Aldershot Farnham & District’s cross country runners won five races as they led their teams to victory in the opening Hampshire League meeting at Wellesley Woods. James Dargan, a bottom-year under-20, took the senior men’s race with thirteen seconds to spare over Tom Syckelmore of Basingstoke & Mid Hants. The next three athletes were all from AFD: Tom Chandler, Raif Serif and Liam Stone. Marcus Etheridge, in eighth, completed the scoring quintet that totalled less than a third of the points accumulated by second-placed Winchester & District.
AFD’s senior women won their event by a similar margin. Megan Gadsby gained the verdict over Maddie Deadman of BMH after a sprint for the line which they reached at the same time. Four seconds later, Pippa Roessler finished third and first u20. Katie Pye, a bottom-year u17, was fifth when completing AFD’s winning trio. She, Roessler and Kiki Webb took the honours in the u20s section.
Poppy Guest triumphed in the u13 girls’ event where club mate Felicity Croucher came second. Kitty Dover was sixth to round off AFD’s win in the team competition. Kitty Scott’s margin of victory in the u15 girls’ race was the largest of the day. She beat Jersey Spartan’s Isla Hall by 43 seconds while AFD team mate Katie McBride occupied third. Rachel Riedlinger closed the club’s scoring trio in eighth. Owen Smith won the u17 men’s race by five seconds from Jersey’s Bradley Andrews-Callec as he combined with William Smith, fourth, and Ollie Russell, fourteenth, for another AFD victory.