So far this season there have been a disappointing number of girls taking part in the cross country season, but the girls who have taken part have made up for this with some fantastic performances.
The season started with the Goodwood Cross Country Relays. The under 13 team of Laura Smith, Steffi Paraskevas and Chloe Gregory Bennet came 4th. Our fourth runner Esther Lutz-Davies made up a team with two Lewes girls and found herself in a non-scoring but winning team. Rachel Titheradge was the only under 17 girl so she ran in the Women’s B team.
In the first League race at Goodwood on 28th October the number of runners were reduced due to half term. Just four girls turned out in extremely wet, muddy conditions. Goodwood was shrouded in mist and the runners were seen to appear magically out of the mist. The under 13s race saw Steffi 8th, Laura 13th and Esther 16th out of a field of 40. In the under 15s Holly Turner was 16th. These were great performances in very difficult conditions.
The first Sunday in November saw lots of the younger girls turn up in Preston Park for the Phoenix Races. In the under 13s Laura was 6th, Steffi 8th, Esther 10th and Kathleen Dalton 29th. Laura, Steffi and Esther were the second placed team. In the under 11s lots of Brighton girls ran, hopefully these will be our future cross country runners. The results were Hannah Pinkus 30th, Leonie Handley 34th, Poppy Harrison 36th, Abby Draper 39th and Caitlin O’Donahue 57th.
On Saturday 28th November five girls ran in the second league race which took place at Plumpton, a course which a lot of girls don’t like. In muddy conditions the under 13s started the day with outstanding results. Out of a field of 38 runners Steffi Paraskevas ran hard all the way to finish in 5th place, closely followed by Laura Smith in 11th and Esther Lutz Davies in 14th. After two races the under 13 team are now in joint second place with Crawley and 17 points behind Hastings. In both the under 15s and under 17s there was only one Brighton runner. Holly Turner was 9th under 15 girl and Rachel Titheradge 24th in the women’s race and the 5th under 17 runner.
Steffi was selected to represent Sussex in the Inter Counties Match at Parliament Hill in November. She ran superbly at Parliament Hill to come in 39th.
Well done to all the girls, I look forward to more successes after Christmas in the second half of the season.
Ann Titheradge
Girls Cross Country Manager