T
he season certainly saw a great
deal of competitive racing, despite
the severe weather in January and
February which saw postponements then
flooding. The King's runners tackled all
conditions and opponents with good
humour, if in a slightly eccentric manner
at times: the repartee between Messrs
Fox, Billing, Willis, Guess, Lawson,
Dufosee, Mead, Niekirk, Doelle, Williams
and Buckley had to be heard to be
believed, though Penny Guess, India
Bannister, Imogen Keeling, Annabelle Hall
and Morgan Tottle more than held their
own.
The team saved their better runs for the
most difficult events such as Clatworthy,
Downside, Bruton and Neroche.
Clatworthy was run in mud, rain, strong
cold winds and thick cloud, but Oliver Fox
set a course record (29 mins 32 secs)
and was ably supported for a team win by
the leading members of the King's pack -
Henry Willis, Ralph Lawson, Henry
Dufosee, Harry Billing, Dan Mead and
Michael Peek, the latter working hard on
his fitness for rugby but proving to be a
highly respected team captain. Penny
Guess was first girl to finish.
At Neroche, King's beat Blundell's to win
the King's Cup, with Fox and Willis
leading the event home, whilst Imogen
was first girl home and India Bannister,
Charlie Niekirk and Aaron Williams
demonstrated the depth of the team.
There were some tough events at
Downside and Bruton where the rough
agricultural land was very demanding, but
Oliver Fox continued his winning ways
and the team really backed him up to
finish in the minor places.
The Quantock Relays along Lydeard Hill
saw the team juniors (Dufosee, Mead,
Fox and Guess) taking on the seniors from
other schools to come second, only 45
seconds behind Millfield. Oliver Fox also
ran the quickest leg recorded for some
years.
The coastal footpath event at Exmouth is
always a good event along the cliffs, with
the team ending their season with a win,
whilst Oliver Fox led Willis, Dufosee,
Lawson, Mead, Penny Guess and India
Bannister like a little conga chain, though
Mr Hamilton emphasised his running
credentials by coming second overall and
Morgan Tottle, Max Doelle and Charlie
Niekirk enjoyed their runs.
There was also success in the inter-house
steeplechases for Carpenter and
Woodard, the latter beating Bishop Fox by
less than a second per runner, whilst
Francesco Roggia, Henry Willis, Oliver
Fox, Sam Sprague, Tom Pittman, Katy
Preece, Penny Guess, Annabelle Hall,
India Bannister and Imogen Keeling were
the quickest runners in each age group,
with Fox fending off the attentions of
Willis and Mr Hamilton for the honour of
quickest on the day.
Individually, there was also success for
several of the team in the various
championships; at the Somerset AAA,
Imogen Keeling was first in her event,
Oliver Fox second in his and Mr Hamilton
fifth in the Senior Men's category.
In the Taunton Area Schools, Fox won
again (and at the subsequent Somerset
trials), whilst Penny Guess came second,
Imogen Keeling third and Henry Dufosee
sixth. Fox won the South West Schools
whilst Penny came fifth of the Somerset
team, India Bannister fifth in her team
and Imogen fourth in her team - whilst
still coming 18th in a field of over 60.
Together with Henry Willis, they then
moved on to the English Schools'
Championships at a waterlogged, bogland
course, over which Oliver Fox led his
event for a long time before finishing fifth,
then going on to captain the England
Schools' team at the British Schools'
event in South Wales.
My grateful thanks to Mr Lee, Mr Round,
Mr Hamilton, Miss Fagan, Mrs Wrobel
and Mr Bird for helping out at training
and at events.
Cross-country
by Richard Llewellyn-Eaton
Aluredian 83