The U16 boys provided perhaps the most exciting race of the day at the South of England Cross Country Relays, with no team dominating on a flat, dry course.
Kiaan Zare stormed round his 2k leg in 6:28 to hand over to Jack Cobbold in fourth place. Jack held fourth under pressure with a 6:42, and Alex Pettican took the final leg running fifth. With about 100m to go and two runners 15m ahead, Alex found another gear to pass both into the finish. Hercules Wimbledon were given the same time, but Highgate Harriers secured the bronze medal. Gold and silver were also a close call, with Windsor, Slough & Eton and Poole both recorded on the same time for first and second.
The U14 girls - Gaia Das-Gupta, Lila Hristou and newcomer Daphne de Legard - were running these relays for the first time and finished in the top 20. Alice Granger led off the U16 girls with an impressive 7:40, Alex O’Brien followed with a similar time, and Natalie Bannon closed the team in 13th place, a few seconds behind Hercules Wimbledon in 12th.
The U18 men of Aron Sinko-Uribe, Nathan Anderson and Luke Tomlinson just missed out on a top-10 finish, finishing 11th overall.