News

SNHAC kicked off the new year with a strong showing at the Hertfordshire County Cross Country Championships. Held on home turf at Fairlands Valley Park, the local venue provided a convenient and familiar setting for our 28 competing athletes. Despite the cold, the bright sunshine and firm ground made for excellent racing conditions.

Individual & Team Podium Success:

It was a highly successful day for the club, with several athletes securing individual medals and team honors:

Individual Silver: Flora Hollis (U11 Girls) and Tommy Cropley (U20 Men).
Individual Bronze: Jude Crossley (U15 Boys).
Team Silver: The U11 Girls team, led by Flora Hollis and Elizabeth Burczyk, Amy O’Connell.
Team Bronze: The U15 Girls squad, consisting of Imogen Dempsey, Neve Sayers, and Katherine Mansfield.
Beyond the podiums, many of our runners earned the coveted "barcode," putting them in contention for selection to represent Hertfordshire at the Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships in Nottingham. We wish everyone the best of luck with the selection process!

Full SNHAC Results

U11 Girls
Flora Hollis
2nd
05:23

Elizabeth Burczyk
6th
05:33

Amy O'Connell
9th
05:47

Tilly Speller
18th
07:13

U11 Boys
Oscar Mashima-Thompson
9th
05:05

Elijah Hammond
14th
05:23

Thomas Walton
15th
05:24

Stanley Patterson
16th
05:25

Seb Lound-Jones
18th
05:28

Thomas Fowler
26th
05:51

Tommy Harper
29th
05:53

U13 Girls
Mia Pelligand
23rd
14:10

U13 Boys
Archie Dawson
26th
11:49

Noah Raymen
29th
12:05

U15 Girls
Imogen Dempsey
5th
17:19

Neve Sayers
11th
18:22

Katherine Mansfield
17th
21:01

U15 Boys
Jude Crossley
3rd
14:10

Leo Richards
18th
15:33

Will Allardyce
22nd
16:11

Nicholas Tankel
26th
16:26

U17 Women
Hannah Cook
10th
24:46

U17 Men
Aubrey Murray
6th
17:54

Murray Heal
7th
17:57

U20 Men
Tommy Cropley
2nd
25:40

Senior Women
Sandra Reed
37th
45:49

Senior Men
Phil Turner
53rd
50:58

Paul Murray
54th
51:19

As the host club, we would like to extend a huge thank you to the organisers, marshals, and volunteers who gave up their time to ensure the event ran smoothly. Your support is what makes these fixtures possible.

The cross country season continues immediately! We look forward to seeing everyone next week in Watford for the latest round of the Chiltern XC League.

Campbell Park in Milton Keynes was the venue for the third round of the Chiltern Cross Country League. The weather may have been kind but the hills were brutal for the 33 athletes who took part. Finish line comments like ‘there were more hills than roundabouts in Milton Keynes’ and ‘it couldn’t have been hillier if they tried’ confirmed it was a tough course.

Jude Crossley put in a strong performance on the hills to finish 3rd placed U15B. In the U13B event Conner and Kieran Kealey dominated the race again to finish 2nd and 3rd respectively.

It was a great team effort with plenty of spirit leading to a large number of top ten finishes. Well done Murray Heal 5th, Aubrey Murray 6th U17M, Leo Richards 9th and James Cook 10th U15B, Ashwin Natarajan 10th U13B, Hannah Cook 7th U17F, Imogen Dempsey 4th and Neve Sayers 10th U15F, Harriet Newstead 10th U13G and Katie Kealey 4th U11G. Full results can be found here.

The juniors have maintained their medal positions and are looking strong heading into the final two fixtures.

Team standing after three fixtures:

SM 9th

U20M 3rd

U17M 3rd

U15B 3rd

U13B 1st

U11B 13th (mob match)

SW 14th

U17/20W 4th

U15G 3rd

U13G 6th

U11G 5th (mob match)

Well done to everyone who took part, every position counts so let’s keep the momentum going.

The next match is 10th January at Cassiobury Park, Watford. Save the date and kick off the new year with a cross country.

(photo credits Lindsay Cook)

Well done to all 22 athletes who made the trip to Oxford to participate in the second round of the Chiltern Cross Country League at the weekend. Conditions on the day were mild but the recent storms meant there was mud and puddles but not as much as we have come to expect from the course at Horspath. Many were disappointed at the absence of water in the ditch crossing but there was still enough sticky mud to challenge the runners.

In the younger age groups there were full teams in 4 different races leaving many of the junior teams in medal positions after two fixtures.

In the U13M event Conner and Kieran Kealey finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. Their sister Katie put in an outstanding performance to finish in 4th place in the U11F race.

Everyone showed plenty of grit and determination and it was great to see one of our sprinters giving cross country a go. There were also top ten finishes from Luke Bulois 9th U13M, Esme Searle 5th and Hannah Cook 8th U17F and Imogen Dempsey 5th U15F.

Team standing after two fixtures:

SM 10th

U20M 3rd

U17M 5th

U15B 4th

U13B 2nd

U11B 12th (mob match)

SW 12th

U17/20W 4th

U15G 3rd

U13G 7th

U11G 6th (mob match)

Thanks again to our cross country manager Adam Searle for organising everything both in advance and on the day

The next match is 6th December at Campbell Park, Milton Keynes. Save the date and let's get even more athletes out and racing.

Last night saw nearly 200 club members, families and supporters gather at Stevenage FC's Lamex Stadium for our first awards evening since before Covid. The evening saw awards presented to those who won last month's club championships, new holders of club records and winners of level 9 England Athletics PB awards (the highest level you can achieve). There were also awards for best performers in cross country, road running, track and field as well as certificates of recognition for those who have contributed most in each of the training groups.

As well as the awards there was a quiz, dancing and a very popular photobooth!

The full list of winners is in the results section of the website.

A massive thank you to Jane, Libby, Aimee and Sandra for all the planning and making sure the evening was a huge success.

This weekend saw the much awaited return of the Chiltern Cross Country League. Around 40 SNHAC athletes made the short trip to St Albans for the season opener, and it was great to see so many making their cross country debut for the club.

Verulamium Park is a new venue for the league this season and has a reputation for challenging cross country courses that feel more uphill than down. There were many great performances as

conditions were perfect with mild weather and so dry underfoot that some athletes even opted to race in road shoes.

Individually, Murray Heal had a great run to win the U17M Division 2 race and Kieran Kealey ran to a strong second-place finish in the U13B event.

There was plenty of effort and team spirit on show and numerous top ten finishes making for a superb start to the season leaving the Juniors sitting in 3rd place overall.

Team results for men

SM 8th

U20M 1st

U17M 3rd

U15B 2nd

U13B 2nd

U11B 10th

Team results for women

SW 11th

U17/20W 3rd

U15G 3rd

U13G 5th

U11G 7th

Well done to all our runners you should be proud of your performances and remember even if you don’t score for the team you are still helping by taking places from other teams as every place counts!

It was also our turn to supply two course marshals for the day, so many thanks to those who stepped up to volunteer we are incredibly grateful for your help. These events just couldn’t happen without your support. Also many thanks to our cross country captain Adam Searle for organising everything so brilliantly.

The next match is 15 November at Shotover Park, Oxford. Lets keep the momentum going!

(photos credit Lindsay Cook)