Essex League 2008-09
ALL reports and listings below by DAVE JOYCE
Essex Cross Country League: Chingford: 3.1.09
John Hanlon's pixx of chingford match in Essex League
It was a day for congratulations all round on Saturday 3rd January, a day which
not only saw the Orion Senior Men's Team secure 4th place in the final 2008/9
Essex Cross Country League table but a day which also saw the welcome return
of an Essex Cross Country League fixture to Chingford, hosted by Orion Harriers,
much to the satisfaction of League Officials and competitors alike who praised
Orion's organisation of the event and venue which is able to provide excellent
courses over the Epping Forest landscape with two courses - one on either side
of Rangers Road whereby the Junior age group races were run on the club
house side and the seniors across the road. This is unique, as is the benefit to
competitors of the provision of the Orion Harriers club house, changing rooms
and hot shower facilities and the added bonus of the post race welcoming
Forest Hotel Pub and restaurant.
This was the fifth a final League fixture of the 2008/9 League season and it was
certainly a happy new year finish for Orion Harriers Senior Men.
Senior Men
Orion Harriers senior Mens team finished their first full Essex CC League season,
securing 4th place in the Final League Table from the 24 League teams, proving
that Orion can more than hold its own in the County's top cross country league.
All in all an outstanding overall outcome, achieved from a series of consistently
good performances from Orion's 'top guns'. Lets hope it's the first of many
successful seasons in this competition.
On the day the Mens field at Chingford saw 150 starters in which Orion were
without Danny Moses who had gone down the Flu but 16 Orion Men lined up
for one of our best turn outs, as you would expect, being on home turf.
Jack Stroud again led the Orion Mens team home in 10th place and Jack was 3rd
Under 20 in the race which secured the individual Under 20 Mens Silver Medal.
Shay Joyce ran a good second half of the race to finish in 22nd place (securing
18th place in the Senior Mens individual final league table). He was followed by
Ben Hall in an excellent 29th place and 7th Under 20 home. Eric Paul 33rd
(6th Over 40 home and 8th in the final Over 40 standings) and Neil McGoun 34th
(securing 24th place in the Senior Mens individual final league table) ran neck
and neck the whole race and were Orion's 4th and 5th scorers with
Kevin Julien 45th Orion's 6th Scorer home. Orion's other competing runners
finished as follows - 57th Tim Wright, 64th Dave Brock (V40), 90th Jim Dawson
(V40), 95th Steve Adams (V40), 97th Graham Hall (V40), 101st Roger Green
(V60), 112th J.Thorpe (V40), 114th Vic Wilson (V60), 122nd Johnny Wallis (V40)
and 137th Peter Deadman (V60).
Senior Men Individual Race Results:
10th Jack Stroud 30:14 (3rd Under 20)
22nd Shay Joyce 31:10
29th Ben Hall 31:52 (7th Under 20)
33rd Eric Paul (6th V40) 32:08
34th Neil McGoun 32:10
45th Kevin Julian (V40) 33:21
57th Tim Wright 34:37
64th Dave Brock (V40) 35:22
90th Jim Dawson (V40) 37:44
95th Steve Adams (V40) 38:29
97th Graham Hall (V/40) 48:41
101st Roger Green (V60) 39:14
112th J.Thorpe (V40) 40:55
114th Vic Wilson (V60) 41:39
122nd Johnny Wallis (V40) 42:38
137th Peter Deadman (V60) 48:38
Senior Men Team Race Results:
1. Springfield Striders 132
2. Colchester Harriers 134
3. Chelmsford AC 149
4. Orion Harriers 173
5. Southend AC 303
6. Thrift Green Trotters 319
7. Ilford AC 331
8. Colchester & Tendring AC 414
9. Thurrock Harriers 516
10. Loughton AC 602
11. Braintree AC 678
12. Dagenham 88 RC 726
13. Havering Mayesbrook AC 156(5)
14. Benfleet RC 364(5)
15. Pitsea RC 550(4)
16. Mid-Essex Casuals 362(4)
17. Basildon AC 15(3)
18. Billericay Striders 210(3)
19. West Suffolk AC 74(2)
20. Tiptree RC 193(2)
21. Phoenix striders 254(2)
22. Leigh On Sea Striders 75(1)
Senior Women
Around 65 athletes started the Senior Womens race which turned out to be
Orion's best result of the season with the Orion team securing 3rd place in the
Team race from 16 Womens Teams. Unlike the Senior Men, Orion's Senior
Women haven't fielded a full team in every one of the 5 League fixtures this
season but this performance certainly proved what can be achieved if next
season Orion's Women turn out a full team in every fixture!
