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SPORT
CROSS COUNTRY MATT BURDEKIN
We enjoy a strong tradition of racing at a good number of school-hosted races, and after a two-year Covid absence, we were delighted to get out and about again this year with a fixture card that provided the opportunity to run in a more varied format of racing. This started with the KCS Wimbledon-hosted Kings Trophy. In this, our longest race of the year, at just under 7km, the boys did superbly, with racers from Year 9 to Year 13 competing. At the RGS Guildford-hosted Haskell Cup, our three teams of four, made up of Year 7s to Year 13s, ran in 3km relays, enjoying huge success with seventh, eleventh and forty-seventh placed teams. Unfortunately, we couldn’t attend our final invitational at this year’s Harrow-hosted South-East Schools Championships, as we were busy with many boys at the English Schools Cross Country Championships as reported here. Invitational fixtures
English Schools Cross Country Cup campaign
This campaign traditionally starts with a home race, with us hosting local teams here at Dulwich College. Pupils from all age groups started the season superbly with team wins at all levels. This qualified all our age-group teams to compete in the English Schools Cross Country Cup regional final in St Albans. Without exception they were superb, both in performance and demeanour. I am delighted to report that all three age category teams qualified for the national final in Newquay. Special mention should go to Jacob Taylor, who won the Senior Boys race, and Caspian Holmes, who came second in the Junior Boys race. Unfortunately, due to the College being placed on amber Covid measures, we had to withdraw from the final, and therefore missed out on seeing how we rank nationally, but this gives us all the more fuel for our motivation to achieve the same, or better, next season.
Borough to area to national championships
Dulwich College again hosted the base of this pathway, with the Southwark Borough Cross Country Championships. We always perform well here, and this year was no exception, with team wins in all age groups: gold in Junior Boys, and gold, silver and bronze in both Intermediate and Senior Boys. Most importantly, this race serves two purposes. Firstly, it gives us excellent insight when selecting our teams for the London Cross Country Championships. Secondly, it allows our Year 7 and Year 8 runners the opportunity to be selected for the borough team. No fewer than ten of our boys were indeed selected this year, securing ten out of the 24 Southwark selection places. At this year’s London Championships, we were hopeful of success, but came home ecstatic with our performances. In Senior Boys we had three athletes in the top ten, with Jacob Taylor winning gold. In the Intermediate Boys, Christo Chilton won gold and Oscar Kinirons won bronze. In the Junior Boys we again had three in the top ten, with Alex Wilson winning gold. Alongside team wins in all age groups, and the aforementioned individual performances, we enjoyed a record number of DC athletes being selected for London representative racing at this year’s English Schools Cross Country Championships in Kent.
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