ollie star man at schools xc champs

KEVI student and Morpeth Harrier Oliver Calvert was Northumberland’s best individual performer at Saturday’s English Schools Cross Country Championships, held at Nottingham’s Wollaton Park.

Calvert, who also just finished outside the medals at the previous week's Inter Counties, which were held a few miles further north in Loughborough, produced an excellent run to finish seventh in the Intermediate Boys event, and was only a mere six seconds adrift of a podium place.

Race winner was Essex’s Sam Plummer, with Surrey pair Alex Lennon and Jacob Pearce claiming the minor podium places, with only 19 seconds dividing them.

Northumberland themselves, led by an in-form Calvert, finished in ninth team place, with fellow Morpeth Harriers Joseph Close, Elliot Kelso, and Ollie Tomlinson coming home as second, third, and fourth counters amongst the scoring six, finishing in 25th, 52nd, and 113th in a total finishing field of 327 competitors.

Team Honours in the Intermediate Boys event went to Surrey, with Kent and Essex claiming second and third team places.

Northumberland’s best on-the-day team performance undoubtedly belonged to the Senior Boys, who were led home by Gateshead Harrier Josh Blevins in thirteenth place.

Blevins was well supported in the team challenge by no fewer than five Morpeth Harriers.
Will Devere-Owen produced a strong individual run when finishing in 21st place.

Eight places behind him was James Tilley, while Liam Roche, Matthew Walton, and Joe Dixon finished in 66th, 100th, and 136th places, to close Northumberland’s scoring count.

Another Morpeth Harrier competing in the Senior Boys event was Ethan Phillips, who was outside the scorers in 167th place.

Merseyside took the team honours, with Kent and Surrey claiming the minor podium places in the total field of 314 finishers.

In her first outing in the English Schools Cross Country Championships, Emma Tomlinson, younger sister of Intermediate Boy Ollie, finished in 272nd place in the Junior Girls, emerging as the sixth and closing counter for a Northumberland squad, who finished as 34th team behind winners Surrey, with Sussex and London taking the second and third podium spots.

A total of 338 finished the Junior Girls event.

There were no other Morpeth Harriers in action in the remaining three events. The county’s Junior Boys finished 33rd, the Intermediate Girls finished 28th, and the Senior Girls finished an excellent ninth.