Lead Selector Darrell Smith
Selection criteria:
First (eligible) Athlete at the Kent Champs in events actually on the
Timetable of the Southern Intercounties (tba). Must have achieved a Pb
Awards level 7 or better prior the Southern Counties Entry date (tba).
2024 Kent Teams - UK Intercounties XC, Nottingham 9th March
A great day for
Cross Country with warm Weather and the course quite dry despite the
warnings from organisers about Parking
U20M
Some significant dropouts left this Team not at full strength but those that
did compete, did so admirably. The Team finished 14th.
U13G
Although the Team was at full strength it just wasn’t the Girls’ day with
the Team finishing 16th. However, with 3 of the Team still U13s
next Year Im hopeful our U13s do well next year
Senior Women
Last year I lamented that the Senior Women’s Team always had potential but
for the last two years we had never been able to get them on the line
together.
This year we
managed (well almost) to do exactly that and were rewarded with a 3rd
place Team finish. Pheobe Barker was 8th, closely followed home
by Holly Dixon in 11th then Naomi Kingston 24th, Chloe
Sharp 35th, Morgan Squibb 47th and Zoe White 83rd
to complete the Team. Can we do even better in 2025?
U15 Boys
Last year Joseph Scanes ran despite being ill, still managing to finish in
27th place. This Year at full strength he followed the early race
pace but then took the lead and never looked back, leading his Team to a 4th
place finish, one better than last year. Joseph Hill ran a great race to
finish 6th along with Peter Fitzmaurice in 49th and
Sebastian Sanz-Kozyra in 68th.
U17W
Last year the U17W were 5th Team and could have been looking at a
top 5 placing again but with Eliza Nicholson running in the Kent U20W Team
to try for World Cross selection and with the loss of Amber Mathews it was
always going to hard to match last year, However, all the Team ran well with
Lauren Mitchell leading the Team home in 35th.
U17M
Great
packing by this Team to take 3rd place Team. Franklin Shepherd 22nd,
Noah Paterson 25th, Harrison Fraser 29th and Alexander
Middleton 44th
U13B
In a
similar way to the U13G, it wasn’t the boys day finishing 18th
Team but there were still great individual performances with Samuel Watson
Leading the team home in 51st
U20W
The
U17Ws loss was the U20Ws gain as Eliza Nicholson joined the U20s. With Eliza
Nicholson was 2nd gaining GB selection for the World Cross
Country, Hannah Clark was next home for Kent in 15th improving on
her 28th last year. Amy Goodhand in 36th and Ella
Webb 41st ensured a 2nd place Team finish, a major
improvement on last year’s 8th
U15G
Injury on the day and illness put paid to what looked like a potential top 6
performance for the Team. Sophie Richmond led the Team home in 27th,
Ava Chappell 49th, Aoife McDonagh 7th and Rose
Crossley 167th for a 15th Team pleasing. However, the
first three home are all still U15s next year so there is potential to do
Senior Men
The loss of
Cameron Chambers, Matthew Dubery and Marcus Etheridge was a blow and if you
think about who the Kent Team could contain then you are talking about a
winning Team but I’m sure many other counties would make a similar claim.
At the front end
of the Race James Kingston was tracking the leaders in a small group which
only began to break up in the last kilometre. Running a well-judged Race
James Kingston was 4th with Ben Cole, also running well this
Season, in 17th. Wegahta Zerom 45th Mathew Taylor 59th
Robert Sesemann 69th and Mathew Speed 123rd completed
the Team for a 5th Place Team finish, one spot ahead of last
year.
Overview
There is always
room for improvement, but I feel we had a better Champs than last year and
probably on a par with 2022
Highlights were
the performance of the Senior Women’s, the win by Joseph Scanes in the U15B,
the selection of Eliza Nicholson for the World Cross Country as an U17W and
the run by James Kingston to place 4th in the Senior Men’s Race.
A big that’s to
all the Selectors and Officials for their time and efforts and to Coaches
and Parents for helping to get Athletes to the line.
Darrell Smith
Full details of the
Team selection for Essex 20, 17 March
The Kent team selection for Essex 20 on 17th March
is as follows:
Womens
Helen Gaunt TAC
Catherine Kandie Kent AC
Nichola Evans TAC
Harriet Woolley TAC
Mens
Michael Ellis TAC
Dan Bradley TAC
Barry Stephenson DHAC
4th position not filled
Regarding the 4th mens position, I would like to receive
further applications from men who have a sub 1:12 half marathon (or
equivalent for other distances) pedigree and can self-certify they are
in form and fitness. I shall select between applications received
on the same day in accordance with the original selection criteria set
out. At the end of any day where one or more suitable application has
been received, the selection will close; but I would still be interested
to place people on a reserve list.
