BUSA Cross-Country 2008
By James Kelly
After weeks of rain, the bright sunshine of Friday, 1 February was a welcome relief to the 28 Hare & Hounds who departed for Swansea to contest the BUSA Cross-Country Championships. A five-hour coach journey provided plenty of opportunities to build excitement for the racing, and the cosy hotel accommodation provided further chance for team bonding, with the result that Saturday morning's breakfast saw the Hareys in relaxed and confident mood.
First to tackle the undulating course in Swansea's Singleton Park were the six Light Blues in the Men's A Race. With many of the top Blues from December's Varsity Match in attendance, the team was quietly optimistic that it could challenge for a medal. The 260-strong field set off into the blustery conditions for 4 laps of a 2.7km loop at a steady pace. Paolo Natali (Christ's) and Owain Bristow (Queens') took up the early running for the Hareys, but by the end of the first lap it was James Kelly (Jesus) who capitalised on the conservative pace to establish himself in the front pack.
Kelly continued to cling to the back of the pack and ultimately crossed the line in 13th position (34:35), recording the best finish by a Light Blue since 2004 and, more importantly, avenging previous defeats at the hands of Oxonian rivals! Further down the field, Natali, twice Varsity Champion, was joined by Matt Armstrong (Trinity Hall). Armstrong, who had given himself just a 10% chance of competing on Friday due to a knee injury, recovered miraculously to make the starting line, and was on target for an excellent finish until a severe calf cramp crippled his chances. That left Natali (36:07) to finish the fourth lap himself to claim 39th position.
Fresher Tim Pattison (Downing) displayed a wise head over his inexperienced shoulders, judging his race to perfection in his BUSA debut. A storming final lap saw him take 51st place (36:49) and cap off a cross-country season marked by rapid improvement. Bristow (60th, 37:02) found full-time teaching along with the mud and hills to be a taxing combination as he was just unable to replicate his form from the Varsity Match. David Yu (Trinity, 81st, 37:47) also found the conditions to be tough going, but he rounded out the Cambridge team with a commendable effort.
The team competition was comfortably won by St. Mary's, who were paced by race winner and GB-U23 international Andy Vernon and runner-up Keith Gerrard. Cambridge ultimately finished 7th, an improvement of one position over the team performance of last year, but unfortunately three places behind Oxford.
The women were next to tackle the deteriorating course, traversing 3 loops of 2.2km. With freshers Steph Twell (St. Mary's), Emily Pidgeon (Loughborough) and Cambridge's own Charlotte Roach (Trinity) entering the fray, the pace promised to be quick. The race certainly didn't disappoint.
Roach, in spite of a month's worth of niggles and illness, challenged at the front of the pack. Twell pulled away from the field on the second lap to establish a winning margin, but Roach battled gamely to an impressive 9th place (24:54), one of the top finishes ever recorded by a Light Blue athlete.
Fresher Anna Anderson (Girton) also impressed on her BUSA debut, her 28th position (26:01) fully justifying the Blue she was awarded after the Varsity Match. Victoria Mason (Trinity, 75th, 27:54) was another to gauge her efforts perfectly, using a strong second half of the race to move through the field. Women's Captain Harriet Owles (Selwyn, 81st, 28:08) continued to progress in her return from injury while Polly Keen (New Hall, 110th, 29:10) did her best to fight off injury along the course. Jane Mackey (Selwyn, 124th, 29:51) produced a steady effort to reinforce the depth of the women's team, while Alice Fraser (Sidney, 144th, 30:33) was not properly rewarded for her commitment to the cause, travelling from Cambridge to Swansea on race day itself, courtesy of a foot injury sustained in the starting scrum. Emma Figures (207th, 33:14) overcame a nearly crippling stitch to complete the women's team.
In spite of some misfortune and uncertain preparations for the race, the Cambridge women finished a terrific 5th, improving three spots on last year's result. Crucially, they avenged defeat to Oxford in the Varsity Matches, finishing well ahead of their Dark Blue rivals.
Finally it was left to the sizeable contingent in the Men's B Race to circle 3 times around the loop in the worst of the conditions. Wary of the taxing effect of the mud and ignoring the traditional kamikaze start from some of the field, the Hareys started out sensibly. By the end of the first lap, Scott "Joe Stevick" Knackstedt (Downing) had moved through the field and with a poised display came through for 29th (28:11). Robin Brown (Jesus) was another to crack the top 50 in the race, arriving home in 43rd (28:11).
Cambridge athletes began to finish thick and fast; Jamie Brunning (Jesus, 58th, 29:09) and Rich Mathie (Selwyn, 78th, 29:46) continued their season of close finishes. While there was no Ronnie O'Sullivan for them to beat this week, they were followed closely by Lee Harper (Clare, 84th, 29:59) and John "Ray Parlour" Redshaw (Trinity Hall, 85th, 30:00), who staged a memorable sprint finish that saw Harper just pipping Redshaw to the tape.
Ben Stevens (Trinity Hall, 101st, 30:23) backed up his selection for the Barbarians with a solid performance. James Gill (Hughes Hall, 128th, 31:10), Barbarians captain at IInds-IVths, used his experience to guide home the next Cambridge pack, consisting of Liam Richardson (Jesus, 148th, 32:06), Simon Gilbert (Downing, 169th, 33:17), Tim Culshaw (Jesus, 183rd, 33:55) and Aidan "Alan Young" Reilly (195th, 34:39), with Reilly apparently finding sliding down the hills to be more effective than running down them! The Hareys were brought home by Mark Coley (Wolfson, 235th, 39:18), who managed to navigate the treacherous conditions in spite of a lack of spikes!
With such a strong contingent, it was no surprise to see Cambridge figure prominently in the B Race, the team ultimately finishing 11th. Once again, they were disappointed to lose out to 4th-placed Oxford, but the discontent will doubtless be allowed to fester over the coming months and serve as added motivation for next year's Varsity Match.
The enjoyable -- if long -- trip out to Swansea brought to an end the cross-country season for many of the Hareys. Although mixed results in the Varsity Match and IInds-IVths mean that the season can only be called a qualified success, there is no doubting the talent in the club and the types of performance that will be unveiled in upcoming road relays.