5 Orion Senior Women started the race. Whilst in 6th place and moving through
the field Natalie Kipps had the misfortune of a heavy fall which cost her 3 places
but Natalie struggled to her feet and bravely battled on to the finish in 9th
position. Although still not at her best having had six months out with a foot
injury Natalie still finished a very creditable 4th place in the final individual Senior
Womens League table and in her first season as a senior having moved up from
the Under 20 age group. Women's Captain Clare Thurgood was next home in
an excellent 10th place for another solid, strong performance. Completing the
scoring team was Julie Robinson in 35th and Kim Hudson in 41st (5th and 7th
Vets over 45 in the race). Caroline Wardley was the 5th Orion runners in the race
finishing 61st, Caroline has creditably completed all 5 League races this season.
Orion Senior Women finished 10th in the League from 24 Clubs but as this result
proved, if we can field a full Women's team for every race next season Orion can
finish in the Top 3!
Senior Women Individual Race Results:
9th. Natalie Kipps 27:36
10th Clare Thurgood 27:54
35th Julie Robinson (V45) 33:07
41st Kim Hudson (V45) 34:45
61st Caroline Wardley (V45) 47:14
Senior Women Team Race Results:
1. Colchester & Tendring AC 24
2. Benfleet RC 57
3. Orion Harriers 95
4. Colchester Harriers 96
5. Springfield Striders 99
6. Chelmsford AC 112
7. Loughton AC 127
8. Ilford AC 147
9. Dagenham 88 RC 194
10. Havering Mayesbrook AC 68 (3)
11. Southend AC 99
12. Basildon AC 17 (2)
13. Thrift Green Trotters 72 (2)
14. Braintree AC 31 (1)
15. Pitsea RC 47 (1)
16. Phoenix Striders 54 (1)
Junior 'highlights'
Under 13 Girls
Orion's Under 13 star Georgia Tuckfield completed her first season of cross country
league running with another excellent 2nd place, her 4th 2nd place finish from 5
league races, securing her the individual runner-up trophy. Georgia at only 11 years
has had a great season winning Silver in the Essex Cross Country Championships
and Silver in the Essex Cross Country League, she was also a medallist in the
London CC Championships amongst others. Another promising youngster Sydney
Taylor finished 9th. The Orion Under 13 girls team finished 4th at Chingford which
gave them five 4th places from the 5 league fixtures and 4th in the final League table.
Under 13 Boys
Orion's other Under 13 budding star, is Under 13 boy George Hoy who finished 5th
and led the Orion Under 13 Boys team to a great 3rd place on the day. Jesse Taylor
was 12th. The result clinched an excellent 3rd place for the Team in the final League
table. George finished 5th place in the individual Under 13 Boys League Championship
Table.
Under 15 Girls
Orion have one of the strongest Under 15 Girls teams in Essex in what is one of
the highest quality age groups this year. Orion's Under 15 girls team finished with
3 placed in the top ten to finish for a fantastic 2nd Team. They were led home by
Lauren MacGregor in 5th place, followed by Armanni Antoine-Chagar 6th and Jay
Andrews 8th. Lauren finished in 6th place in the individual Under 15 Girls League
Table and Jay was 7th. The Under 15 Girls Team finished equal 4th in the final
League table which couldn't have been closer with two of the top 5 teams finishing
on 16 and two on 17 including Orion.
Under 15 boys
Alex Gordon was first home for Orion Harriers in 12th place and Ben Silverstone
15th, leading the Orion U15 Boys team to 4th place overall on the day and 6th in
the final League table. Alex finished 13th in the individual final table.
Under 17 Women
Laura O'Conner was 13th Under 17 Woman home, leading the Orion Team
to 4th place at Chingford and 8th in the final league table.
Under 17 Mens
Orion's Frankie Conway scored his best ever result in the league finishing 4th in
amongst tough competition. Danny Penfold 9th and Auberon Hall 10th also made
the Top 10 with the Orion team 3rd. Orion U/17 Men fined 5th in the final
League table with Auberon Hall 9th in the individual final table.
