Dacorum & Tring young guns have a blast at cross country series finale

Olivia Edwards and Stella Whitlum in action at the Chiltern Cross Country League. Picture (c) Gary Mitchell

Dacorum & Tring AC's junior squads capped a fine season of cross country racing with strong results at the fifth and final Results Base Chiltern League series, held at Milton Keynes' Campbell Park.

The 15 youngsters, ranging in age from 11 to 16, racked up valuable points for the club, which finished the day in first place overall, and first in the five-event series ranking, earning promotion to Division 1 of the league with the widest margin in recent years.

The squad, coached by Mike Dunphy, picked up a handful of silverware on the day; three medals for performances at the event, and two first-place awards for the overall series standings. Overall, the junior runners finished as third team out of 24 teams in the five-event series.

In the U17 men’s race, Rhys Rowlands was third on the day, giving him first place for the series, while James Wass, in his first cross country race for the club, crossed the line in a fantastic sixth place. The two boys ran fast enough to finish as second team on the day, with the U17 team finishing second in the series.

Freddie Truman-Williams in action in the U13 boys' race at the Chiltern Cross Country League. Picture (c) Gary Mitchell

Jamie Ayres was first in the U15 boys’ race, with Luke Burford in 11th; the two combined to finish as second team. Luke’s finish placed him sixth overall after five races.

In the U13 boys’ race, Freddie Truman-Williams (pictured) crossed the line second, enough to give him first overall in the series. Jamie Bailey placed fifth in the race and sixth overall in the series ranking, and he was followed by Sam Burnell (seventh), Seth Russell (eighth) and Thomas Ashton (11th). The boys were first team on the day and first team in the series overall, with Sam and Thomas finishing the series in eighth and ninth position, respectively.

On the girls’ side, Grace Birdseye finished a strong fourth in the U17 race, giving her sixth overall in the series ranking, while Amy Cassidy was 10th for the U13 girls.

In the U11 girls’ race, Olivia Edwards was fifth overall, only 12s off top spot, and finished the five-race series in fourth - an agonising one point off the podium.

Stella Whitlum was a strong 23rd overall out of 74 finishers, while Sam Day (25th) and Niall Cassidy (31st), racing for the U11 boys, had their best races of the season.