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ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE
Harriers
The Harriers enjoyed an excellent season
last term. A first highlight was Finlay
Nicholson (
Winchester College
), Fergus
Cameron Watt (
Dragon
), Henry Bray
(
Dragon
) and Aaron Gruen (
Munich
International
) running the Oxford Half
Marathon in excellent times, raising money
for charity in the process. The Longworth
10k supplied good race training for the
Oxford City Schools’ Championships: the
Harriers claimed a convincing win over
Magdalen College School with all eight of
our runners coming in before Magdalen’s
second. Alfie Armitage-Hookes (
Dulwich
College
) is the new Oxford City Schools’
Champion with Jeevan Grewal (
Caldicott
)
second and Aaron Gruen third. The South-
East Championships at Harrow provided
another success for the Harriers with
Teddies coming in second, one point behind
the excellent winners of Harrow, but ahead
of established running schools such as St
Albans. A final 10K at Eynsham provided
many personal bests in what was one of the
Harriers’ most successful terms in recent
history. The main runners this term were
Aaron Gruen, Alfie Armitage-Hookes, Matt
Thornton (
Wheatley Park
), Finlay Nicholson,
following: Captain Alexandra Herrtage
(
Beaudesert Park
), Aimée Joubert (
San
Anton
), Neha Kurup (
Sir James Henderson
British School
), Alice Vane (
Uppingham
),
YatikaJay Ruksritong (
Harrow International
),
Elaine Gschwandtner (
Musisches
Gymnasium
), Gwendoline Davenport
(
International School of Belgrade
), Alicia
Bouaziz (
Jumeirah College
), Zhara Sam-
Alao (
Queen Ethelburga’s College
), Tammy
Wang (
Harrow International
) and secret
weapon Mia Northcote (
Broomwood
Hall
). The girls were totally committed
throughout the season; they worked
hard as a team and persevered, staying
motivated and positive at all times.
The U14A had a very promising season
with many impressive performances,
including victories against Bloxham, Stowe,
Oxford High, Kimbolton and Cranford
House as well as draws against Rugby and
Bradfield in two very competitive games.
Gini Hope (
Ashfold
) was outstanding in goal
with the defensive unit of Florence Howard
(
Feltonfleet
), Tiggy Jones (
Dragon
), Grace
Flynn (
Dragon
) and Alsu Ishmuratova
(
Bilton Grange
) also excelling. Special
mention must go to Sasha Withers Green
(
Cranford House)
who, despite an injury
curtailing her season, was the top goal
scorer and Tallulah Willoughby-Messer
(
St Andrew’s, Pangbourne
) for her excellence
in midfield. All girls improved throughout
the season, with several stepping up from
the U14B team; this team have an exciting
future ahead.
Despite often not getting the results
their talent warranted, the U14B side
worked really hard and improved greatly
throughout the season. Their efforts were
rewarded in the final few weeks, when they
registered two hard-fought wins against
Tudor Hall and Bloxham. Although many
of the U14C players had little or no hockey
experience, they have been a delight to
coach. Their dedication and enthusiasm
have seen them make good progress
during the season with the highlight being
a fine 3-0 win against Kimbolton. Their
understanding of tactics, moving the ball
up the pitch to goal and working as a team
to use space on the pitch to stretch the
defence, improved throughout the term.
The team demonstrated real toughness
and resilience when finding matches
challenging and always played hard until the
final whistle.
Fergus Cameron Watt and Joe Zietman
(
Gayhurst
). Special congratulations must
go to those who put in such impressive
performances on their first cross country
race for St Edward’s at Harrow.
By Sixth Former Fergus Cameron Watt