Essex Cross Country League: Colchester: 13.12.08
It was a day when Torrential rain swept the country causing flash flooding in
parts of England, Wales and Scotland, stranding drivers and causing water to enter
hundreds of homes. Although not quite as bad at Colchester it was bad enough as
runners had to fend off freezing rain and a bitterly cold winds. The decision to
use a field at the back of the School being used as race HQ was a bad mistake as
Cars struggled to get out at the end of the day. We were lucky to be rescued by a
guy with a Range Rover 4x4 who towed us out or we would still have had our van
stuck there, sunk up to the axles! Never the less nothing will stop the
bravehearts of Orion Harriers!
Senior Men
The adverse weather took its toll as with the Mens field down from 200 starters in
previous fixtures to 140 although the quality of the field wasn't diminished at
all. Orion Harriers senior mens team suffered a couple of blows, firstly the
absence of Eric Paul and secondly Neil McGown having got lost arrived late and
missed the start but bravely fought his way up through the field and having given
the 140 starters a 3 minute head start he managed to fight his way up to 57th by
the finish whereas a top 30 spot would have been a fair assumption had Neil made
the start on time. However, in spite of the couple of hiccups Orion's Senior Men
continued their outstanding start to the 2008/9 Essex Cross Country League, Orion
finished 5th from the 22 League Clubs fielding teams in the race - Orion's Senior
Men have now finished 4th, 6th, 4th and 5th and those excellent performances have
resulted in Orion currently sitting in 5th in the League from 24 Clubs.
Despite the bad weather 10 Orion Men lined up at Colchester, among which were a
couple of new faces which it was great to see. Jack Stroud led the Orion Mens
team home in 13th place and Jack was 4th Under 20 home. Jack now sits in 2nd place
in the individual Under 20 Mens League championship table. Danny Moses was next
across the line for Orion, more or less matching his finishing position in the
last fixture, Danny was 17th. Then came strong finishing Shay Joyce in 27th,
followed by Ben Hall in an excellent 32nd place and our 6th and our sixth and
final scoring runner was Kevin Greales in 70th place. Tony Maru was 88th, Graham
Hall 94th, Bob Jousiff 110th and Pete Deadman was 127th home and the final Orion
Man in. All in all another satisfactory day at the office!
Senior Women
The weather saw 70 Senior Womens starters, down from 100 runners at the last time
fixture. Sadly only Natalie Kipps lined up for Orion Harriers, our only competitor
in the Senior Womens race, Natalie finished and a very creditable 10th place,
having just got over a bout of Flu. This was a good performance from Natalie who
is still on the come back trail, having had six months out with a foot injury after
winning the Essex 800m Track Championship title back in April, Natalie is making
steady progress and the good news was that Natalie sits 4th in place in the
individual Senior Womens League championship table. The team result with just one
starter saw Orion drop to 15th from 18 competing on the day. Orion's Senior Women
have now finished 5th, 11th, 9th and 15th and Orion currently sit 10th in the
League from 24 Clubs.
Junior highlights
Under 13 Girls
Orion's Under 13 star Georgia Tuckfield returned to top form to finish a great 2nd
place. Georgia at only 11 years of age has recorded three 2nd place finishes in
the 4 League fixtures this season and sits 2nd in the individual Under 13 Girls
League Championship Table. The Under 13 Girls Team placed an excellent 4th.
Under 13 Boys
Orion have another budding star in Under 13 boy George Hoy who recorded his best
performance of the season to finish a great 4th. George sits in 5th place in the
individual Under 13 Boys League Championship Table. The Under 13 Boys Team placed
an excellent 4th.
Under 15 Girls
Orion have one of the strongest Under 15 Girls teams in Essex in what is one of
the highest quality age groups this year. One of Orion's Under 15 stars Lauren
MacGregor finished an excellent 6th. Armanni Antoine-Chagar also made the top ten
finishing 9th. Lauren sits in 7th place in the individual Under 15 Girls League
Championship Table. The Under 15 Girls Team placed an excellent 3rd and could have
won on the day if it hadn't been for Jay Andrews unfortunately going down with Flu
and not being able to run on the day.
Under 15 boys
Ben Silverstone was first home for Orion Harriers in 19th place.
