Southend Sport
Holloway shines as south of the county dominates at Essex Schools
4:50pm Friday 27th January 2012
SOUTH Essex athletes will make up the bulk of a strong county team heading to the English Schools Cross-Country Championships in March.
Twenty of our runners have definitely confirmed their places in the Essex team after finishing in the top six of the county schools championships at Basildon’s Gloucester Park.
And four of those – sisters Jodie and Jessica Judd, Gemma Holloway and George Elliott – will head to Ilton, in Somerset, carrying the title of Essex Schools champions after victories in Basildon.
Holloway’s victory in the intermediate girls race was arguably the most impressive.
The 15-year-old, from Grays, has impressed for her club Thurrock Harriers over the cross-country season but as a Year 10 pupil was the bottom year in the intermediate girls.
But that didn’t intimidate her and she emerged triumphant over a quality field that included Castle Point & Rochford’s Sophie Riches – the European Youth Olympic 1,500m champion – who had to settle for second.
Beauchamps School’s Kaylee Dodd (Basildon) claimed the sixth and final confirmed spot in a strong Essex team that will go to Somerset with every chance of winning a team medal.
Emily Bullis (Basildon) and Maisie Jones (Castle Point & Rochford) finished seventh and eighth respectively and will be hoping to secure the final two spots in the team which are decided following a selectors’ meeting.
It was no surprise that Jessica Judd (Castle Point & Rochford) won the senior girls race but the distance by which she triumphed again continues to amaze.
The 17-year-old King John School sixth-former beat her Chelmsford AC club-mate Kim Johanson by nearly a minute and a half.
Southend High School for Girls’ Jade Peel booked her spot in the Essex team with a strong run to finish fourth, while Eleanor Johnson (Southend) finished seventh and will be hoping to have done enough to earn selection. Jordan Lacey (Southend) finished in 10th place.
Jodie Judd (Castle Point & Rochford) was the victor in a junior girls race dominated by athletes from the south of the county.
Southend High School for Girls pair Liberty Good and Victoria Hiscock were second and third respectively, FitzWimarc’s Millie Smith was fourth and Olivia Sofroniou, also from Southend High School for Girls, was fifth.
The High School girls strong packing at the front end of the field meant Southend took overall team gold with Lucy Kidwell (12th) making up the scoring team.
Eastwood School’s George Elliott got the better of Canaan Solomon in the junior boys’ race with Lawrence Willmore (Southend) running well to take third.
Basildon AC’s Daniel Ashley (running for Mid Essex) was a strong fourth place just ahead of Adam Jordan (Southend, fifth) and Christian Gray (Castle Point & Rochford, sixth).
Southend took the team prize with Adam Foster completing the scoring team in 14th place.
FitzWimarc School’s Max Jones was seventh and will be one of those keeping his fingers crossed he will be selected while Brandon Thorpe (Castle Point & Rochford) was 10th.
In the intermediate boys’ race, Eastwood School’s Rob Frith (fourth) and James Hall (Castle Point & Rochford, sixth) made the Essex team while Ben Franklin (Castle Point & Rochford, eighth) and Adam Houchell (mid-Essex, ninth) made the top 10.
In the senior boys, Southend High School for Boys sixth-formers Alex Short and Jack Fitsall were third and fourth respectively, with Billericay School’s Andy Law in fifth. Thurrock’s Tom Richardson was eighth and Rhys Gillard (Southend) 10th.