I have no female reserves at present, and
the same applies - (sub 1.25 HM runners).
Thanks and regards
Full details of the
Team selection criteria for Essex 20, 17 March
The team selection criteria
for Kent for the inter-counties match at Essex 20;
https://www.atwevents.co.uk/e/essex-20-8956/products; Sunday 17th
March, is as follows:
Male and Female Teams of 4
1)
Automatic selection for the winner and runner up
at Kent Champs race Paddock Wood Half Marathon 3rd March, if
taken up.
2)
For other places (even if you are planning to run
at Paddock Wood) please apply to
roadrunning@kcaa.org.uk
stating your best verified time for Half Marathon, 20 miles or Marathon from
Jan 2023 onwards. These will be converted to half marathon using
https://www.ukresults.net/misc/predictor.html. and then the
following penalties applied: 2024 time – no penalty; July – Dec 2023 – one
minute; Jan – June 2023 two minutes. If you are unclear what your best time
is going to be under these conditions, then please send more than one.
DEADLINE 3rd MARCH 6pm. Therefore If you wish your Paddock Wood
Half time to be considered you must go home and e-mail in before 6pm that
day.
3)
In all cases you are self-certifying that you are
in good fitness, and free from injury.
4)
Deadline 3rd March 6pm
5)
Provisional teams and reserves announced Monday 4th
March
6)
If you are already entered into Essex 20, I am
looking into the provisions made by the race organisers for refunds if you
are subsequently selected for the county.
7)
Essex 20 is a 9.30am race start and you are
responsible for getting yourself there (Debden Airfield) in reasonable time
– although I am setting off from Dartford at 7.15am so I can offer a lift
from there if that helps anyone.
Kind regards
Dave Behagg
07966 647726
National CAU Intercounties Cross
Country, Wollaton Park, Nottingham, Sat 9th March 2024
Kent Selection Criteria
U13s, U15s and U17s
First 5 in the Kent Champs (Brands Hatch on Jan 9th) will Automatically be
selected and will be contacted to confirm availability.
The remaining Team places (8 run/4 score) plus Reserves will be selected by
the Selection Team in the weeks leading up to the Race.
U20s, Senior Women and Senior Men
First 4 in the Kent Champs will be Automatically selected and will be
contacted to confirm availability.
The remaining Team places - U20 (8 run/4 score) and Senior Men and Women (9
run/4 score) plus all Reserves will be selected by the Selection Team in the
weeks leading up to the Race
Auto Selected Runners places are not passed down to eg 6th or 7th spots etc
IF an Auto Selected runner cannot compete
Wildcards
If you can’t compete in the Kent Champs, you can apply for “Wildcard” status
by submitting your reason for missing the Kent Champs AND justification for
Selection. The Selectors will look at other high-quality races like Cross
Challenges, Southern XC and the World Trials.
Parkrun performances cannot be used as evidence for Wildcard Selection.
You must submit your application before by 22nd Jan 2024. Send you email to
darrellluke1967@gmail.com
The deadline for Kent to submit Teams is 29th Jan (5
weeks before the Race) where we can submit 12 runners per Team (8/9 Run).
Last year, I was only able to name three Full teams of 12, due to last
minute drop outs. In the U20m and U20W we only had 7 runners, 6 in the SW
and 8 in the SM.
INJURY/ILLNESS HAPPEN BUT CAN I ASK YOU TO ONLY AGREE
TO RUN IF YOU/YOUR COACH ARE COMMITTED TO RUN IF FIT AND WELL.
County Teams & Selections for 2023
-
National CAU Intercounties Cross Country, Loughborough, Sat 11th
March 2023
-
Lead Selector: Darrell Smith
-
Senior & Under 20 Intercounties T&F, Horspath Oxford, Sun 2nd
July 2023
-
Lead Selector: Alex Pope
-
Under 13 Intercounties T&F, Walton Surrey, Sat 29th
July 2023
-
Lead Selector: Chis Hogwood
-
Under 17 & Under 15 Intercounties T&F, Horspath Oxford, Sun 10th
September 2023
Team selected
29-08-23
Those wishing to be selected should aim to compete in appropriate County
Championships.
