Bucks Cross Country Championships 2023 – Ampthill, Saturday 7th January 2023

The Buckinghamshire Cross Country Championships took place in a joint competition with Bedfordshire in Ampthill on Saturday. The Vale had 30 athletes taking part across all of the different age groups ranging from U11’s running just over 2km up to the Senior Men who competed over 10km.

Our teams claimed numerous podium places with the U11 boys starting us off by coming 2^nd overall. Chibuikem Eke led the team home in 8^th place just one place and one second ahead of Angus McRonald in 9^th who in turn was just four seconds ahead of Devon Powell in 10^th.

The U13 girls team came away from Bedfordshire with bronze medals to their names. Gabriella Cheung led the girls home in 9^th and was ably backed up by Leia Logan (15^th), Matilda Valind (16^th) and Sophie Fawcett (18^th.) It was a similar story in the U13 boys with Zachary Honour finishing 9^th with a host of Vale athletes in pursuit with Rufus Martin (17^th), James Hawkins (18^th), Digby Martin (20^th), Ethan Alcock (22^nd), Jack Wood (24^th) and Dexter Standen (25^th) leading the team to a bronze overall.

Solid performances came in the next few races with Lucinda McRonald taking 14^th and Sarah Cintalova 25^th in the U15 girls race with Joseph Storey 16^th in the U15 boys and Lucy Cuthbert 9^th in the combined U17 / U20 women race.

The combined U17 / U20 men race saw Ewan Maxwell finish 10^th overall and 3^rd U20. Archie Lynch came next in 13^th overall (10^th U17) with Thomas Young 14^th (11^th U17) and Aaron Ward in 15^th (4^th U20) completing the Vale contingent.

The senior men completed the Vale’s team medals for the day by coming third for bronze with the team led home by Kieran Lindars in a strong 7^th place and Thomas Fell also in the top 10 with 9^th. Mark Baines ran well for 17^th place and Robin Barrett finished in 27^th. The team was backed up with three masters athletes finishing in the top 10 in their age categories with Trevor Lynch 35^th overall (7^th M50), Alan Roberts 37^th (2^nd M55) and Andy Stephenson in 38^th (3^rd M55.)

The final medal for the club also came within the senior race with masters over 60 running a shorter 6.4km within the 10km for the seniors. Tim Jones ran superbly well to finish 3^rd in the race (whilst also being the first M65 across the line.)

Well done to all who competed!

Next up for the Vale is the Chiltern League 4^th Round at Campbell Park in Milton Keynes next weekend.

Full Vale results below:

U11 Boys (Team 2^nd)

• 8^th Chibuikem Eke 09:04
• 9^th Angus McRonald 09:05
• 10^th Devon Powell 09:09

U13 Girls (Team 3^rd)

• 9^th Gabriella Cheung 12:31
• 15^th Leia Logan 13:51
• 16^th Matilda Valind 13:52
• 18^th Sophie Fawcett 14:16

U13 Boys (Team 3^rd)

• 9^th Zachary Honour 11:07
• 17^th Rufus Martin 12:18
• 18^th James Hawkins 12:23
• 20^th Digby Martin 12:41
• 22^nd Ethan Alcock 12:57
• 24^th Jack Wood 13:03
• 25^th Dexter Standen 15:29

U15 Girls

• 14^th Lucinda McRonald 16:49
• 25^th Sarah Cintalova 17:36

U15 Boys

• 16^th Joseph Storey 16:45

U17/U20 Women

• 9^th Lucy Cuthbert 22:57

U17/U20 Men

• 10^th (3^rd U20) Ewan Maxwell 24:57
• 13^th (10^th U17) Archie Lynch 26:04
• 14^th (11^th U17) Thomas Young 26:24
• 15^th (4^th U20) Aaron Ward 26:54

Senior Men (Team 3^rd)

• 7^th Kieran Lindars 37:19
• 9^th Thomas Fell 38:10
• 17^th Mark Baines 42:12
• 27^th Robin Barrett 45:35
• 35^th (7^th M50) Trevor Lynch 52:31
• 37^th (2^nd M55) Alan Roberts 54:36
• 38^th (3^rd M55) Andy Stephenson 56:56

Vets (Over 60’s)

• 3^rd (1^st M65) Tim Jones 29:20

Trevor, Robin, Tim & Alan brandishing the bling!