Snelson skips to victory as Harriers make their mark

The penultimate round of the series was held at Harwell where Edgar Dumbreck was second and Richie Mack fourth in the under-9 boys’ race while Frankie Scrivener was fourth in the under-9 girls’ race.

In-form Tilly Lainchbury was fifth in the under-11 girls’ race and Tilly Eskender 45th.

In the boys’ race, Ruben Snelson held on well for fifth, followed by Archie Street 18th, Thomas Gaskell 29th, Miles Taylor 40th and Adam Gaskell 41st.

Henry Pollock was 12th in the under-13 boys’ race and Shannon Gilkes came 25th in the under-13 girls’ race.

Over the older age groups the big hill was added to the courses, which consisted of 15 steps and a steep section to test legs and lungs.

Jenny Hannah produced a hard fought second place in the under-15/17 girls’ race. Naomi Dibb came 11th, Franziska Bucher 14th and Lizzie Eskender 18th to earn Harriers fifth in the team event.

The under-15/17 boys were sent up the hill twice and Harriers earned second team place after Skip Snelson won followed by Owen Knox in third and Dan Reid in 9th.

In the senior ladies race, three Harriers helped the team to fifth place

Ros Kelling was 17th, Michelle Bartlett 21st and Lisa Ansell, showing a great turn of speed at the finish, was 71st.

The senior men’s race saw the usual large numbers out and some runners had to queue for the steps.

Tim Wright had another good run for sixth place and second overall senior which keeps him with a good chance of league honours next month.

Simon Pritchard was 76th, followed by Jonny Carruthers 198, Phil Coy 220, Neil Forbes 222 and Glyn Pritchard 230.

Meanwhile, Banbury Harrier Alex Scrivener won the junior girls race at Saturday’s South West Schools Cross Country Championships in Truro.

In testing conditions in Cornwall, Scrivener set an early pace running stride for stride with Enya Maylor of Avon before surging to establish an unassailable lead with a winning margin of 19 seconds.

Scrivener has now secured her place in the Gloucestershire squad to race at English Schools Championships in March.