Cross-Country 15 (1973-74)

The loss of 5 of the first 7 runners from last year's team has obviously had its effect and it is a great credit to this year's team that though it has not won a major competition, it has never really been out of the top group. The nearest it has come to winning a major trophy was 2nd in the 1913 Grammar Schools which was won by a strong Harrow County side.

In most of the relay races the presence of one very good runner in several local teams has been sufficient for those teams to finish just ahead of us.

Virtually all the members of the team have suffered from injury at one stage or another during the season. S. Blackburn, the Captain suffered from such a hindrance just before the crucial county race from which the Middlesex County team for the All England was chosen. Apart from this, though, he has produced performances of a consistently high standard.

G. Lowe making a welcome return to Cross Country has also trained very well and improved steadily throughout the year and, turning in some first class performances, has become a very valuable member of the team.

Another welcome return was made by A. Torrance who has proved a solid and reliable runner. Of the other regular members of the team M. Acres has improved considerably and produced some very promising performances while P. Foley has also had some good runs. P. Stockwell has been a very valuable guest runner from the rugby group, helping the team considerably especially in relay races.

Overall, the team has had a moderately successful season. The main problem was the lack of depth in the team. With only three members training regularly and turning in good performances with any degree of predictability, races in which six runners were to score presented a problem. This was especially true of the "Skeeles Trophy and the Haste Hill Trophy relay races. In the latter the team ran well to finish sixth out of seventeen teams who provided strong opposition in some of the worst conditions of the winter. Another good performance came in the Highgate Schools Race in which, with three to score, the team finished seventh out of nineteen, packing three runners between 21st and 26th positions in a field of ninety- four. At inter-school level the team had wins against Harrow County and Richard Hale Schools, but were well beaten by the strong St. Albans School team.

For the Borough League Races and the Borough Championships the fourth and fifth year runners ran as a combined team. In the latter they scored a narrow win over Barnhill School by three points. As a result of this race Paul Foley, Mark Acres and Nigel Newton were selected to represent the Borough in the Middlesex Schools Race. In the Borough League the team was beaten into second place by Barnhill.

At an individual level Nicholas Jones and Nigel Newton had a steady season without any outstanding performances, while Robert Brown joined the team in the second term and showed promise for the future with some determined running. 

While the school has had a tradition of producing strong senior teams, the junior teams have been comparatively weak. This year, however, has seen a noticeable improvement and, in general, the Under Fourteen team has enjoyed a successful season. The most encouraging aspect was the good team spirit and the keen training.

The highlight of the season was our third place out of 27 teams in the Middlesex Junior 1913 Association Schools Race, an improvement by six places over last year. This result was achieved by good packing and good performances by D. Darrell (14th), S. Quigley and C. Putt.

The school achieved second place in both the Borough League and the Borough Championships. Darrell finished 8th in the latter and qualified for the Middlesex Schools Race. M. Candler ran consistently well in the Borough League Races.

In inter-school events we won against Harrow County School, Bishopshalt and Watford G.S., but were beaten by Northwood School and St. Albans G. S. In two other Trophy races at Haberdashers' School and Northwood School we were seventh in both races, disappointing performances despite the strong opposition.

R. Kraushaar.