Under 17 mens
Orion's much improved and very impressive Frankie Conway scored his best ever
result in the league with another top 10 spot in tough competition, finishing 8th
and not far behind Frankie was another much improved Auberon Hall in 11th. The
Under 17 Mens Team placed 5th.
Senior Results:
Senior Men
13th Jack Stroud 32:14 (4th Under 20)
17th Danny Moses 32:35
27th Shay Joyce 33:21
32nd Ben Hall 34:00 (7th Under 20)
57th Neil McGoun 36:33
70th Kevin Greales (V40) 37:38
88th Tony Maru (V/40) 40:09
94th Graham Hall (V/40) 40:36
110th Bob Jousiff (V/60) 44:10
127th Pete Deadman (V/60) 51:47
Mens Team Result
1. Basildon AC 102
2. Chelmsford AC 127
3. Colchester Harriers 134
4. Springfield Stridders 139
5. Orion Harriers 216
6. Havering Mayesbrook AC 226
7. Southend AC 254
8. Colchester & Tendring AC 340
9. Ilford AC 366
10. Thrift Green T 457
11. Thurrock Harriers AC 551
12. Dagenham 88 RC 704 Leigh On Sea RC 512
13. Braintree AC 548 (5)
14. Billericay Striders 256 (4)
15. Benfleet RC 301 (4)
16. Tiptree RC 347 (3)
17. West Suffolk AC 95 (2)
18. Leigh On Sea S 106 (2)
19. Loughton AC 182 (2)
20. Norfolk Gazells 182 (2)
21. Phoenix Striders 101 (1)
22. Pitsea RC 102 (1)
Senior Women
10. Natalie Kipps 24:58
Womens Team Result
1. Colchester & Tendring AC 37
2. Basildon AC 47
3. Colchester Harriers 59
4. Benfleet RC 75
5. Southend AC 99
6. Springfield Striders 103
7. Chelmsford AC 123
8. Ilford AC 132
9. Loughton AC 207
10. Thrift Green T 129 (3)
11. Braintree AC 191 (3)
12. Havering Mayesbrook AC 38 (2)
13. Norfolk Gazells 103 (2)
14. Pitsea RC 107 (2)
15. Orion Harriers 10 (1)
16. Thurrock Harriers 32 (1)
17. Dagenham 88 RC 60 (1)
18. Phoenix Striders 65 (1)
Essex Cross Country League: Hylands Park, Chelmsford: 29.11.08
Senior Men
Orion Harriers senior mens team continued their outstanding start to the
2008/9 Essex Cross Country League campaign at Hylands Park, Chelmsford
on Saturday 29 November. Fielding a full strength team with our current
top 6 in form men, Orion finished 4th from the 22 League teams contesting
the fixture and bouncing back from our 6th place in the last fixture. Orion's
Men have now finished 4th, 6th and 4th in the 3 fixtures this season which
are excellent performances. The significance of the Chelmsford fixture
however was that the top 4 Mens teams, including Orion were within 20
points of each other making it an extremely close result and the closest
to date!
This puts us in a strong position going into the final races, at Colchester on
13th December and at home on 3rd January. With as many runners as possible and
good support, we could do even better and finish the League in style.
9 Orion Men lined up at Chelmsford - the same as the last fixture at Hockley.
Steady rain throughout the night and on the morning of the race made
an already wet Hylands Park very soggy and muddy in parts of the course
which had been well churned up by the earlier races for the 180 Men starters.
Jack Stroud who's performed exceptionally this season and consistently so,
recorded his best position of the season with an outstanding 10th place in
this high standard league, as he lead the Orion team home once again. Jack
was also the second Under 20 runner home placing him 10th in the individual
Senior League standings and 3rd in the individual Under 20 League standings.
Jack is well placed to win another Essex Vest for the Southern Inter-Counties
Championships in January. Behind Jack came further excellent performances
with Danny Moses finishing 16th. Neil McGoun 20th and Shay Joyce 23rd both
moved up over 10 places from the last fixture to improve the Orion team score
line. Then came Ben Hall and excellent 37th, up 13 places on his last League
run and rounding off our scoring team of six was Orion's top Vet Eric Paul in
40th for total of 146 - a 31 point improvement on the last fixture.
Senior Women
Again Orion Harriers were only able to field the minimum 4 runners required to
complete a team in the Senior Womens race but the team moved up two places from
11th last time out to 9th at Chelmsford. Orion were 5th in the first fixture at Loughton.
