London Youth Games and London Champs 2022 round-up

Borough Report: 

The Borough of Croydon fielded a squad of over forty athletes in the London Youth Games cross-country championships on Saturday at Lloyd Park. Croydon’s athletes brought home one individual gold and one team gold on a successful morning’s racing against 32 other London Boroughs.

The squad comprised of members from South London and Croydon Harriers, as well as local schoolchildren and was coordinated by the Croydon School Sports Partnership and Active Croydon. 

Whitgift’s Conrad Norman enjoyed an emphatic win in the Under 17 men’s race, 11 seconds clear of his nearest rival over the 4.5 mile course in a field of 127 athletes. 

It was the Under 11’s who particularly stole the show, with tight knit packing from Teddy Bridges (6th), Edwards Englefield (9th) and Hughie Cousins (11th) ensuring Croydon took the team Gold. In the Under 11 girls race, Gabriella Booth would place 5th in a field of 197. 

In the Under 17 women’s category, South London’s Annice Kemp enjoyed a fifth place finish in a high quality field, backed by Croydon Harrier training partners Zoha Jetha (11th) and Millicent Figueira (56th) to ensure the squad placed 6th. 

Other leading finishers for the Borough included Mason Phillip (Under 13 Boys, 21st), Isabel Pauling (Under 15 Girls, 34th), Freddie Hake (Under 15 Boys, 40th), Isabelle Crotty (Under 13 Girls, 61st), 

Croydon Harriers Only Report: 

Fourteen Croydon Harriers took on the best in the Capital at the London Cross-Country Championships at Parliament Hill on Saturday.

Phil Symonds led home the Croydon contingent with an excellent 28th place finish in a field of 426 finishers. He was well supported by Under 20 Douglas Aikman (76th), Marcos Palomares-Conde (267th) and Jacob Armstrong-Plieth (296th) to ensure the squad finished 26th out of 39 who closed in. A further 8 Croydon men who provide non-scoring support.

In the women’s race, Jenny Forde would finish 176th, with Jules Del Nevo 210th. 

At the Sri Chinmoy Battersea 10K, James Hancock won in 31 minutes 22 seconds. Alex Penfold would finish 18th and Glenn Barden 57th. 2nd claim member Penny Oliver would finish fourth in the women’s race. 

St Neots Half Marathon Ashley George finished 57th (83:08) and was supported by James Moore (93:48, 29th M50) and Sarah Bruce-Green (2:02:53, 64th W35). 

In parkrun action, Anna Corby was first home at Oxford, while Katherina Warren was runner-up at Lloyd Park, while Madeleine Armstrong-Plieth was third home at South Norwood.