Ella, who is the Redbridge schools XC champion, is improving steadily and nothing would please me more than to see her get a county schools vest next year. She deserves it. Just behind Ella was Tess Noblet, a current county schools athlete, in 15th spot. Tess enjoys playing football now, and why not. You will always see Tess regularly at training despite being a footballer. Matilda Frith was our other runner. Again so reliable is Matilda, and last year she took up the steeplechase. Matilda was 16th in the U17 girls race and, like Ella, nothing would please me more than to see her in Essex colours over the chase. She deserves it too.

So in the Howard Williams Junior Trophy we lie second, 4 points adrift of Shaftesbury. It is not a lost cause to pull it back but it will need a much better turnout, particularly in the Junior Women’s race at Welwyn. We have the strength in depth to pull this back.
Now we focus on a good block of training before the Essex Champs in January. I must thank the parents transporting the athletes to Uxbridge on such a cold afternoon.