With just under 100 starters, Natalie Kipps and Clare Thurgood both had vastly
improved runs in comparisoin to the previous fixture with Natalie finishing
strongly in 7th place up from 14th last time out and Clare Thurgood 16th, up
from 20th at Hockley. Gill Hopkins was running her second race for Orion in the
Essex League and improved to 81st, up from 96th last timeout. Caroline Wardley
completed the Orion Harriers team placing 91st to help the Orion team finish 9th
from 18 teams on the day.
In the first race of the day Sydney Taylor was first home for Orion Harriers in
the
Under 13 Girls race with the team finishing 4th. George Hoy led home the Orion
Under 13 Boys in 7th place with the team finishing 5th. The Under 15 Girls Team
were the stars of the day finishing 2nd with Lauren MacGregor 6th, Jay Andrews
7th, Armarnni Antoine-Chager 11th and Charlotte Mathams 24th. Alex Gordon
was first home for the Under 15 boys in 18th place and the team finished 6th.
Another outstanding performance both individual and team came in the
Under 17 mens race where Frankie Conway was 9th, leading the team home to
3rd place. Laura O'Conner was 16th in the Under 17 Womens race with the team
7th.
Results:
Senior Men
10th Jack Stroud 29:29 (2nd Under 20)
16th Danny Moses 29:56
20th Neil McGoun 30:17
23rd Shay Joyce 30:30
37th Ben Hall 31:07 (7th Under 20)
40th Eric Paul 31:20 (6th V/40)
55th Kevin Julien 32:23 (11th V/40)
117th Grant Baker 36:58 (V/40)
122nd Graham Hall 37:20 (V/40)
(105th Richard Goad 36:16 (V/50) running now for Pitsea RC!)
Mens Team Result
1. Havering Mayesbrook AC 126
2. Chelmsford AC 130
3. Basildon AC 136
4. Orion Harriers 146
5. Springfield Stridders 164
6. Colchester Harriers 196
7. Southend AC 319
8. Thrift Green T 371
9. Ilford AC 401
10. Thurrock Harriers AC 460
11. Colchester & Tendring AC 491
12. Leigh On Sea RC 512
13. Benfleet RC 514
14. Pitsea RC 756
15. Mid Essex Casuals 763
16. Braintree AC 803
17. Dagenham 88 RC 727 (5)
18. Loughton AC 458 (4)
19. Tiptree RC 401 (3)
20. West Suffolk AC 64 (2)
21. Billericay Striders 133 (2)
22. Phoenix Striders 193 (2)
Senior Women
7. Natalie Kipps 27:16
16. Clare Thurgood 28:24
81. Gill Hopkins 39.44
91. Caroline Wardley 48:25 (V/45)
Womens Team Result
1. Basildon AC 34
2. Benfleet RC 59
3. Chelmsford AC 72
4. Colchester & Tendring AC 82
5. Southend AC 102
6. Springfield Stridders 119
7. Loughton AC 152
8. Ilford AC 157
9. Orion Harriers 195
10. Braintree AC 238
11. Thrift Green T 240
12. Colchester Harriers 107 (3)
13. Dagenham 88 RC 174 (3)
14. Leigh On Sea RC 184 (3)
15. Pitsea RC 214 (3)
16. Havering Mayesbrook AC 47(2)
17. Phoenix Striders 153(2)
18. Tiptree RC 11 (1)
Essex Cross Country League: Hockley: 15.11.08
Basildon AC were in the ascendancy in the second Essex Cross Country League fixture of the 2008 season
at Hockley, fielding a very powerful team they had the race winner in Mark Sanford and with 6 in the
top ten were untouchable winning the team race up from 16th in the first fixture.
Orion Harriers senior men were unfortunately hit with two of our top guns Danny Moses and Ben Hall
going down with flu and missing from the line up which impacted on our overall team position but 6th
from 22 teams competing was still an excellent result following our 4th from 24 in the first fixture
at Loughton last month. Only 9 senior men started the race, down from an excellent turn out of 17 last
month - obviously Loughton was conveniently around the corner and Hockley just up the road a bit!
A big field of 200 runners started with 193 finishers and the quality of the field up front was remarkable!
