Hutton excels in opening round

Athletics

Youngs t e r Tom Hut ton spearheaded a string of fine performances by Invicta East Kent athletes in the opening round of the Kent Cross- Country League season.

Hutton produced an excellent run to take first place in the under-13 boys’ race at Stanhill Farm near Dartford.

Reef Page was fifth and with Isaac Waters 22nd, Benedikt Stokes 28th, Kado Bateman 35th, Adam Whitlock 55th and Harrison White 63rd the team were runners-up in their age group.

Teigan Sullivan excelled in the under-13 girls’ race to finish third and was backed up by Chloe Sands in 22nd, Eliza Mills in 47th and Tullulah Butcher in 49th.

The under-15 girls took third in the team event, led by Maddison Sawyer and Jildou Chappell who were 12th and 13th respectively.

Isabelle Harding was 18th and Abigail Hope 25th.

Oscar Parrick achieved a topthree finish in the under-15 boys’ section, while Sam Newson also made the top 10.

Thomas Williams followed that pair home in 34th as Invicta were fourth in the team standings.

The under- 17 and under- 20 women ran together with the club’s under-17s performing well through Roseanna Temple , who was second, and Louise Flynn, in 23rd place.

The men’s under-17 and under20 fields also ran together with Charlie Brisley finishing as runner-up in the younger age group.

Matthew Stonier was 14th, and Marcus Etheridge 24th with Jo Griffiths one place further back.

James Ackhurst came 55th and and James Futcher, in his first cross country outing, immediatley behind as the team finished tird overall.

Jo Whitby was 12th in the under20 race.

Anna Weston was pleased to be the first senior Invicta women home in an excellent ninth place.

Gabija Rasiukeviciute and Rhian Dawes ran strongly in their first cross country for the club finishing in 16th and 27th respectively. The team finished fifth. Gavin Whitlock was first home for the club in the senior men’s race, finishing 121st in a field of nearly 300 runners.

Rob Whittaker was not far behind in 135th, while Michael Gallyer Barnett came home in 247th, content with his time and happy to be competing once again.

Left, Invicta East Kent’s Teigan Sullivan was third in the under-13 girls’ race in the opening Kent Cross-country League meeting at Stanhill Farm. Right, the start of the under-13 boys’ race. Far right, IEK’S Charlie Brisley – second in his age group

IEK runner Jildou Chappell, 13th in the under-15 girls’ race

Ian Stokes, of Canterbury Harriers, takes a breather after his run in the Amsterdam Marathon