The 100th edition of the English Schools Cross Country didn’t disappoint, with the 46 counties from England and the Channel Islands selecting the top eight from their county in each age group, meaning each race was jampacked with over 300 of the countries very best athletes.
BBHAC had 18 athletes selected representing four school counties. 13 raced on the day with 5 reserves on standby.
Junior girls
Evie De Bruyn (Kent) and Alba Homans -Yau (Kent) both racing in their 2nd ESAA XC champs, placed well, as did Kara Bryan (Kent) adding ESAA XC champs to her ESAA Track and field representation last season.
A strong run from Sofia Mossi (Middlesex) completed BBHAC interest.
Isabella Jenkins and Aoife Stanley were selected as reserves.
Junior boys
Zacchaeus Kelman (London) had a great run placing 90th and helping his London squad to a fine 5th place finish.
James Bunn was selected as reserve.
Inter girls
Naimah Mossi (Middlesex), one of the three Mossi athletes BB have, ran proudly in the squares of maroon and gold of Middlesex.
Luciana Smith had been selected for Kent but wisely withdrawn due to a niggle.
Inter boys
The Kent inter boys comfortably won the team race with great contributions from Joe Scanes 6th (to add to his 1st and 2nd in previous years), Joseph Hill 17th (making it top 20, three years in a row) and a brilliant ESAA debut by Oliver Ward placing an impressive 38th.
Kian Farrell was selected as reserve.
No senior girls from BBHAC
Senior Boys
Jed Starvis had a very strong run finishing 29th and helping Kent to a fine 5th team placing. Mark Constable in his debut ESAA ran a strong, well paced race to finish exactly 100.
Alex Middleton sporting the gold of Surrey helped them win a great team silver, placing just outside the top 100 and Harry Fage (Kent) running in his 2nd ESAA XC champs completed the BBHAC squad.
Among the VIP’s presenting team and individuals medals was BBHAC very own double Olympic medallist Sam Reardon
Joe Scanes performances earns him an England call up to the Schools International (SIAB) next weekend, competing against the very best from Scotland Ireland and Wales.
Best of luck Joe.