Jack Stroud's 14th place to lead home Orion was another excellent performance in this high standard league
and he was 3rd Under 20 home an improvement from 5th Under 20 in the first fixture which sees Jack sitting
2nd overall in the Under 20 individual league championship competition. Second man home for Orion and just
50 seconds behind Jack came Shay Joyce in 30th position, up 3 places from the last fixture but in a stronger
field is a good run for Shay, next home Neil McGoun in 37th, just 4 places down on the last fixture. Then
came Eric Paul 47th, Kevin Julian 59th, Adrian Frost 119th, Graham Hall 142nd, Peter Deadman 181st and finally
making a rare Essex League appearance with hopefully more to come was Alan Dickin 191st!
Sadly despite the determined efforts of Women's Captain Clare Thurgood only 4 Senior Women made the trip to
Hockley, one less that the previous Loughton fixture but none the less at least Orion Harriers fielded a
complete team of the required 4 runners in the Senior Womens race (it's 6 in the Senior Mens race).
As with the Mens race, the numbers were up on the previous fixture as was the quality of the field with
110 starters. Natalie Kipps and Clare Thurgood both admitted to not having the best of runs and may be
struggling with slight colds or Flu! First home for Orion was Natalie who faded towards the end of the
race finishing 14th after 8th at Loughton. Next came Clare Thurgood in 20th Clare was an excellent 11th
at Loughton. Completing the team for Orion Harriers and enjoying the race were Gill Hopkins 96th and
Caroline Wardley 107th. Orion Harriers placed 11th from 18 teams on the day - we were 4th at Loughton
from 18 teams contesting the race.
The biggest Orion star of day was one of our littlest runners! Under 13 Georgia Tuckfield finished 2nd
in her age group race, once again behind Chelmsford’s Sophie Richards but significantly the gap was
greatly reduced from the previous Loughton fixture from a 32 seconds gap down to 14 seconds so who
knows Georgia may catch her yet ! In the high standard Under 15 Girls race Jay Andrews 7th turned in
another top 8 place which keeps Jay and Lauren MacGregor who was missing with a minor foot injury both
in contention for Essex County Team Selection for the Southern Inter-Counties Championships in January
along with Georgia. In the Under 17 Women's race Laura O'Conner was first Orion Home in 26th. Another
excellent performance came from George Hoy who placed 7th in the Under 13 Boys race and led Orion home
to 4th team place overall. Alex Gordon was 16th in the Under 15 Boys race and first home for Orion. In
the Under 17 mens race Auberon Hall repeated his 17th place from the first fixture and lead the Under
17 mens team home to 4th place.
RESULTS:
Senior Men:
14th Jack Stroud 28:04 (3rd U20)
30th Shay Joyce 28:54
37th Neil McGoun 29:22
47th Eric Paul 30:00 (7th Vet 40)
59th Kevin Julian 30:47 (11th Vet 40)
119th Adrian Frost 34:22 (Vet 40)
142nd Graham Hall 35:32 (Vet 40)
181st Pete Deadman 43:20 (Vet 60)
191st Alan Dicken 48:18 (Vet 60)
Team Results:
1Basildon AC 96
2 Colchester & T 135
3 Havering M 144
4 Springfield S 161
5Chelmsford 176
6Orion H 329
7Southend 374
8Thrift Green T 395
9Ilford 440
10 Thurrock 449
11Benfleet 480
12Thurrock 496
13 Leigh on Sea 678
14 Pitsea 837
15 Loughton 852
16 Mid Essex Casuals 862
17 Dagenham 88 930
18 Braintree 803(5)
19Billericay S 434(4)
20 Tiptree 472(4)
21 West Suffolk 72(2)
22 Phoenix Striders 147(1)
Senior Women
14th Natalie Kipps 27:01
20th Clare Thurgood 27:46
96th Gill Hopkins 38:50
89th Caroline Wardley (Vet 45) 48:32
Team Results:
1Basildon 42
2 Colchester & T 52
3 Chelmsford 63
4 Benfleet 77
5 Southend 108
6 Havering M 110
7 Colchester H 120
8 Loughton 125
9 Springfield 141
10 Ilford 167
11 Orion H 237
12 Leigh on Sea 245
13 Thrift Green Trotters 269
14 Dagenham 88 293
15 Pitsea RC 302
16 Braintree 173 (3)
17 Phoenix Striders 168 (2)
18 Tiptree 16 (1)
Essex Cross Country League Season : Loughton : 11.10.08
The start of the 2008 Essex cross country league season saw Orion Harriers get off to a great start with both
Senior Men's + Senior Women's teams running well and last Saturday's results bode well for the remainder of the season.
