On Saturday in Croydon, the 2025 edition of the Surrey County Cross Country Championships was hosted over Lloyd Park’s rolling hills and boggy valleys, including some frozen ground on sections of the challenging lap, writes Geoff Jerwood.
More than 900 athletes were entered across 10 races of between two and seven-and-a-half miles.
Herne Hill Harriers were represented in every race through a successful day which saw them win individual and team gold medals in the U15 boys’ category, plus team silver in the U13 boys, U17 women and U20 men.
The U15 boys race saw Harriers dominate with five runners in the first 12, led superbly by Caspian Holmes winning the individual title and a bronze medal performance from Tommy Clerkin.
With four-to-score per team in these age groups the winning quartet was completed by Leau Roch and Edward Cunniffe, sixth and eighth respectively. Arnold Duan (12th) provided invaluable back-up.
Holmes, Clerkin and Roch have been rewarded with automatic selection for the Surrey team for the national inter counties championship in March, while the other two Harriers could potentially be added on further results in the coming month.
The winner was too fast to catch up with, letting his run do his talking, but his team-mates were ready with post-race comments.
Clerkin said: “I’m very proud to have won an individual bronze medal as well as a team gold medal for HHH at the Surrey Championships.
“I’m looking forward to the rest of the cross country races this season and the upcoming track season.”
Roch said: “I am really happy with the result we achieved both as a team and personally.
“Thank you to James (McDonald) for the coaching and well done to everyone who competed and who helped.”
Cunniffe said: “Race conditions weren’t too bad given all the preparation we have had on Streatham Common and Camber Sands with our coaches. It was great to be part of a winning team and securing team gold in a field with Hercules Wimbledon and Aldershot.”
The U13 boys were the first of three Herne Hill teams to claim silver. Their fab four comprised Josiah Aldham in seventh, Henry Kucerov ninth, John Reynolds 10th and Alfie Beasley-Suffolk 30th.
Both the U17 women and U20 men’s team races are contested by the best three scorers in age groups which tend to have a high rate of attrition despite the hard work of clubs to try to improve athlete retention levels.
Sophie Jack, eighth, Maeve Minielly ninth and Martha Brennan 16th combined for the U17W, while Fabien Whitelock sixth, Harry Bell seventh and Alex Jack 10th formed the U20M trio.
The stellar season enjoyed so far by Harriers’ senior women stalled a little as with A team regulars unavailable the team placed fourth. Sophie Tooley produced one of the best individual runs as her excellent fourth saw her only seconds away from a podium position.
This represents her strongest performance in her 18 months with the club.
The U13 and U15 girls teams both finished sixth. U13 scorers were Isobel McLennan 20th, Poppy Mack 27th, Genevieve Meek 32nd and Eva Burke 42nd. For the U15s, Sofia Mendes was 16th, Clementine Cole 30th, Jojo Solly 57th and Lottie Gowland-Smith 60th.
An U17 men’s trio saw Leon McConnon 17th, Alfie Bryan 23rd and Raphael Lerner 31st form a seventh-placed team. The U20 women was the only category in which Herne Hill’s team was incomplete, but featured a ninth-placed finish for Kaitlin Hewitt.
The final race saw 13 Harriers senior men starters, led by Andrew Clarke in 12th place. Following Clarke were Alex Gutteridge 57th, Fintan Kearney 67th, Ben Millar 74th, Stephen McLeod 81st, with Calum Murphy 84th to close out the scoring team of six.
There were some excellent road race performances on New Year’s Eve in Battersea Park.
The Mizuno Podium 5km elite women’s race was the highlight of a stellar afternoon of racing as it featured Paris Olympics 1,500m semi-finalist Revee Walcott Nolan, who duly took the win with a finish on the athletics track.
Rising star Lucy Jones, winner of the London Cross Country Championships in November at Parliament Hill, took another step forward with a superb fifth-place finish with an 18 seconds PB of 16:12. All four athletes ahead of her are Great Britain internationals.
Not far behind Jones were Darcie Hey and Tooley, who placed 13th and 14th.
Hey lowered her PB by 12 seconds with her 16:43 clocking and Tooley took 20 seconds off her PB with 16:46. Grace Leyland was 27th with 17:17 and Annabel Hobday came 38th with 17:47.
HERCULES WIMBLEDON
Hercules Wimbledon athletes braved icy conditions at their respective county cross-country championships this weekend as they excelled across the age groups, writes George Mallett.
At the Surrey Cross Country Championships held in Lloyd Park, Croydon on Saturday, the club’s juniors collected a host of silverware.
Benjy Street took the U20 men’s title in impressive fashion, sprinting away from the opposition to lead his trio to team bronze. Street bettered his fifth place from last year, a season in which he made breakthroughs across all the distances.
Jack Hobden was ninth with Isaac Lutaya completing the scoring trio in 14th.
In the U13 boys, Ivan Derian took individual silver, spearheading his team to gold as Max Harrison and Thomas Hennigan rounded out fourth and fifth. Alex Derian was eighth with Anas Briki in 11th in a dominant showing for the U13s. Jessica Wood won silver in the U13 girls event, finishing just five seconds shy of a county title with Anna Wait in 11th.
The silvers continued as Isabella Harrison was edged out in the U15 girls’, with Freia Harper-Tee also finishing in an impressive eighth place. Leah Paulson’s 19th place secured them team silver.
Theo Creed made it four individual silvers, as he finished six seconds short of Caspian Holmes of Herne Hill Harriers in the U15 boys’.
Pancho Panchev led the U17 men to team silver, thanks to his seventh position. Noah Fernandez (12th) and Joseph Rumfitt (22nd) completed the scoring trio.
Lara Delport was 11th in the U17 girls’ edition – a performance matched by Ed Mallett in the senior men’s event. Henry Silverstein (20th) and Eoin Brady (21st) also performed strongly.
Competing in the Norfolk County Championships, Sam Todd was an impressive seventh.
Competing before Christmas in the Berkshire Championships, Alex Sutton finished sixth.
The county championships traditionally form the qualification stage for the 2025 UK Inter-Counties Championships on March 8, with many of the athletes detailed above well positioned to represent their respective counties against the best the rest of the UK counties have to offer.
At the Tadworth 10 on Sunday, the start and finish of which are on Epsom racecourse, Baptiste Lehmann took third place in a time of 61:38. The course, which follows an undulating course had puddles that resembled small lakes in parts.
CROYDON HARRIERS
Croydon Harriers, regular hosts for the Surrey Cross Country Championships staged another notched several top-10 places at Lloyd Park, writes Mike Fleet.
Their best result was fourth place for fast-emerging U17 girl Lucy Cole, who missed a medal by19 seconds.
Top club senior Peter Chambers took a very creditable 10th of 198 finishers
The next two home, Isaac Flanigan and Tom Baxter battled it out to place 67th and 68th, separated by a single second.
Zoha Jeta was 10th in the U20 women’s category.
Marathon specialist Madeleine-Armstrong-Pleith was 48th in the senior race.
HERCULES WIMBLEDON PICTURE: Benjy Street on the podium Credit: Anne Hevgold