National CAU Intercounties Cross Country,
Loughborough, Sat 11 March 2023
A relatively warm day, conditions underfoot were
challenging in spots and long spikes were a necessity, especially the right
hander half round the larger lap.
U20M
The day couldn’t have started better with a great performance from the U20M
team who repeated their win from last year. Louis (6th) and Jack Small
(11th) were the first two home and great runs from Jamie Keir (14th) and
Mathew Dubery (19th) who came charging through in the last kilometre.
U13G
Next were our U13G’s Team. Good performances all round with Sophie Richmond
(17th) leading the Team home with Aoife McDonagh 20th, Ava Chappell 37th and
Isla Murray 69th . The Team ended up 6th just one place down from 5th last
year.
Senior Women
The third race of the day was our Senior Women. Of all the Teams this Team
suffered most in Terms of dropouts and as a result we did not have enough
runners to make up a Team. Annabel Carter was 70th, Morgan Squibb in her
first Senior Intercounties was 82nd and Harriet Wooley was 137th On paper
the Kent Senior Women’s Team always looks strong but the last two years we
have never been able to get them on the line together. 2024?
U15 Boys
The U15B team wasn’t at maximum strength with a couple of Athletes not able
to compete and Joseph Scanes, who did run, recovering from illness. Despite
this, the Team were still able to place 5th Team. With a fair wind this Team
would have had real medal chances. Olly Buck who had a great run in 20th was
backed up by Joseph Scanes 27th (who would go on to win the English Schools
a week later), Joseph Hill and Jed Starvis came in together in 55th and 56th
place to make the scoring 4.
U17W
The loss of Annabelle Souter was a big one for the U17W team where a top 3
Team placing had looked likely. A great run from Eliza Nicholson (6th),
Carys Firth (24th) ably supported by Abigail Royden (40th) and Liberty Whyte
(77th) put the Team 5th. A big improvement on 13th from last year.
U17M
Last year’s 3rd Team placing looked repeatable and a fit Hayden Gear
would have likely helped achieve that goal. However, that’s not to take away
from great runs by Jake Stevens (4th) and Noah Paterson in 18th, Tom
Claridge (29th ) who has made massive improvement and Harrison Fraser
(61st). They still were 5th ,and on another day could have nicked 3rd again.
Special mention for Adam Whitlock who lost a shoe early on by fought on to
finish 111th .
U13B
A great run by Freddie Gibson (15th) but not such a great day for the
rest. Many struggling to match their performances at the National. The Team
finished 13th.
U20W
Hannah Clark led the Kent Team home in 28th with Ella Webb had a great
run in 51st . They were backed up by Annabel Young in 58th Ella Ayden in
66th to place 8th Team. A solid performance.
U15G
Iris Crossley led the Team home in 35th, followed by Megan Barlow in 55th ,
Ella Baker in 70th and Isla Taylor just behind in 72nd to make the scoring
Team. The Team placed 13th
Senior Men
The Men’s Team look capable of a Top 3 placing but illness, injury and
clashes with other Races meant we didn’t field its very strongest Team.
National XC Champion, James Kingston led the Team home in 7th with Alexander
Howard 15th and Ben Cole 32nd. Special mention to Thomas Wright who came in
as a Reserve but made the scoring Team with a 76th . Cameron Dockerill and
Stuart Brown completed the Team in 80th and 121st to complete the scoring 6.
The Team placed 6th .
Similar to the Southern Intercounties, quite a few
dropping out leading up to the Race but Runners are always on the edge of
nearly being ill or injured.
So, a tale of what might have been. Possibly
performances suffer as the Race is just one week after the National and
Runners may be tired. And for many younger Athletes the ESAA is the biggest
Race of the year and that is only a week later.
Darrell Smith
Southern Intercounties, Horspath, Oxford - 10 December 2022
Report
17-12-22
U15/U17 Inter County Match, Horspath, Oxford - 10 September 2022
Report
& photos 1-10-22
COUNTY COLOURS
Kent County colours are a ROYAL BLUE vest with dark
shorts.
The
vests & County clothing can be purchased from – Podplus (their shop is based
at Julie Rose Stadium) or via their website
http://www.podplus.co.uk/shop
Vests may also be borrowed on the day from the Team Manager. Please do not use your Kent Schools vest.