No less than 17 Orion Senior Men lined up for the start of the Men's race which had 180 competitors.
A great run by Jack Stroud in this high standard league saw him lead the Orion team home in 11th overall
and he was 3rd Under 20. Not far behind him came Danny Moses, currently in good form, finishing 15th. Neil
McGoun 32nd, Shay Joyce 33rd, Eric Paul 38th and Ben Hall 50th made up the team of 6 scorers for a total
of 179 points which saw Orion finish 4th from 24 teams, proving that Orion can more than hold its own
in the County's top league.
The Senior Women turned out just 5 runners but that's 5 more than competed for most of last season in the
Essex League. There were 90 starters in the Womens race and Natalie Kipps continued her return from injury
and led home the Orion team in 8th place with Clare Thurgood and excellent 11th, two quality performances
in amongst the best in the County with better to come from both - and the pair have an excellent change of
selection for the Essex County Cross Country team if they continue this form and keep improving as the
season progresses. Belinda Lewis 31st and Lauren Richardson 50th ran well and completed the Orion Harriers
scoring team with tied for 4th on 100 points with Loughton AC but got pushed into 5th on the countback
from 18 teams contesting the race.
The Orion Juniors turned out a big team in all age categories from which some notable performances emerged
in the opening fixture. Highlights - A great first ever run in the League for Georgia Tuckfield saw her
place 2nd in the Under 13 girls race. In the highest standard junior race of the day Jay Andrews 6th and
Lauren MacGregor 7th were outstanding in the under 15 girls race. Danny Penfold 16th and Auberon Hall 17th
were creditable runs in the under 17 men’s event where the team finished 5th..
In conclusion - an Excellent start for both the Senior Men and Senior Women and Orion Harriers is set to
make its first big impression on the Essex league for 2008/9.
RESULTS:
Senior Men
11th Jack Stroud 29:01 (3rd U20)
15th Danny Moses 29:22
32nd Neil McGoun 30:28
33rd Shay Joyce 30:30
38th Eric Paul 30:47 (6th Vet 40)
50th Ben Hall 31:32 (U20)
98th Bill Bennett 34:41 (9th Vet 50)
104th Dave Milner 35:15 10th Vet 50)
110th Tony Maru 35:45 (Vet 40)
112th Andy Ruffy 35:51 (Vet 40)
113th Graham Hall 35:53 (Vet 40)
128th Tim Wright 36:48
137th Bob Jousiff 37:37 (5th Vet 60)
144th Craig Hinton 38:43
162nd Jim Teale 42:31 (Vet 50)
170th Pete Deadman 44:26 (Vet 60)
174th Steve Timpson 47:41 (Vet 40)
Team Results:
1Colchester H 136
2Havering M 143
3Springfield S 154
4Orion H 179
5Chelmsford 194
6Thrift Green T 263
7Southend 274
8Billericay S 386
9Colchester & T 403
10Ilford 416
11Benfleet 449
12Thurrock 517
13Tiptree 691
14Loughton 803
15 Braintree 763(5)
16Basildon 186(4)
17Leigh on Sea 447(4)
18Pitsea 528(4)
19Dagenham 558(4)
20Phoenix Striders 371(3)
21Mid Essex Striders 397(3)
22West Suffolk 110(2)
24Norfolk Gazelles 116(2)
Senior Women
8th Natalie Kipps 21:48
11th Clare Thurgood 22:07
31st Belinda Lewis 24:15
50th Lauren Richardson 26:22
89th C.Wardley (Vet 45)
Team Results:
1Colchester & T 45
2 Benfleet 66
3Southend 73
4Loughton 100
5Orion H 100
6Colchester H 103
7Ilford 120
8 Basildon 122
9Havering M 142
10Thrift Green Trotters 149
11Chelmsford 153
12Pitsea 158(3)
13Braintree 158(3)
14Leigh on Sea 161(3)
15Springfield 200(3)
16Thurrock 38(2)
17Phoenix Striders 140(2)
18Dagenham 144(2)
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