More than 30 Croydon Harriers took on the best in the South of England Cross-Country Championships at Parliament Hill on Saturday.
Stevie Lawrence gave her county selection chances for the English schools a boost with a timely 34th place finish in the U17 women’s race.
She was well supported by Naomi Carty (118th) and Atlanta Drummond (142nd) in a field of more than 150.
Action girl: Stevie Lawrence
Nine men tackled the gruelling nine-mile course, with David Brown leading the way with his best result in these championships in 290th in 64 minutes 21 seconds.
Neil Aikman (522nd, 69:54), Mark Maginn (586th, 71:52), Glenn Barden (587th, 71:54) and Colin Oxlade (740th, 76:41) completed the scoring team who finished 83rd out of the 110 clubs who closed in.
The U15 boys were spearheaded by Kieron Connor (114th) in a field of over 250 competitors, and solid packing from Omar Harhara (132nd), Luke Wakeling (151st) and Dane Lawrence (155th) ensured the quartet were 25th in the team standings. The B team of Charlie Brackenborough (184th), Connor Dargan (225th), James Drummond (256th) and Joshua Bakare (258th) were 37th.
In the women’s race, Julie Williams finished 381st in a field in excess of 450, after winning the Greenwich parkrun earlier that morning.
Jordan O’Dongo (242nd) brought home the U13 boy’s team in 45th, with Marcus Stoute, Caleb and Aaron Drummond in close quarters.
Over the U17 men’s course, Kartik Iyer was first across the line for the Harriers in 141st while colleagues Rob Spalding (164th) and Laurence Johnston (165th) completed the Croydon challenge in a field of more than 200 finishers.
Croydon’s other competitors were in the U15 girl’s race thanks to Niamh Yehezkel (275th), Sabrina Stoute (278th) and Beth Matlock (285th).
In parkrun action, Alan Burn was runner-up at Lloyd Park and Josie Kavanagh was third in the women’s category.
At the London Indoor Games, David White clocked 2:02.33 seconds in the men’s 800m.
This weekend, sees Croydon tackle the East Surrey cross-country relays at Wimbledon Common.
Running in partnership: Dane Lawrence (left) and Luke Wakeling of Croydon Harriers
Cross-country: Rob Spalding and Kartik Iyer in action on Parliament Hill
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