Surrey Cross-Country League Fixture 3 – West Horsley Place – Saturday 11th January 2025. Written by Mark Tennyson, photos by Beth Davies and Danny Easton.
For the second successive season, GGAC hosted a Division One Surrey League cross-country fixture at the superb venue that is West Horsley Place. In a repeat of the second fixture at Beckenham Place Park, the G’s Senior Men again placed sixth and the Senior Women fifth at this, the penultimate league match of the season.
Senior Men
The Senior Men consolidated their mid-table league position, finishing sixth on the frozen terrain of West Horsley Place. John Sanderson had his best league result of the season with an excellent third place finish. John was followed by five of this season’s regular ‘A’ team scorers – Danny Wallis (13th), Tom Foster (33rd), Nick Lightfoot (58th), Cam Reilly (67th), and Matt McDaniel (99th). Colin High (70th), Louis Bell (107th), Jacob Plummer (108th) and Ollie Gosden (141st) all stepped-up for their first ‘A’ team placings of the season.
The G’s ‘B’ team also finished sixth. The scorers were Nick Tearle, Mark Tennyson, Ian Acreman, Guy Holcroft, Ben Gilmore, Lee Lintern, Gerard Swinley, Ian Davies, Phil Pryke and Robin Boon.
Alistair Wilkie, Jason Robert Shaw, Ben Jacklin, Charlie Alger, Jonathan Monk, Robert Harrison, Andrew Flanagan, Adam Poole and Stuart Murdoch completed the G’s contingent from the 264 finishers.
With one league fixture remaining it looks like the G’s will end the season in the top half of the table. In the individual standings for the season, John Sanderson is currently second and Danny Wallis fifth. Tom Foster (M35-2), Ollie Gosden(M45-3), Guy Holcroft (M55-1) and Mark Tennyson (M60-1) are all well placed in the age-group rankings.
Senior Women
The Senior Women finished fifth of the 15 teams, maintaining their overall fourth place in the league. Evie Warren led the team home in 11th place, followed by Katie Grinyer (32nd), Holly Shaw (60th), Jilly Raw (63rd) and Alice Batchelor (65th) completing the ‘A’ team scorings.
The ‘B’ team came seventh and the five scorers were Nici Cahusac (W50-3), Alicia Nizet, Jackie White, Rebecca Brennan and Karen Bryant. These five were ably supported by Susanna Harrison (W60-2), Michelle Oldham, Jade Christie, Laura Hales and Michelle Collins from the 235 finishers.
A huge thank you to all the volunteers, supporters and participants who helped to make this a fantastic day of cross-country racing. Also a special mention to GGAC’s Paul Sanderson and David Williams for their superb organisation.
The final league fixture is at Epsom Downs on 08th February 2025.
