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Met League 2024 Race 4: Welwyn Garden City Race Report
On Saturday, glorious blue sky and a frozen white Stanborough Park greeted 48 athletes from Herts Phoenix for the fourth fixture in the Metropolitan Cross Country League. As the cold snap put paid to less resilient sports, athletes enjoyed another excellent event hosted by the club. A special thank you must go to organiser Richard Bloom and the team of volunteers that made it happen. To cap it, there were 3 individual victories for Phoenix athletes and an excellent turnout of junior athletes.
The junior men certainly made home advantage count as they got the better of rivals Woodford Green & Essex Ladies to claim their first team victory of the season. Luke ‘the Nuke’ Dunham (1st) dictated the pace to chalk up his third individual win of the campaign. Ben Murphy (5th), Matias Benveniste (11th) and Jake Summers (15th) ensured the boys closed the gap on their Essex rivals at the top of the table. Another excellent turnout in this event included Freddie Hollings Yates (21st), Jack Wright (44th), Reuben Smith (58th), Neil Strange (70th), Harry Murphy (72nd), Jack Evans (75th) and Thomas Anderson (86th), which meant the club scored points for 3 teams.
In the senior women’s event, Khai Mhlanga (1st) was too strong for the field as she raced to her second victory of the season. Khai was followed home by Tabitha Woodhouse (4th; 1st U20) who broke into the top 10 for the first time. Deborah Rushman (40th), Sally Judd (54th) Alicia Found (56th) and sistersGrace (74th) and Eleanor Mason (101st) secured a fifth place finish on the day which should ensure division 1 competition again next season for the women.
The senior men’s team were somewhat depleted thanks to a fixture clash with the world’s fastest 10km in Valencia*. John Eves (17th) returned to league action after a 23 month break and led the men home with an expertly judged effort over the undulating 8km course. Steve Prosser (99th) sneaked into the top 100 and not far behind were under 20 athletes Jack Offord (120th) and Aiden Wadley (168th). The men were two athletes short of a full team but Dom Thomas (267th) Harry Gilham (288th), Dominic Mason (329th) and Andy Holt (380th) all scored valuable points which should ensure another campaign in division 2 next season.
The first home victory of the day went to Joshua Maiden (1st), who returned to winning ways with a strong front running performance in the U13 boys event. Alban Wadley (13th), Thomas Summers (29th) and league debutant Zachary Lines (34th) helped the boys to an excellent third place overall. Also making their league debuts with solid efforts were Zephyr Macalister (35th) and Raphael Bowen (45th) with Lucas James-Trezona (43rd) sandwiched between them.
For most of this season Cora Naylor (8th) and Jessica Lane (37th) have been the club’s only representatives in the junior women race and were so again at Stanborough Park. Cora looks assured competing in this age category for the first time this season and keeps up an impressive sequence of top 10 finishes. Jess battled the sticky course well despite not being quite at full fitness.
Earlier in the day, Henry Wakefield (4th) led home a team of seven under 11 boys with a typically brave run. He was followed home by youngster Finn Harley (14th), who was unfazed racing the older boys in his first taste of league action. There were league debuts also for Henry Bostock (24th), Alexander Kemp(31st), Albert Waller (33rd), Freddie Hubbard (37th) and Marko Semyrko (38th) as the boys took a respectable third place overall.
The U11 girls fielded a full team for the first time this season. Isla Griffith (13th) produced her best run of the campaign with Emily Butt (21st) and Missy Steel (24th) ensuring the girls grabbed seventh place overall whilst in the U13 girls event, Penny Field (17th), Eloise Steel (30th) and Laila Beyzade (31st) helped the girls to 10th place.
*Elsewhere, in somewhat warmer climes, 3 Herts Phoenix athletes were smashing their personal bests in the Valencia 10km in eastern Spain. Brett Rushman, who was in the British team that won gold at the European Cross Country Championships in November completed the race in 28:43 with Oscar Bell not far behind in 28:59. New member Mayank Mishra also shaved time of his previous best, completing the course in 33:11. Well done gentlemen!
