National XC Champs 2025
The English National Cross Country Championships took place at it’s spiritual home on 22nd Feb at the Iconic Parliament Hill Fields in London. Fifteen ECH athletes made the long trip to take part against the best in the country. It was a warm sunny day, however the previous few days of rain made conditions really tough for athletes, with thick boggy mud in most parts of the course. There were some brilliant performances from juniors through to seniors.
Erin McMahon went in the under 13 girls race, working hard to finish a solid 139th position. Harry Alderson went in the under 13 boys race and finished a creditable 288th place. Again Imogen McBurnie was the only representative in the under 15 girls race, having a strong run to finish 280th. Harri-Ann Fleet performed very well in the under 17 women’s race placing 151st overall.
We had a strong team entered in the under 17 men’s race, with 5 ECH athletes taking part. Marshall Fleet was first back for ECH finishing a brilliant 134th place. Nathan Dunn and Joe Taylor were next home having a huge battle and sprint finish with Nathan just 1 second in front of Joe finishing 173rd and 174th respectively. Archie Bennett and Sebastian Stewart fought hard for the team placing 290th and 319th respectively. The team finished in 23rd place overall.
The Senior Men had just enough for a team with 6 athletes taking part. The conditions suited Gavin Browne who had an unbelievable run to make the top 100 finishing 100th and our highest finisher on the day. Brother Liam was next back in 393rd followed by Tom McMahon (909th), James Hartshorne (942nd), Jonathan Aust (1015th) and Jacob Taylor (1455th). The team finished 68th overall out of 112 complete teams.
Solid performances all round, well done to all. A huge thank you to Gary Matthews (team manager), Wade Cooper and all the brilliant parents who made the trip to support the team. We couldn’t have done it without you!