There were medals for Reading's lads in all the age groups on Sunday in the Berkshire Cross Country Championships, with an individual silver, two team silvers and a team bronze. The tough undulating and waterlogged course at Ashenbury Park in Woodley was compensated for somewhat by the gloriously sunny weather, but nevertheless it proved a severe test for all the competitors.
In the U15 boys 4km race Ollie Craggs was soon among the leading group, and although forced to let the leader go after halfway he continued to run strongly, finishing in a clear second place in a time of 13.33. Ollie was backed up well by Oli Snoxall, whose decisive finishing burst took him into sixth in 14.05, and by Edward Lewis, whose determined running gave him ninth, recording 14.42. In a very close team competition Reading's total of 17 meant they lost to Windsor by a single point, while finishing ahead of Bracknell by the same margin. Meanwhile Adam Methven's ankle problem unfortunately prevented him finishing.
For the U17s in their 6km race, Mattie Raynor was prominent in the early stages, running in the leading group of four, but eventually had to give ground. Nevertheless he hung on well to finish fourth in 21.24, while Reading's other scorers were Alfie McClennon in an excellent seventh place with 21.51 and Laurie Baker with a good effort for ninth in 22.12, with Reading's total of 20 giving them second place behind Windsor. Reading's non-scoring runners also did well, with Aryan Gupta in 12th with 23.05, Rohan Brooks 14th in 23.23 and Isaac Mileham 17th in 30.42.
Maddox Gillas and Samuel Lindsey-Halls were among the early leaders in the U13 boys 3km race, but in the second half of the race it was Maddox who proved the stronger, as he finished fourth in 10.46, with Samuel holding on well for eighth place in 11.10. The scoring team was completed by Josh Smith in 12th, with a fine run for a time of 11.44, and Reading's total of 24 gave the team third place. Jacob Sheikh and Tommy Elson both ran well, finishing close together in 15th and 16th with times of 11.59 and 12.02 respectively, but both Billy Newman and George Bundy had the misfortune to have to drop out with twisted ankles.
Report by Keith Whyte.
