Written by SD   

Herewith.

Another fantastic result for K&P at the 2nd match of the Downs XC League: U13 and U15 teams defend their position at the top of the leader board.

Clear blue skies meant a rare treat for Sunday’s Downs league runners, parents and friends. This was as good it could get. It did get better.

A severely depleted U11 team with most of last race’s athletes struck by illness or held up in traffic due to sudden road closures put up a hard battle and came fourth of ten teams. Joe Lavender had a smashing race and came 3rd, followed by Joe Noakes (16th), Laura Darcey 24th/ 6th girl) and Jason Newell (29th; 50 runners in total). This heroic effort kept us in third place overall, just ten points behind Epson & Ewell. However, we are also just nine points ahead of Long Ditton School. So, while Sutton & District is well ahead, the race for team silver and bronze is quite open, and all will depend on a good turnout at the next race on 15 February. Yet for all who ran today - you were brilliant!

Our U13 team secured another win, with Nathan Judson-Richardson 5th, Ed Rumbold 6th, Minty Allen 7th (2nd girl), Laura Cook 9th (3rd girl), Issy Foster 11th, (5th girl), Alex Bartle 15th (9th girl), Holly Courtney 17th (11th girl), Martin Purkiss 18th, U11 Toby Deighton 20th, U11 Harry Deighton 21st and Jessica Lavender 22nd (13th girl). In the individual rankings and after two of four matches, Ed is 2nd boy, Minty 1st, Laura 2nd girl, respectively. Our team is now 30 points ahead of Croydon, 38 points ahead of Epsom and Ewell and 43 points ahead of Sutton and District; terrific!

Also our U15s secured another win, with Gaby Miles leading the team home in 4th place (1st girl), followed suit by Hussain Zarei 5th, Max Williams 7th, Michael Christov 8th, Nikolaj Schubert 9th, Jessica Tomlinson 10th(2nd girl), Dominika Wrobel 12th (4th girl), Rachel Cook 13th (5th girl) and Sam Keay 14th (6th girl). We are now 26 points clear of Epsom & Ewell, 27 ahead of Croydon and 45 points ahead of Sutton & District. Gaby is well on course to win the girls’ title, and Max moved up into 3rd position of the boys’ rankings, superb!

Alex, Dominika, Holly, Hussain, Jessica, Laura D, Nathan and Sam enjoyed a great debut at their first Downs League outing. For the more seasoned runners, a number of PB’s tumbled as well, with Laura C having knocked off 51 sec of her previous PB, Ed improved by 34 sec, Max by 28, Rachel by 24, Minty by 15, Jessica Lavender by 7 and Gaby by 4 seconds. Well done!

Sunday’s results show that we have the strength and depth in our teams to take on the other clubs in Surrey just fine. And why not? You are all training well and regularly, and it’s paying off. So then - what lies ahead?

For all in year 7/8 (U13), 9/10 (U15) and 11/12 (U17), the next rather important competition will be the Surrey Champs on Saturday 3rd January in Lloyd Park, Croydon. It will also be a good opportunity to check out the runners you will meet if you are going to represent Kingston in the Surrey Schools’ Champs on 17th January in Reigate. If you are available on 3rd January, please let me know immediately as athletes have to be pre-registered.

A further opportunity for U13, U15 and U17 to compete at Surrey level will be the Surrey League Race on Saturday 10 January. Please contact Debbie Raymond ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it 01372 374731 / 07809590779; girls’/women’s XC team captain) or Bob McDonough ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it 020 89468478; boys’/men’s XC team captain) for further information.

The Belton/Holland/Yates Schools Meeting and K&P Club Championships will be held on Saturday 24 January 2009, Richmond Park. This is for U11, U13, U15 and U17. You can run for your school team as well as participate in the club champs. Registry is on the day.

The remaining Epsom Downs League Races will be on Sunday 15 February and 8 March, and I hope that we will be able to take up affairs we left them today.

Again, well done everybody, and many thanks to all the families for their support.

Susanne

Susanne Dietrich

Level 1 coach and Downs League team manager

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , 020 8399 7084