Head's Newsletter 5 May 2017

CROSSCOUNTRYYEAR8REPORT

The 2016-17 season has seen a once-in-a- generation Year 8 team have another fantastic year. Whereas other years might have one or two committed runners the current Year 8s have around 10 excellent runners who have shown staggering ability and love of cross country. At the centre of the action were the series of shorter races and relays that Tiffin competed in alongside a select number of other Surrey schools: John Fisher, Trinity, Whitgift and Oxted. The season started in September with a race at Shirley Park hosted by Trinity and was followed by a fixture on our own soil at Grist’s. The John Fisher individual race followed the week after, a circuit which winds through Roundshaw Downs. This race is a favourite of the year Captains and saw Will Murphy come 1 st and Alistair Brendon 7 th . The action continued with sub-six minute miles at the Oxted relay by Matthew O’Donovan and Tom Armstrong. October welcomed the much-esteemed Charterhouse race: a brutal encounter ran along precarious paths and up a super-steep hill, compensated at the end by a superb tea. The season really heated-up in the winter with Will finishing 8 th and a particularly strong performance by Jack Hartrey in the Junior Knole Run in Sevenoaks. Only Matthew, Jack, Luis and Alistair braved the almost 10km senior version in January which was run on the usual gruelling course and featured, as an added extra, snow and ice. Nevertheless, the real challenge at both events was racing dozens of other schools from across the country to the legendary post-race banquet! To add to the list, there were also a multitude of Wednesday relays during the winter

months. Alistair ran in the Hampton Paarlauf (a strange term for this race where a team of three run as far as they can in 24 minutes) and Matthew, Jack and Alistair all put in excellent performances at the King Henry VIII relay in Coventry before dashing back to school for house singing. Supersonic times were also run at the Goater Cup Relay hosted by Haberdashers School in Aldenham Country Park, not to mention Will who outpaced some of Tiffin’s esteemed older runners in the Judge Cup. The most enjoyable race has to have been their complete domination in the Kingston Borough stage of the English Schools Cross Country Championship where Tiffin earned 1st place. Individual positions: Eyoel Abebaw Mesfin 1 st (from Y9), Tom 2 nd , Will 3 rd , Euan 4 th , Matthew 5 th and Joe 8 th in a race competed against Y9s as well. Tom, Euan, Matthew, Joe and Alistair all ran in the Surreys at Reigate Priory whilst Tom and Euan made it to the Inter Counties. The highlight of the season however, were the exceptional performances in the English Schools Cross Country Cup. The seven-strong squad of Euan, Tom, Will, Matthew, Joe, Jack and Alistair started their journey at the counties with 6 th and 7 th finishes from Tom and Will, before the same people managed 9 th and 10 th respectively at the Inter Counties in Tonbridge. Progression into the Grand Final at Formby in Lancashire meant an early morning train journey but Will coming 32 nd and Euan 45 th helped Tiffin to secure 16 th in the whole country. In summary, a scintillating season of super speed, stunning scenery and tremendous teas! By Alistair Brendon, 8RC